Sticky valves

[Iainmac]

I am the owner of a new Wessex Solo. Love the horn, wish I could play as well as it deserves however in rehearsal last night after about 1 1/2 hours the 2nd valve stuck. Oil did not really help! Then the same thing occurred on the third valve. Today I have used a bottle brush on the valve case and cleaned what seemed to be valves in perfect condition. Re oiled and things seem to. Okay however my question is is this an issue with Wessex?

[GeoffC_UK]

Morning,
No posts to help you, so far, so I'll try and offer some observations from an engineer's (& tuba player) perspective.
The fact that the valves worked fine then stuck is interesting.
It was 'good' then suddenly 'bad'.
You don't say what you mean by stuck: jammed solid; sticking in a certain position; or other?
That information may be important to work out what happend when it went 'bad'.

What would I do?
(a) Cleaning the valve and casing is a good idea, which you have done.
Making sure I use lint-free cloths to wipe pistons down.
(b) I would remove each pistion 1-4 and look at the surface marks and scratches.
Compare the pistons that stuck with the ones that didn't.
Do they show the same places of wear as they should?
Are the marks evenly spread over the surface as they should?
Finally, take a close look around the edges of each piston's ports, which should be clean and smooth.
(c) Pads and stops.
Check any synthetic spring quieteners for degredation, bits breaking off.
If your springs are coated then is this coating still intact?
Check the soft stop (internal) sat on top of the piston for degradation.
If these soft stops are natural felt then consider swapping these for some that won't lose sheep hairs into your valve internals.
Not saying this will solve your problem, if it persists, but it won't do any harm by doing so.

Geoff

[Iainmac]

Thanks Geoff
The situation was that the valves were working well then did not return. They were not locked down just stuck. As indicated I cleaned them recoiled them and they functioned well at the next rehearsal.
I have chatted with Wessex and they reiterated the need to clean them weekly until they are lapped in.
Thanks so much for your response.

Iain

[GeoffC_UK]

Iain
Good news.
It sounds like Wessex manufacture their piston valves on the tight side.
The term 'lap' is a particular process where two surfaces are rubbing against each other and metal is removed.
Often a fine abrasive is placed between these surfaces to help quicken the metal removal process.
But, I understand Wessex are not refering to 'lap' but 'bed in', where the tightness at the start is lost and freed-up through use.
Hope it sorts itself, but certainly more frequent cleaning and oiling will encourage bedding in.
All the best, Geoff

[Michael Grant]

I had a similar situation with my Wessex helicon. Didn’t really get much help via Wessex but oddly enough while viewing one of their videos their tech guy commented on how they only use Resilience oils. I had not heard of them but in checking them out found this rave review from Chris Olka. Thought it was worth a try, ordered some and it pretty much took care of the issue. I’ve been very pleased with it. Here is a link:

https://www.resilienceoils.com/valves