Bach 1110 and King Legend 2280

[JP]

Bach 1110 and King Legend 2280

Kevin,

I'm not thinking my spring has gone bad, but was wondering if a little extra spring tension will help overcome a sluggish valve problem.

[carbogast]

Bach 1110 and King Legend 2280

Hi JP,

I would take Kevin's advice; you're likely to damage the spring by stretching it. In any event, the spring is intended to set the firmness and return speed, not to overcome internal frictions. The valve should always move freely on its own.

There could be some gunk in the cylinder or piston (or both) that interacts with the oil after you've played it for a while. The gunk could be a result of repair or restoration work. Use your index finger to explore the cylinder; gunk will feel like a relatively rough or sticky spot. The cylinder should feel *perfectly* smooth, like glass.

Have you tried the "lava soap" cleaning method? It is described in one of the topics, and in Brian Bowmans "PRACTICAL HINTS FOR PLAYING THE EUPHONIUM/BARITONE HORN ".

This for everyone out there: has anyone tried one of the liquid ceramic stove top cleaners to clean valves? It's a very fine abrasive, probably finer than lava soap. It does a great job of removing baked on "gunk" from the stove top without scratching.

- Carroll