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Thread: Getting valve caps loose

  1. #1

    Getting valve caps loose

    Just recently I discovered a new "tool" to use if your valve caps seem to be stuck! its actually a can opener (see pic), and it doesn't damage or bend the valves at all when you use it since it is rubber! I tend to have sticky caps on my Willson euphonium so I keep it around so I can oil my valves if needed and I can't get the caps loose, so before you risk bending or scratching valves give it a try, I got mine at the local hardware store =]

    Keera Allen
    Senior, Central Michigan University
    Music Education: Euphonium, specializing in baritone
    Willson 2950TA Euphonium
    Yamaha YBH 621 Baritone
    Nirschl I-400SP Baritone

  2. #2
    Great timing, thanks! Just so happens I need to unstick some bottom caps on an older horn I just got.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Central North Carolina
    Posts
    2,368
    Quote Originally Posted by carbogast View Post
    Great timing, thanks! Just so happens I need to unstick some bottom caps on an older horn I just got.
    If they remain stubbornly stuck, particularly on an older horn, try PB Blaster. Instead of applying it out of the spray can, see if you can get some of it into a syringe or a needle oiler and then apply along the edge of the cap. Or just spray some into a can, dip a needle in it, and do the same. Let is sit (horn upright) for a day, maybe applying a little more. If that doesn't work, keep it up. I've let it do its work for as long as week on some stuck fasteners. It's pretty amazing stuff -- a catalyst rather than a "penetrating oil". I've used it on everything from log splitters, to tractor rotary mowers, to old tubas and euphoniums.
    Last edited by ghmerrill; 06-22-2013 at 09:20 AM.
    Gary Merrill
    Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
    Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
    Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
    1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
    Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
    1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)

  4. It might sound a bit rough, but a light tap (note LIGHT!) with rawhide hammer to the cap with often break the seal and make unscrewing easy.
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  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    West Palm Beach, FL
    Posts
    3,853
    See this post for another tool that will work in a pinch:

    Zyliss Strongboy
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

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