Bold New Experiment with Piston Valve Maintenance. Wanna Join Me?

[RickF]

I remember someone posting somewhere that Matt Walters said, “Use Blue Juice, you’ll thank me later”. Maybe that was you Scott. I switched to BJ several years ago. It works great for me. The only thing about Blue Juice I don’t like is the container it comes in so I use some old Yamaha Synthetic containers I washed out. Just label them “BJ”. The stock bottle is bulky in my pocket and too much comes out all at once. I also oil after practice and putting away my horn.

[Magikarp]

Firstly, I brush my teeth before I play, and wash my mouthpiece EVERY time I play. This prevents any material finding its way into the valves. I clean the leadpipe every week and was the interior of the instrument every month. I do this by putting a hose on the leadpipe with the valves and slides in situ as this allows the water to follow through all the valves and connecting tubes that bore brushes cannot reach. After I’ve done this the instrument is disassembled and then each component cleaned individually. I don’t have problems with sticking valves, ever. I oil perhaps twice a week. I feel keeping the hooter clean is more important that persistent piling which in itself can lead to build up, particularly with noxious heavy oils like Blue Juice or La Tromba.

The materials are simple - lint free cloth so no possibility of particles escaping and finding their way to somewhere they shouldn’t, valve oil, Selmer Tuning Slide & Cork Grease for the slides, and Slide-o-mix Rapid Comfort for the main tuning slide.

[hyperbolica]

I have a tough relationship with valves. I have some sort of odd mouth chemistry. My lips peel and I develop some sort of mucus. I always get a first and maybe second valve that seizes if l leave it for a few days. Plus kidney stones, which I think is related to all of this. I definitely have to remove valves and swab the leadpipe on my euphonium after playing to keep them from sticking in the next session. If I wait until the next session, I have to remove them any way because they're already stuck. I've taken to using the cheap hardware store parafin-based lamp oil because even as little as I play valve instruments, I use a lot of it. Any tight tolerance valves that I have used get gunked in short order, but older valves with bigger gaps seem to be ok.

At one point after playing my euph a lot, I had to put it down for about a month. When I came back to it, there was something in the first valve passages that flaked off, almost like a giant piece of tropical fish food algae, but it was shaped like the inner valve passage. This of course prompted a full horn cleaning, especially everything up to the main tuning slide.

I would probably benefit from one of those older horns that has a condensation/tuning loop in the leadpipe. In the case of my Festivo, everything that goes into the leadpipe is directly gravity fed into the first valve.

The kidney stone issue is connected because whatever my system produces, it solidifies as calcium oxalate in my kidneys. Along with drinking a lot of water, the dr. recommends drinking something highly acidic every day - like lemon water or straight vinegar- to dissolve whatever deposits have shown up in my kidneys. I notice the lemon water (and even orange juice) seems to dissolve the junk in my mouth as well. So I imagine that I should be also cleaning my horn regularly with something about the same acidity.

I oil my old trombone rotaries once a year without fail, whether they need it or not. Except a Kanstul with tight valves, which I had to have lapped. Still, oiling them causes them to seize (I assume because the oil causes whatever condenses out of my saliva to expand and bind). But I clean and lube the outsides of the inner slides a couple times a week, and spray a lot of distilled water.

Valve instruments are really a secondary for me, so the bother of all this cleaning and lubing that I don't do for my primary instrument seems a little excessive, but I do enjoy my valve instruments. I think Dave's method holds a lot of merit, especially for people with a lot of stuff in their saliva that calcifies and seizes valves.

[euphdude]

I have some sort of odd mouth chemistry. My lips peel and I develop some sort of mucus.

Hyperbolica - I'm the same way when it comes to lips peeling while playing - it hasn't contributed to any valve trouble, but it does tend to accumulate on the mouthpiece rim, and even become uncomfortable every once in a while, while creating an uneven playing surface - for this reason, I rinse my mouthpiece with water after every playing session - to get rid of the buildup on the rim. Doug Elliott's lexan rims for some reason seem to stay cleaner - I have no idea why, but I have never observed any issues while playing on those rims. Oh, and silver seems worse than gold when it comes to accumulation of lip debris. I know, not a very appetizing topic, but we brass players do share some of the same challenges.

[hyperbolica]

Doug Elliott's lexan rims for some reason seem to stay cleaner - I have no idea why, but I have never observed any issues while playing on those rims.

I was about to make the same observation. Doug has also told me that he gets less gunk accumulation on his lexan rims. Must be a real thing.

[davewerden]

Latest update, about 10 months after I started the whole routine, after-practice cleaning and using alcohol and the BlowDry system. Here is a peek into the pistons from the removed rear compensating slide on #1. Not bad, huh? The last time the horn was cleaned, either professionally or via my garden hose, was January.