Re: Stuck Rotaries


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Posted by Lee Stofer on December 12, 1998 at 13:30:08:

In Reply to: Stuck Rotaries posted by Ian Easton on December 10, 1998 at 02:26:22:


Ian,
As Harry stated in his folowup, this is fairly common for horns that are out of commission for a while. My approach to this problem would depend upon the condition of the horn. By the way, I don't recommend "Fast" valve oil for any tuba rotary valves, unless it's the only thing available at the time. Different valve oils have different viscosity, or thickness, and using something developed for trumpet pistons on tuba valves is like putting light motor oil in a Peterbilt diesel motor-a somewhat higher viscosity will last longer and protect your rotors. Valve oil labeled for rotors, or Roche-Thomas or Holton work best for me, and my valves almost never get stuck.
If your horn is nearly new, and very clean, then a gentle turn of the stop-arm with non-marring pliers may do the trick. If that doesn't work, please don't force it. If Harry's routine doesn't work, then I recommend seeing a good instrument repairman. I have worked on a bass tromone that had the F valve seize after just sitting two weeks. The customer had not kept the instrument clean, and the rotor & casing had corroded so badly that the rotor had to be driven out. Even in that case, within 45 minutes the valve was estored to 100% operation. Best of Luck.
-Lee Stofer


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