Re: Piston valves that leak..


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Posted by John Swensen on March 07, 2002 at 20:17:13:

In Reply to: Piston valves that leak.. posted by Depends.. on March 07, 2002 at 18:55:19:

Any piston will leak to some degree; the question is, to what degree?
A better way to determine the extent of the leak is to pull a slide out an inch or so, wait ten seconds, then press the valve. If you get an audible pop, your valves are fine. If not, try waiting five seconds, four, three, two, one, until you get an audible pop when you press the valve. Alternatively, listening for the hissing sound to decrease to some point can tell you how fast the piston is leaking down.

The best tuba I ever played leaked down to nothing about twice as fast as my new PT-6P,
so 5 seconds with a pop is probably fine.

Also, an unoiled valve will leak faster than a wet one.


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