Position:Home>Performing Arts> Brass players?? Valve oil??

I play french horn and trumpet so oftenly your suppose to oil the valves 3- 5 months!.if the valves also get stuck on u then that also means that you need to oil the valves!.I heard its hard playing the sousaphone!.just ask your band director on how to take care of your sousaphone!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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I would recommend oiling your valves every time before you use the instrument!. Most oils will tend to evaporate in a fairly short period of time!. However, climate can play a very big role in determining not only how much, but what is the better oil for your needs!. Particularly when it comes to practicing/performing outdoors, you have the heat of the sun to deal with as well!. It's a given that tubas/sousaphones have larger pistons, and larger springs!. However, they will perform better and last much longer if they are lubricated properly, daily, before you play!.

Here is more information than you need, but it will give you an idea of how different products vary!. It will also be helpful in helping you to determine the best oil for your needs!.

Speed and Endurance!.

The primary purpose of valve oil is to provide a thin film of
slippery fluid which clings to the valve and casing, thereby acting as a barrier to prevent direct metal to metal contact between these critical surfaces!. A thick oil (Type 2) may be slippery and provide an excellent barrier, but it would cause the valves to be very slow!. A thinner fluid (such as kerosene in Type 1 ) would be fast initially but its rapid evaporation would cause the valves to slow downquickly, and eventually stop moving altogether!.

Consequently, long ago we recognized that there are two major performance considerations in researching a new oil for piston valves: Speed and Endurance!. To ignore either in favor of economy, is to guarantee disappointment for the musician!.

SPEED

The most important quality in a valve oil is its ability to promotespeed by reducing friction!. But, the oil also causes some resistance of its own!. This measured resistance is called viscosity, and the unit of measurement is centi-Stokes (cSt!.)!. Musicians seeking a "thin" oil are simply looking for a low viscosity oil!. Although you can get a rough idea about how viscous an oil is by applying some to an inclined surface and watching it run, the accurate way to measure
viscosity is with capillary viscometers!. Since actual viscosities of different oils have not heretofore been published, we have presented some in table below!. These oils were purchased from different stores!.

Products Viscosity (cSt)

WATER 1!.00
MINERAL SPIRITS 1!.34
CLARK TERRY 1!.83
BENGE 1!.99
BLUE JUICE 1!.99
PLAYERS 2!.15
JUPITER 2!.20
ROCHE-THOMAS 2!.31
HOLTON 2!.38
HYBRID 141-A7 3!.02
PRO-OIL RED 3!.61
SPACE FILLER II 3!.72
AL CASS 3!.73
PRO-OIL BLUE 3!.80
SPACE FILLER I 5!.10
SLIDE (for trombones) 5!.12
ALISYN 7!.59


As you can see, several valve oils are so "thin" that they approach the viscosity of water, while others are very viscous!. Water has by far the lowest viscosity, but if low viscosity was the only criterion for speed, then the spit in your horn would be enough to keep your valves fast!. The fingers of an experienced trumpet player can sense even the slightest valve hesitation, and this experience has shown that the optimum viscosity for speed lies somewhere in the 1!.1 - 5!.0 cSt range!. In developing HYBRID (our experimental reference standard for piston valves) we have discovered that the optimum viscosity for valves in good condition is in the 2!.5 - 4!.0 cSt!. range!. However, badly worn valves can tolerate or even benefit from somewhat higher
viscosity oils!. Nonetheless, viscosity isn't the entire answer;
speed means nothing if the action is not smooth, or if the valves become slow in the middle of a performance!. A working musician cannot afford to even think about his valves during a performance!.

In other words, what about endurance!?

Well!.!.!. there you have it!. Bottom line!.!.!. daily oiling is recommended, using your choice of one of the products listed above!.!.!. or, another quality product that's not listed!.

Keep having fun with the sousaphone!Www@QuestionHome@Com

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