Valve Oil

Castle Bravo · Heavyweight Member Joined: 13 Apr 2003 Posts: 542

http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/micat/1995/msg00017.html

http://trumpet.dana.edu/misc/voil.html
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Gary A Wilder ECLIPSE MED CLASSIC GR64Z* GR64MS

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I asked God for a dubba; he gave it. Now for the other notes...

[ This Message was edited by: Castle Bravo on 2003-07-12 11:32 ]

Jarrett Ellis · Heavyweight Member Joined: 14 Jan 2003 Posts: 649

http://www.whocares.net
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Eclipse Medium Bell Scratch Gold
Bach 37H Gold Plate
Bach 3c

The General · Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2003 2:42 pm Post subject:

Hey, Gary!

Looks like old "tried 'n true" Al Cass is right up there in the rankings.

Zaja Watermelon must have come out way after this study!

Waitin' to hear from Ms. Lube-ner....

Bruce
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lonelyangel · Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2003 3:47 pm Post subject:

Hi Guys. I gave my Eclipse a really good clean this morning, inside and out ( I've been on the road for about 2 weeks). I cleaned the valves and the inside of the valve casings very carefully and dried them with kitchen roll. Then I put the valves back in with NO OIL. They felt fantastic and so I left them like that and went off to do two theatre shows in the West End. The valves are amazing - I had to get all the brass players in the pit to test them and everyone agreed that they are awesome.
They worked like a dream through two performances of My Fair Lady - with not a drop of lubrication. Maybe they have really settled in to the way I push them now but I have seen these valve blocks when they come out of the bubble wrap - dry as a bone, direct from the factory and they are unbelievable even at that stage!
Maybe with the money I will save on valve oil I can save up to buy an Equinox

.
All the best. Noel.

Castle Bravo · Heavyweight Member Joined: 13 Apr 2003 Posts: 542

Interesting, Noel....I had an instrument repair guy tell me years ago that valves should fly when dry...and oil was mainly supposed to seal the valve-valvecasing....anyone else heard of this?

Jarrett Ellis · Heavyweight Member Joined: 14 Jan 2003 Posts: 649

Yeah I gotta clean my Eclipse today... after I clean my room < its nasty>
-J
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Eclipse Medium Bell Scratch Gold
Bach 37H Gold Plate
Bach 3c

Bruce Lee · Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2003 2:54 pm Post subject:

Hi, Noel!

I love my Eclipse valves, too! But... I would highly recommend using valve oil on them. If you were to drive a car without oil, I don't think that you would get very far. Granted, we aren't creating the same amount of friction, nor achieving the same rate of speed as a car engine, but it still makes sense to use valve oil. From everything that I've read, you would be asking for pre-mature wearing of the pistons.

You recently gave up a "habit" that should leave you with plenty of "well-deserved" discretionary money, allowing you to purchase an Equinox fairly soon! Keep on kickin' that bad habit, and habitually oil your valves.

Your new Equinox is closer than you think!

Best always,
Bruce
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Buzz · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2003 10:29 am Post subject:

I used to use Al Cass exclusively. Contrary to the study, Al Cass seemed to break down quicker, and I was constantly re-applying valve oil. Now... I use Blue Juice because I have heard that it has a detergent in it... (I do not understand this because detergent is what is used to break up oil spills) I follow the Blue Juice with Zaja Watermelon. My valves are so awesome. I honestly have a valve oil addiction. That's because I have to KNOW that when I press the valve down, it's going to pop back up. (It's the least we could ask for.) If I don't know that, then I am a miserable player. I'm too busy sweatin' the small stuff to make music.
Meg

trickg · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2003 11:45 am Post subject:

I've used Al Cass almost exclusively since I was sophomore in HS, so approximately 16 years and the ONLY time I ever really had a problem with it was when it got hot, such as a summer season Military Ceremony, or when my horn got dirty and REALLY needed to be cleaned. I've heard that Al Cass isn't the best for the job, and even a good friend of mine, a highly qualified brass tech, says that Al Cass isn't that great, but you could have fooled me because I've been using it successfully for a long time.

Recently I lost my only bottle of Al Cass on a gig so I've been using my backup, a bottle of Vanilla Zaja, and it just doesn't seem to be quite as good, although it is working ok. Then again, my horn needs to be cleaned so that might have something to do with it.
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_PhilPicc · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2003 12:25 pm Post subject:

I used Al Cass for years then I sent a horn to Brass Bow for a PVA and when I got it back the valves were faster than before. I called them and asked what they used and they said Zaja Blue. I had them send me a couple of bottles when they returned some other horns they worked on and I have been using it ever since.

I've spent enough time on mouthpiece safaris so I certainly don't need a valve oil one.

Good Luck,
Phil

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Philip Satterthwaite

[ This Message was edited by: PhilPicc on 2003-07-28 15:26 ]

PJB · Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2003 6:12 pm Post subject:

I recently learned that Fat Cat oil is giving away free samples of both their valve oil and slide grease (I probably read about it on another TH thread!). I just received mine today--a 2 oz. bottle of oil and a 1 oz. container of slide grease. Haven't used it yet but the price was just right! If you are interested, go to http://www.fatcatoil.com.
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gmonteith · Veteran Member Joined: 05 Dec 2002 Posts: 104

My father, who is 76 and played extensively when he was younger, always used cold cream on the valves of his 1939 Olds Standard. He has just started playing again and uses water, saying the valves work fine without oil. I can't imagine, but it works for him.

DaveH · Heavyweight Member Joined: 20 Nov 2001 Posts: 3861

I haven't used my Fat Cat samples yet, but I am wondering if the bottle of oil is incorrectly labeled - perhaps it is the label that goes on a larger bottle - because that bottle of oil sure doesn't look like a 2 ounce bottle.

I have an Al Cass bottle that is marked 2 ounces, and the Fat Cat sample bottle doesn't seem to me to be nearly as big as the Al Cass...

I'm guessing that the Fat Cat sample is only 1 ounce perhaps...

pushyred · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2003 5:51 am Post subject:

That's probably why they are FREE samples. It would be illegal for them to sell the mislabeld bottles.