Favorite Valve oil for pistons?

[marccromme]

My favorite piston valve oil is no oil at all. It's the Yamaha trombone slide snot, a mixture of silicone and water, I believe. Easily applied, runs very fast, looses performance very slowly, does not wash out valve slide grease and thereby make valves stick, cause it's water based, works also on trombone slides like a charm, well, the praise never ends. Never makes any deposits, can easily be washed out with water only. But lasts anyhow long time.

[LeMark]

I've tried that before, but it was too thick for the tight valves of the Packer.

[Tubaryan12]

I'm currently using Resilience Oils #1 Light on all of my piston horns..........

https://www.resilienceoils.com/products ... oil-1-thin

I too am on team Resilience Oils. Nothing I've ever used lasts as long in my horns.

[Tubaryan12]

It's my trusty Packer 274. I really like the instrument, but the tolerances seem to be "professionally tight" and it doesn't tolerate such nonsense as ignoring regular cleanings. I've owned old bessons and Kings before, and I've never had this kind of issue before, but I play this horn more than any euph I've ever owned before, so every couple of weeks it gets a new coat of oil, and then it sits and dries out

I specifically purchased Resilience Oils for my Packer 274 euph. I cannot recommend it enough.

[ParLawGod]

I'm tempted to try that Resilience oil on my Besson EEb. The horn is near new (still breaking it in), and it really doesn't see a lot of regular use. Valves are quite tempermental...though of my own doing.

[LeMark]

I wrote Matt the other day and tried to get to check out this thread. I'm considering ordering the large jug. I wish I could find a small bottle locally before I did that

[BuddyRogersMusic]

Mark, I have the the RO light and regular in stock.

[Shawn]

I wrote Matt the other day and tried to get to check out this thread. I'm considering ordering the large jug. I wish I could find a small bottle locally before I did that

Matt wrote me--there had been some confusion on his mail server.
Claim is that shipping to Canada is more expensive during pandemic because border closed.
This confused me but I decided not to question it.

[russiantuba]

I use Alisyn for both of my tubas. It is hard to find, but a couple drops will consistently last a couple weeks under heavy sessions. You have to be careful if you go on a trip or are with one horn as it can gum up the valves of an unused horn.

They make it in Columbus, OH, and I picked up my last batch between teaching gigs.

[LeMark]

I tried alisyn after I gave it a good cleaning thinking it was thinner, and it seemed to slow the valves down. Maybe I put too much on.

[LeMark]

Mark, I have the the RO light and regular in stock.

Good to know. I'll try a couple local places, but I doubt they have it. I hate to pay nearly as much for shipping as I do the oil. If I mail order it, I'll probably go ahead and get the large jug. You don't have that, do you?

[Rick Denney]

When I was playing my Yamaha 621 F tuba outdoors with the TubaMeisters and later the Heritage Brass, AliSyn was the only valve oil that would work in Texas heat and humidity. Yamaha valves are Monel, which is a nickel-steel alloy as I recall, and I came to the conclusion that they were just picky.

But I never go two weeks without oiling, no matter how much I’m playing. I’ve been known to go two days, but I feel guilty when I do.

That tuba now works fine with Hetman’s.

I tried the ultra-pure lamp oil, but found that it got gummy and in not too long left gooey yellow deposits. I think I prefer to avoid paraffin-based oils. Hetman’s is expensive, I suppose, but it’s still pocket change compared to everything else in the tuba world.

Rick “oiling daily” Denney

[russiantuba]

I tried alisyn after I gave it a good cleaning thinking it was thinner, and it seemed to slow the valves down. Maybe I put too much on.

Yeah 2-3 drops max a valve. You can definitely feel when it needs oil, it will work fine and suddenly will give resistance. It’s definitely oil you have to know how to use, and it is relatively cheaper compared.

They said it’s not a big seller and might not produce much. They are an aerospace lubrications company who were trying to find an oil that doesn’t freeze in space, etc., and this was supposedly a byproduct of that from what I was told. They also do racing performance oils.

Thanks for that bottle Mark when I was on my recital tour when I forgot mine.

[BuddyRogersMusic]

No, sorry, we don't. Only small bottles.

Mark, I have the the RO light and regular in stock.

Good to know. I'll try a couple local places, but I doubt they have it. I hate to pay nearly as much for shipping as I do the oil. If I mail order it, I'll probably go ahead and get the large jug. You don't have that, do you?

[bloke]

lamp oil on a just chem-cleaned Willson 2900 euphonium, today, for a very particular customer...

"bloke, these valves feel amazing...and that's why I bring my stuff to you...What oil is this, btw...??"

[ole_irgens]

I have used UltraPure, Bluejuice and Hetmann, and are using Hetmann now, mainly because my local music shop have it in stock. But this are also good lubcricants, I think, with no. 1 being the light version for the new JP and no 2 for my old Besson with a wee bit more clearance in the piston area.

[sweaty]

I just got Resilience Oil #2. Before leaving town for 9 days, I oiled all my horns. When I got back, the valves all moved well. Even one particularly finicky valve behaved well. I am pleased.

I think band directors would do well to get the big bottle and oil all their horns with it before putting them away for the summer.

[kingrob76]

I used Hetman's for years and was happy with the performance but it did leave a yellowish residue behind on my piston that necessitated actually wiping them down far more often that I ever had to in the past. I later learned that the Hetman's residue was due to its high water absorption rate and emulsification because of the nature of the oil. I switched to Resilience Oils (and slide lubricants) and haven't looked back. No residue that I've seen and I'm quite pleased with the performance. Highly recommended. I still use the Hetman's on rotor parts and haven't had any problem there.

And as mentioned many times in this thread, frequent oiling > magic oil.

[Mary Ann]

Since the thread has been revived -- Alisyn on the euph. Must be the same as the other person who mentioned it -- in the desert in high heat. Blue Juice is way too thin to use here, just evaporates while you're playing.

[LeMark]

I use alisyn as well now. I have to wipe the valves clean before I apply new oil, because if I don't I'm just putting new oil on top of old oil that turns dark yellow