Valve Oil Preferences?

[tubatodd]

I think I posted that I use mineral offer any moving part that's not a rotor or piston air seal surface...links, hing tubes, etc.

I guess I missed that. Good to know!

[Tubaryan12]

Resilience Oils. Good stuff.

https://www.resilienceoils.com/

I second Resilience Oil. Its the best I've ever used. I just purchased a quart from them.

[tubatodd]

I've been using the @bloke recommended Equate Mineral Oil for slides and rotor linkages and Paraffin lamp oil for valve oil for several months now. I am a believer.

[prodigal]

I sorta like "Blue Juice"...

I'VE STATED THIS BEFORE MANY-MANY TIMES:

Its COLOR and ODOR are IDENTICAL to (1960's - 1970's...small/round/wheel-shaped 1-oz bottle) LEBLANC valve oil (Holton from that era: same little bottle, but clear and NOT this odor).

The COLOR and the ODOR Of Blue Juice (duh) bring back memories of being 11 - 13 years old (ie. 7th - 9th grade..."junior high")...simpler times, bad sousaphone playing, horrible-HORRIBLE mouthpieces...a whole bunch of bike-riding and (city, not school) bus riding...

It's my suspicion that the Blue Juice people found out what makes that scent, figured out how to come close to copying the color, and (well...) voila.

Blue Juice lubricating properies: whatever...It's oil, and it's not too thick for valves.

I think Blue Juice is the Hoppe's No. 9 of brass playing! Smells of my youth! (Blue Juice does work better than Hoppe's now though.)

Rotary Valves and down the leadpipe: A blokeish formula: Lamp oil or 1-K kerosene. (Whichever smells fresher...) and a swigger of whatever ATF quart is open and closest to me, makes Pink Juice. Works well and is made from stuff I have around here anyways.

Slides: Lansinoh lanolin. Free to me, my wife nursed our four children. The youngest is 7. I have a lifetime supply of the stuff.

I make sure I shoot a LIBERAL amount down the mouthpiece receiver at every playing, to prevent red rot. My saliva is as acidic as my personality.

I wonder if it is a blood type thing...I'm O+. I've got all kinds of stomach acid, sensitivity to nightshades, and I attract every bug in the area. I had bad red rot on the yellow brass leadpipe on my school's 184. Never again.

[prodigal]

Oh and for bearings, I'm using a light LaBelle oil for model railroad locomotives. It has a needle oiler and it is sitting around, and good with brass and plastic...

[bloke]

Our digestive tracts are generally identified as being quite acidic, but the only portion of that which is utilized in playing wind instruments is the outlet - the mouth.

We're constantly blowing air between our front teeth, which are very alkaline.

https://www.lfdentist.com/2024/07/29/wh ... our-teeth/

[tubatodd]

It turns out mineral oil is a good upper lip lubricant. I was practicing and wiped my upper lip on my shirt and made it too dry. My lip started to adhere to the mouthpiece and made it almost impossible to play. I thought to myself, "what would I do in a performance situation if this happened?" So...I reached for the mineral oil I had it a small bottle for my slides and put a tiny amount on my finger and massaged it onto my upper lip. Problem solved.

[prodigal]

Since the thread began, I've switched over to whole goat's milk...raw - not past your eyes.

Seriously...I oil generously every time I play any of my instruments.
Again, I can use high velocity hot water to jet out that gross green slime, but I'm not fond of taking a tuba all the way apart to soak it in acid and dissolve scale out of it...

...That's why I charge y'all a lot to do that.

...and - all oily inside - they don't form much scale inside of 'em...

...and the "every time" and "generously"...That's why I buy oil not labeled as "valve oil" by the gallon, rather than oil labeled as "valve oil" by the ounce or two.

I am an excellent source for raw goats' milk. You can even come help to see that it is ultra pure!

[mrmacklems]

That’s a really solid and well-thought-out approach. It’s clear you’ve matched each oil to how the instrument and valves actually behave, not just the brand name. Your experience with Yamaha Vintage Synthetic turning sticky mirrors what many players report, and the long-term success with Al Cass on the YEP-321S speaks for itself.

Bach oil holding up better on trumpets also makes sense given its viscosity. The OAP 0W-20 blend for worn valves is an interesting workaround and clearly working for you. Trying Ultra Pure lamp oil before fully standardizing sounds smart, if it performs consistently without buildup, it could simplify your setup nicely.

[tubatodd]

Disclaimer: If I said/asked this before, I'm sorry.

@bloke I've been using the lamp oil and mineral oil home remedy for about a year and I like it. What I am unsure about is the rotary valves on my Rudi Meinl. I put lamp oil in the main slide and try to work it to the other valve surfaces. I've used mineral oil on the linkages, but I am wondering if that was the wrong lube for linkages. The valves are just "okay" but at times feel a but sluggish. If I've used the wrong lube, do you recommend I remove the linkages, clean them, clean the ball end and use something else? Thanks.

[prodigal]

LaBelle light oil with the needle has worked well on my linkages, or Rem Oil if I'm being lazy. I just flood my horn with light blokezoil (lamp oil, with atf for colorant/slight increase in viscosity) down the leadpipe and 5th valve slide, frantically work the valves from 5 down, and flood the spit rag (future fire starter). Works well for me. YMMV.

[bloke]

I've not had mineral oil slow down any small contact / small motion lubrication joints

Maybe the thing to do is just make sure that the mineral oil didn't migrate to the large air seal surfaces of the rotors. It's a bit too thick for those surfaces, whether it's pistons or rotors.

The idea with mineral oil and lamp oil is to oil generously and super regularly without breaking the bank, by paying pennies an ounce rather than several dollars an ounce.

[BopEuph]

At the risk of not reading the whole thread:

Is there a "synthetic" version, or at least does lamp oil work fine if I also use synthetic oils? Or do I need petroleum oil if I'm in a pinch and need to borrow some, if I were to go the lamp route?

Also, what makes "regular" oil different from "classic" or "vintage"? Is that the viscosity? And how would you add a bit to lamp oil for older horns?

Then again, my oldest horns have overhauled valves, so I guess I don't really need to worry about "classic" oil when I run out.

[gocsick]

Chemistry wise lamp oil is a highly refined petroleum oil consisting of almost entirely of saturated alkanes in C15-C25 range.

Synthetic oils is also mostly the same saturated alkanes but from a non-petroleum source plus priority proprietary additives. Some brands like Yamaha Synthetic use polyol esters or diesters. These are actually partially polar molecules that interact with water and give a more slippery feel. The problem is keeping these polar molecules in the non-polar oil base involves some organic chemistry beyond my pay grade... but it is very concentration dependent. When you add pure alkanes, like lamp oil, you dillute these additives and they can become unstable and come out of solution and gum up. Modern petroleum oils also have some of these same kind of additives. Berp bio oil is also very susceptible to this as well.

So no... if you use synthetic or anything but old school basic petroleum oil like Al Cass... do not mix it with lamp oil. Give everything a good cleaning first before switching.

[tubatodd]

I've not had mineral oil slow down any small contact / small motion lubrication joints

Maybe the thing to do is just make sure that the mineral oil didn't migrate to the large air seal surfaces of the rotors. It's a bit too thick for those surfaces, whether it's pistons or rotors.

The idea with mineral oil and lamp oil is to oil generously and super regularly without breaking the bank, by paying pennies an ounce rather than several dollars an ounce.

@bloke I put a bunch of lamp oil down the slides and worked it into the valves and that made a world of difference. I guess they were dry and slow. I'll have to keep on top of that.