Posted by David on April 07, 2001 at 15:44:36:
In Reply to: Meinl Weston Valves and valve oil posted by Todd Morgan on April 06, 2001 at 21:09:07:
Buy a variety of oils and try each one. Oil is just to coat the valve and casing. It then, mostly, flushes out leaving a very thin film on the surfaces. The water vapor from your system then beads up on the valves and acts like a ball bearing. Different oils react differently with the water in your system thus making some oils "seem" to not work. I am not a chemist, however, this has been by experience.
If all else fails with the oils, take the instrument to an expert repairman and ask him to polish the valves. I said, POLISH not lap. Sometimes imperfections are on the valve causing them to actually be too tight. Polishing will, or should, take care of your problem.
This is my experience as a tuba player with a MW2000. I am a repairman also and tried the Binak, Spacefiller, Al Cass, Holton and Fat Cat oils. After polishing the valves that were most sluggish, I used the Fat Cat with great results. The valves are amazing now.
Hope this helps.