Re: Re: bad tuba odour


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Posted by Doctor Ed on January 24, 2002 at 15:21:04:

In Reply to: Re: bad tuba odour posted by eine Loesung mit einer Loesung on January 24, 2002 at 05:28:38:

Vinegar is a weak acid. Baking soda is a weak base. Mixing them will give you a neutralized solution. There will be some fizzing, and that is exciting, but nicht sehr nützlich.

You probably have some mould or fungus growing in your tuba. A little garden. Maybe you could make a concoction that would kill the stuff, but this can be dangerous - possible harm to the horn. Anyway, the growths would just come back again after a while.
The mould or mildew prospers in moist conditions. You probably live in a moist place. You might be able to win the war with the mould by reducing the moisture in the horn. Drain the instrument well. And, as someone else has said, don't store the horn in a case, because that traps the moisture.

Try storing the horn on its side (so the bell can ventilate) and remove the tuning slides. Store in a dry and WARM place. Higher temperatures reduce the relative humidity. After a few weeks, hopefully the odor will be less.
Now here is a more extreme treatment that you can try if you are in more of a hurry or if simple ventilation does not work.

Remove the tuning slides and place the tuba into a sealed bag or case with several bags of SILICA GEL (fresh stuff). Those tiny bags that come with cameras are too small. You might need maybe a kg or so total silica gel. Put a couple into the bell, but make sure you can get them back out.

The silica gel should do a very good job of drying the instrument as long as there is access to the different air pockets. The case should be tightly sealed or the silica gel will uselessly take moisture out of room air.

After a while, the gel will be spent and you will need to regenerate it in your oven. You can get indicating silica gel to help you tell when it is spent.

You can buy silica gel in hobby stores, or from people that use it to dry flowers.
Come back here after a while and let us know if you solved the problem!

Grüss von Calgary, where the air is always dry.



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