HELP! Corona has struck...

barliman2001

well, it's not only Corona that is to blame. Due to several medical issues, I haven't handled a trumpet for almost a year, and even was forbidden to buzz on a mouthpiece. However, for the last eight weeks, I have been allowed to start again - gently. Been quite successful, and now that I'be been allowed back on the horn, all my three go-to horns - the Buescher 264, the Olds Studio and my Benge 3 - have decided to seize up the main slides. Can't tune any of them any more.
Under normal circumstances, I would go to Votruba's in Vienna and have them fix the problem; but they have been closed due to COVID-19 and will remain closed for the general public for some more weeks. But I need at least one horn - preferably the Olds - working as I am due to attend an orchestra workshop in Italy fairly soon... so, what can I do myself to get at least one horn back into shape? (Yes, I know I have a few more horns; but the Courtois Balanced is not the type of horn to take for Tchaikovskij 6th Symphony, nor is my blue lacquer CONN International (i.e. Amati stencil) fun horn.

GeorgeB

@barliman2001

Wow, that really sucks. I've never had that problem so I can't help, but why not start a CHAT with flugelgirl she could probably make a few suggestions for an approach to the problem.

George

Curlydoc

Run hot water over the the lead pipe and the third valve insertion tube for about five minutes. It has worked for me several times.

J. Jericho

Spraying the the slides in penetrating oil overnight would be the obvious solution to me. If you want to use heat afterward, I'd leave the horn in the refrigerator (I understand that some European refrigerators are not large enough to do this.) for a half hour or so prior to using warm-to-hot water on the outer slides, giving the outers the chance to expand before the inners catch up. I'd also use a well-padded/rubber mallet judiciously, if necessary, to provide some motivation. If you're mechanically capable and sensitive, give it a try; it takes finesse, not brute force. Otherwise, taking it to a tech would be the answer, preferably before you attempt to move the slide, rather than after damaging the horn as a result of too much enthusiasm. Good luck, my friend.

administrator

Is it bad right now in that neck of the woods? Spring has been so nice here -- everything is opening back up and returning to semi-normal. We even get to go without masks now.

Newell Post

Fill the slide/leadpipe with ice water.
Let it sit for about 10 minutes.
Pour out the ice water and heat the outer part of the slide with a hair dryer. (You want the inner part to shrink and the outer part to expand.)
Just keep wiggling and flexing the slide until it moves.

BTW, Monster Oil makes a really good slide lube that seems to stay flexible in storage for a long time. I have horns that stay in storage for a year or two, and the slides always move freely after storage when I use the Monster Oil slide lube.

oldpete

Use "Corrosion Cracker". I watched a tech use it to loosen a stuck slide on my Schilke and have kept some around ever since.

barliman2001

@oldpete Unfortunately I can't use anything commercially sold in the US because the stuff is not available under those trade names here...

Dr GO

@curlydoc said in HELP! Corona has struck...:

Run hot water over the the lead pipe and the third valve insertion tube for about five minutes. It has worked for me several times.

Put the physics of coefficient of expansion of metal at work!

Dr GO

@oldpete said in HELP! Corona has struck...:

Unfortunately I can't use anything commercially sold in the US because the stuff is not available under those trade names here...

Ahhh, but hot water is universal!

SSmith1226

Most of this video is beyond my pay grade but there are a few at home demonstrated doable maneuvers, given the Covid circumstances, that might work in an amateur setting.

flugelgirl

Not so into that video - I have never had a need to own those pliers, and I pull slides that have been stuck for decades on a regular basis. The heat and penetrating oil parts are good - be very careful not to burn lacquer! Any extreme heat will also unsolder parts. A few light taps to the outside of that slide leg along with heat and penetrating oil would probably have broken up that corrosion without the need to unsolder, as it wasn’t very severe. I really don’t recommend that you do it yourself, as I’ve seen more damage done by people trying to remove stuck slides or mouthpieces than by actually dropping horns! Any time you do this without the proper tools and skills, it could end up a mess for your tech to fix later. Really think twice about doing this on vintage horns where replacement parts are not as readily available! You might want to use that backup horn you don’t like instead.

Newell Post

I've never had much luck with penetrating oils for this. The fit between the tubes is too tight and the corrosion can be too far away from the point where the penetrating oil is applied.

I had one that was really stuck one time where I filled the slide with crushed dry ice. (I had some in the shop for a different kind of thing related to my day job.) I let it sit for a while and then hit the outside of the tube with a heat gun, of the type used for a number of things in construction. (Sort of like a very high temperature hair dryer.) That, combined with wiggling, tapping, and flexing, finally got it loose.

You need to be very careful with both the dry ice and the heat gun, since one is extremely cold and the other extremely hot.

J. Jericho

I'm subscribed to this guy's channel, but let's say I wouldn't do some of the things he does the way he does them, and some things he does I wouldn't do at all. In this example, I'd have used more penetrating oil, and I'd have sprayed it into the leadpipe as well so that both ends of the tubing got soaked. I'd also have given it more time to penetrate, plus, as I was working the slide and when it started to move, I'd keep adding penetrating oil to make things as slippery as possible. I probably wouldn't have applied quite as much torque, either. I could just visualize the lower tuning slide pressing against the third valve.

Also, flugelgirl's point about not needing to unsolder the tubing is good. There are cases when it's necessary, and working the stuck area can be ugly and extreme when it is, but it's a last resort.

Lastly, penetrating oil and flame can combine in a colorful and illuminating event.

barliman2001

Thank you for all your helpful ideas. As it turns out, I'll have enough time toget the horns to a tech because the orchestra workshop I wanted to attend has been cancelled due to lack of participants. I'll close this thread.