TromboneChat

Hi Everyone,

I have a nice playing but ugly Elkhart Conn 62H. Unfortunately, the D valve gums up with tuning slide grease from the (stock) D slide. I keep the valve well oiled and end up having to take the D slide out to drain water pretty frequently, so I'm sure that is increasing the likelihood of grease getting into the valve. Recently, I've taken the grease off the slide and am using rotor oil on the D slide legs instead to stop them from corroding or getting stuck altogether. It solves the problem but the legs are so short that it mustn't seal well...

I was considering having the D slide soldered in instead. For those who don't know the stock design, it's really more of an extention to the original, tiny flat-E valve loop, so there's another tuning slide at the other end of the extension which would still be operable. Does anyone have any experience having this done or can think of reasons to avoid it? There's minimal lacquer on the horn and the valve section has clearly been taken apart before (the valve wrap is no longer soldered to so much of the bell stem) so I'm not worried about damaging the finish. Alternative solutions are very welcome!

Cheers!

The D crook on that is really long, right? It doesn't drain down through the valve on its own? Or when you open the valves? Also, are you sure that it's the tuning slide grease that's getting into the valve?

I doubt that tuning slide grease will be working its way down into the valve casing. It sounds to me like you need to have a tech adjust the fit of the inner/outer D tuning slide so that it is more air tight. Not a difficult fix, but you need someone who knows what they are doing.

Another thing……just as the previous person stated. When you engage both valves, the water should automatically drain down into the slide.