Oil Choice for Yamaha Rotors

[tbonesullivan]

I'm just wondering what everyone else is using on their Yamaha rotors. I've got three Yamaha trombones now, and for all of them, I used the oil that came with them, until I decided to go all Hetman.

With the Hetman oils, I use the regular rotor (12), bearing & linkage (14), and ball joint (15). But, I've been thinking of trying to see how the light rotor an bearing oils would work on the valves themselves. I'm not really sure whether the Yamaha rotors are "close tolerance", but given how they are assembled, I am thinking that might be the better way to go.

Of course, I also have some Ultra Pure Piston & Rotor oil as well as the Bearing (blue) and Linkage Key (red) oils. I was planning on trying that next, as I've pretty much gone to ultra-pure for my tuning slides on everything.

[Bach5G]

I have a Yam 620 bass. The second rotor was problematic, even after several techs worked on it. Eventually, it worked properly after I started to use Hetmans.

[BGuttman]

I worked at a company that had high speed drilling machines and they used spindle oil. The machines were hooked up to automatic oil feeders, but when a can was too empty to use it still had a fair amount of oil in it. I took one of these "empty" cans and scraped out as much of the remaining oil as I could. I wound up with nearly a pint. It's lasted me to now. I wouldn't recommend you buy the stuff unless you plan to resell it since it comes in 5 gallon pails and larger. The oil is Mobil Velocite 10. Works great on my Yamaha 682 rotor (and all my other rotors).

[Posaunus]

Are we discussing the rotor internal bearing surfaces (a few drops into the bell "receiver" and work the valve) - for which I use a good "valve oil", or the rotor spindle (remove the rotor cap and put a drop on the spindle end) - for which I use Hetman's Rotor Oil?

[tbonesullivan]

Are we discussing the rotor internal bearing surfaces (a few drops into the bell "receiver" and work the valve) - for which I use a good "valve oil", or the rotor spindle (remove the rotor cap and put a drop on the spindle end) - for which I use Hetman's Rotor Oil?

I guess all of them?

I use the rotor oil down the receiver, and the bearing/spindle oil on the valve spindles. That's how it's usually described in the Yamaha manuals.

[Burgerbob]

Ultra Pure Pro oil on the valve bodies, Light Bearing oil on the bearings. Works wonders on all the rotors I've put them on.

[tbonesullivan]

Ultra Pure Pro oil on the valve bodies, Light Bearing oil on the bearings. Works wonders on all the rotors I've put them on.

Since I've already got some ultra-pure, AND THE REFILL, definitely going to try that next oiling cycle. The linkage I may keep using the Hetman's on, as I haven't ever had complaints about how it works there.

[lupusargentus]

I've been using Yamaha synthetic valve oil on both my tenor and bass. It works for me but I don't put the hours of playing time in like many folks here. Both my horns are older and have some wear, it keeps them quiet and quick for my purposes.

[tbonesullivan]

I've been using Yamaha synthetic valve oil on both my tenor and bass. It works for me but I don't put the hours of playing time in like many folks here. Both my horns are older and have some wear, it keeps them quiet and quick for my purposes.

Do you put anything different on the spindles? I just got a YBL-830, and it came with the Synthetic Rotor Oil.

[lupusargentus]

Nope. I use the same stuff everywhere. It doesn't seem to "dry out" as fast as regular valve oil like Cass.

[BrianJohnston]

Yamaha Rotor oil is what I use. Makes sense because you literally have a Yamaha Rotor

[Bach5G]

I have 3 bottles of Yam oil: lever, rotor spindle, and rotor.

[tbonesullivan]

Yamaha Rotor oil is what I use. Makes sense because you literally have a Yamaha Rotor

True, but the "manual" does mention using lever oil on the lever, and spindle oil, which didn't come with the horn. They do sell them, in both traditional and synthetic versions.

For now I'm trying out the Ultra-Pure oils, and they seem to work well.

[Matt K]

I’ve been using Hetman for around 15 years now - off and on with a Yamaha and other models. I tend to use “classic piston” on rotaries and the linkage oil on the linkages. And then tuning slide oil on the tuning slide. All the Herman products are water soluble which means they need to be applied more frequently than oils that are not but also means that getting something in the valve doesn’t funk it up… and if it does it just needs to get wet to be back to normal.