Thayer cleaning

[bassboneman69]

Ok…
Forgive me here…
I am sure this has been gone over ad nauseam !
Back story
I have a mid 90’s B454e.
I.Love.This.Horn!
Bought from Jim Bermann. It has had the cores rebuilt about 3 years ago.

I believe I used to over clean my valves which lead to the rebuild.

Since being rebuilt I have just been oiling them. I am a bit gun shy, now, of cleaning it for fear of damage.

I use ONLY Edwards brand lubricants to keep parts moving well.

Pretty sure a good cleaning is in order - SOON.

Any thoughts, prayers, incantations I should be considering?

Looking forward to responses.

[Burgerbob]

Take them apart, wipe everything down with shop rags, oil it, put it back together. Done and done.

[brassmedic]

I don't see how it's possible to over-clean valves, unless you used sandpaper or something.

[BGuttman]

Only potential problem is if you are a complete klutz reassembling the thing. If you have problems using a screwdriver to connect something to a wall, better to find a shop to do the cleaning.

I believe there are cleaning instructional videos from most of the major manufacturers offering Axials. I sorta remember a video from Edwards that we had tackied to the Cleaning board of The Trombone Forum.

[Crazy4Tbone86]

I don't see how it's possible to over-clean valves, unless you used sandpaper or something.

I agree with Brad’s statement……..rather impossible to “overclean” a valve, unless you are using sandpaper, emery cloth, or a course steel wool. Even if you were using cotton cloth with an abrasive cleaner (like soft-scrub kitchen/bathroom cleaner), it would take a lot of rubbing to wear down the valves. By the way……don’t recommend using an abrasive cleaner on any valve!

If you are playing the instrument a lot, that is probably what is wearing down the valves. How long ago did you buy this horn and how much do you play it?

[BGuttman]

Here's a link to Edwards Instruments page on Axial cleaning:

https://www.edwards-instruments.com/tro ... intenance/

[Elow]

Are any brands super easy to clean? I loved my thayers but cleaning them twice a week for them to function was just too much of a hassle.

[tbonesullivan]

Are any brands super easy to clean? I loved my thayers but cleaning them twice a week for them to function was just too much of a hassle.

A brand of valves, or just a brand of Axial Flow valves? The most recent design (Infinity valve) using bearings at the top and bottom seems top require less work.

I have one of the old aluminum core Orla Ed Thayers, and while it needs oiling every other time I play it, I only really need to take it apart once a month.

[MTbassbone]

This is my personal opinion so please keep an open mind. I feel too much is made of the axial flow valve maintenance issue, and most maintenance issues in general. I have owned three Edwards trombones with axial flow valves. I never had to worry too much about cleaning and oiling. I oiled probably about 1-2 times a week, and cleaned out once a year or even less in some cases. That being said I traded some gear for a very used Edwards bass valve set from the early 1990s that was completely worn out. It had a lot of play in every direction, and would occasionally seize up. I sent them to Edwards, and they determined valve replacement was my only option. The valves were great afterward. I had a tech do an ultrasonic cleaning once on a different bass valve set, and they put the wrong valve core in the wrong casing. Once the issue was fixed they functioned great from point forward.

A friend of mine had an older Thayer valve on a Holton large bore tenor with the half cone design, and was having issues with keeping the valve lubricated. I had heard of some success with heating up the casing with a hair dryer and coating with warmed up lanolin. Then wiping out the excess. It worked really well, and needed very infrequent oiling afterwards.

I have never played the Olson axial flow valve. It looks like an interesting design. I was horn shopping about a year ago, and came across an amazing 90s Bach 50T. It was hard to walk away from that horn. I investigated having an independent Thayer section made, but the cost did not justify the risk of not knowing how it would play.

[Crazy4Tbone86]

I'm with you MTbassbone. I have owned 4 or 5 different axial valve trombones and have never had issues with any of them. I only needed to oil them about once every 7-10 days and pulled them apart for cleaning about 4 times a year.

[brassmedic]

Are any brands super easy to clean? I loved my thayers but cleaning them twice a week for them to function was just too much of a hassle.

Must have been something wrong with them. No way should you have to clean them twice a week.

[Elow]

It was on a shires Q series and it really was just the Gb valve, i had an old edwards that had problems with the thayers too. Any tenors that i’ve had with thayers have been just fine.

[sacfxdx]

my Gb valve gets dry faster than the F valve. I was using Edwards oil and it was an every other day thing. I switched to Hetmann's 11 and now it's every 7-10 days. The F valve never seems to get dry. Of course I oil it when I do the Gb valve. I do not find the Thayers to be too maintenance intensive. Just more so than rotors.