TromboneChat

My water key started dripping in rehearsal. Big puddle where there shouldn't have been one.

The tuba player had a cork of the right size. When I got home I changed it. I took the key off to do it. That wasn't terribly hard, though that spring was a little slippery. I didn't even have to get one of my kids to find the screw dropped on the floor, unlike most of my repairs.

But then I wondered. Can you do it with the key in place?

Really depends on how much clearance there is. I just did two with the key in place: a King 606 and a Chinese something-or-other.

Just a little more tricky.

I thought about trying it in place, on a Bach 42B, but then I thought if it goes wrong I'll end up taking it off, and I hate doing things twice. (Gives me two chances to screw up.) At least with the self adhesive pad I didn't end up heating glue.

I always change them in place. I use the Valentino synthetic "corks" that have adhesive on them, so there's never a problem. But if you have to get chunks of old cork out that have been glued in, then you generally have to take the key off to clean it out before you put the new one in. Even then, I'd probably try to clean it out carefully with a little set of picks and maybe some solvent on a Q-tip.

I just hate messing with water key springs. I always seem to come up one hand short and my fingers are too big. But here's a tip for handling situations like that which makes things a bit easier: Get a small pin punch that will fit through where the pivot pin for the key needs to go. (What? You don't have a set? No wonder you're having problems!)

Assemble the key using the punch in place of the pivot screw. Insert the punch from the THREADED side that the pivot pin needs to screw into. Everything is now in place and aligned properly -- you just have this punch hanging out, which is inconvenient while playing. So then use the pivot screw to push the punch out and screw it in as it drives the punch out. Everything will align neatly, and you don't have to worry about aligning and turning the screw at the same time while holding the slippery spring and key in position. This technique also works nicely when you have to remove and reassemble things like valve triggers. Tools are wonderful.

I changed those of many Yamahas and Bachs in place. I don't know if any one of them are glued or not; they may have been glued in the past, but the adhesive gave way long ago. I just used a thin stick to scrape all the remaining bits off.

ghmerrill wrote: ↑Tue Oct 09, 2018 9:37 am Get a small pin punch that will fit through where the pivot pin for the key needs to go. (What? You don't have a set? No wonder you're having problems!)

That's a really good idea. I have a set but I'm not sure there's a punch that small in it. But I'll definitely remember that before the next time. The most fiddly part of this was getting the screw lined up and being sure I didn't crossthread it.

I RARELY if ever need to remove the key to replace the cork or seal!

Eric

I always change the corks in place, and i,too, use the valentino neoprene corks. Also I use a drop of clear nail polish to hold the cork is as the sticky stuff on the valentino cork isn't all that great. The nail polish holds very well and is easily removed in the future.

My experience with the Valentino corks is that their inherent "stickability" depends on how well they fit the key. There are several sizes (denominated in mm, if I recall correctly). If they're a bit undersized, they may require some stick-um. In such cases I use contact cement, but almost anything reasonably sticky seems to work.

Best solution?

Saturn Water Key! No corks to blow out.