Posted by Jay Bertolet on January 06, 2001 at 00:26:26:
In Reply to: Piston Valve Problem posted by Ryan on January 05, 2001 at 18:20:42:
I agree with other posters who suggest cleaning the valves thoroughly again. One thing that can happen with pistons is that the slide grease you use, if it isn't formulated to be compatible with your valve oil, can cause a large amount of buildup in the valves when the two substances interact, as they inevitably will. This buildup, when it dries, can be very difficult to remove. So be persistent in your recleaning of the valves and pay special attention that you clean out anything that looks like buildup from the leadpipe, valve casing, and all over the valve. In the future, you might try using a line of products that are compatible with each other, if in fact this is currently a problem on your horn. Nobody has mentioned it yet but Hetman makes a very nice line of products designed to do exactly that. Since I switched to an all-Hetman setup (valve oil, slide grease, heavy key oil for rotor bearings) I have noticed that I don't have to oil my valves nearly as much. I was oiling them pretty much every day but now it is maybe every week or two. In my experience, that is pretty incredible for piston valves!
My opinion for what it's worth...