Ralph

Al Case may be silicone. I really don't know, but by strict definition, silicone is not a petroleum distillate. It's a man-made material. That doesn't mean AL Case doesn't contain both, but I don't know if the two would work well together. You're not suppose to mix petroleum oils with silicone oils as far as I know. An email to Al Case might be brewing. Amasing how confusing a seemly simple topic can be.

Anyway, I use Blue juice. God only knows what's in that stuff.

tromj

Blue Juice is a mysterious elixir which contains many unknown substances, mixed with the sweat from Bud Herseth's upper lip as well as the spit valve juice from Doc Severinson. if I tell you any more I'd have to kill you.

All kidding aside, i believe that one of the ingredients in Blue Juice is some kind of mild detergent.

__________________
Bach 37
Yamaha 8310Z
Yamaha 631 Flugel
Getzen 850 Cornet
Yamaha Picc
Yamaha Xeno C 8445
Monette B1-5M, B1-5F, B1-5D cornet, Stork 3P, Monette C1-5M

Ralph

Compounds are made up of elements as are all things on earth. Silicon is an element on the periodic table. It's an atom all by itself just like all the others on the periodic table. The number of protons and neutrons determine the specific element. Petroleum are hydrocardons, compounds that vary in the amount of carbon and hydrogen they contain. Some hydrocarbons are long chained molecules , others short chains. An organic compound is any coumpound made up of carbon. All petroleum is organic. The difference between gasoline and kerosine is the number of carbon-hydrogen bonds. I don't remember which, but one is stightly longer than the other. It's this difference that allows the two, along with the other hydrocarbons in petroleum, to be separated from each other in crude oil.

Now I've got a headache. I need a trumpet lesson.

Ralph

I think you're right and I have noticed it does keep the trumpet cleaner, but I have to use it more often.

oldlou

I have a 1934 vintage Martin Imperial Handcrafted extended cornet with brown spotty grunge on the valves. I have tried to clean them with a mild non imbedding abrasive compound,( made for polishing rifle barrels), toothpaste, which scares me with it's rather coarse pumice abrasive and, I can not seem to remove this grungy looking depositing on these valves. I have used A C oil almost excluvely until just recently when a band instructor friend reccomended Hetmans Synthetic. I am hoping that it might disolve the brown grunge. If it does not clean up my valves, is there an oil that 'might'?

OLDLOU>>

Anonymous

In my opinion Blue Juice is the worst valve oil I have ever used. It smelled kind of cool. But it made the inside of my trumpet look like a sewer. I'd take off the second valve slide and there would be a blue gunk all over the ports and valves. I will never go back to that stuff.

Tootsall

Zaja Blue does not leave the staining that you may experience with other (colored) oils. Yet another reason why I like it. Contains tiny bits of Teflon (which is why it says "shake before using").

I may go back and retry Binak when I run out of Zaja.... Binak worked very well for me but I started having some problems with an older horn and was possibly over-using it. Still have two almost-full bottles of it here (which is about a 20 year supply!)

trumpetmike

Is that what TFBS stands for?
I asked a friend in the chemical business and they had never heard of TFBS.

I have heard a suggestion about what this is short for, but it is definitely not suitable for a public forum such as TM

Stradivarius

they found that zaja smelly oils does leave leftover crystals once it dries out, thats why i don't use it on my strad

__________________
- Matt

Main Trumpet: (High-School Freshman)
Bach Stradivarius 180-72 (Silver) Custom made by the Vice-President of Bach himself

Old Trumpets:
Olds Ambassador (No Lacquer)
Olds Elkhart (Lacquer)

topo3man

I have tried just about all of the oils mentioned in this post and have had success and failure with just about every one of them. For some bizarre reason, some valves work better with different oils (and this includes valves with similar degrees of tightness). My latest rage is Bells Superlube. If you haven't tried it, give it a shot. It has worked well on all of my horns.