B15M

I have a Scherzer Picc.
It's about 4 years old and I have never washed it. I want to give it a bath, but I'm not sure if that's what's done with rotary valves.

So, how do you do it if at all?

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Brekelefuw

Rotary valves are a bit more complicated to disassemble. If you take pictures, I can walk you through it, but you will need a screw driver and a small soft mallet, and maybe a small peice of dowel to tap the rotor bearing plates back in to position.

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Vulgano Brother

Obviously a normal snake is only going to mess things up. I've done my own cheap Vulgano version of a chemical clean on my Scherzer using a tiny amount of vitamin C powder disolved in lukewarm water. A B.E.R.P. in the reciever to seal it off, the instrument hung over the utility sink overnight using some heavy duty rubber bands (Scherzers are pricey!). Why vitamin C? It is slightly acidic, but doesn't attack brass or oils and grease. The ugly green film should wash out in the rinse the next morning. Another tiny amount of baking soda mixed with lukewarm water run through the instrument will kill the acid, and a rinse of plain 'ol lukewarm water will remove that.

The stock corks on the Scherzer are silicon, so soaking it in soapy water as a degreaser would work just fine. Oil the valves, rotors, springs etc. afterwards.

As a preventative measure, a clean mouthpiece and mouth go a long way, especially if you spend some time each performance hitting the pain threshold at least once. It will help blow gunk out of the horn and annoy violists to no end--the best of both worlds!

Good luck!

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RG111

Or, you could take it to a pro cleaner yearly. The scherzer is so expensive that is my solution. Also, I freely admit to being a mechanical klutz, so while the other posters are, I'm sure, correct........
Good luck,
Roy Griffin