Originally Posted by Shermy

Hi All,

. . . one of the authorized dealers is a local music shop. I went in there hoping to see if they had any Kanstuls in stock or if they could order any. The owner told me they stopped carrying their horns because they kept having problems with the valves sticking . . .

Thanks,
Shermy

Originally Posted by tom turner

I've have very good results with Kanstul valves, including new ones, so I think the following will solve your problems. BTW, I'm going to write this very detailed to help others besides yourself who may not know why these steps are sooooo needed. That's for your patience!

THE PROBLEM WITH BRAND NEW HORNS

1. It is impossible to totally clean all the buffing compounds and extremely tiny contaminants out of the horn before selling. New horns need to be snaked out much more often during the first 90 days . . . not because they GOT dirty . . . but because the saliva is slowly breaking the contaminants free inside the horn and those contaminants are working their way into the valve casing area and gumming up the valves.

2. Additionally, as all the brand new valves break in with their valve casings, and the way each player pushes down the valves, more metal is “smoothed” by that friction and becomes new contaminants too.

Simply pulling out valves and oiling them doesn’t remove the black residue that’s causing the valves to gum up. Plus, valves break in better and last longer if you use the following regimen?


OK . . . here goes . . .


BEFORE BEGINNING
1. Get some lint-free cheesecloth to wipe down any build up and contaminants each time before re-oiling. This is important on tight fitting valves for a little debris can really mess things up. Keep the unused portions of cheesecloth in a sealed zip-lock bag in your case between oilings.

2. Get some Blue Juice oil to help speed up the time to "clean" the contaminants from your horn during break-in. Blue Juice has special detergents in it that will not just oil the valves but also serve to “wash” free the contaminants better so the crud will come off on the cheesecloth.

DON‘T OIL . . . CLEAN THE HORN OFTEN TOO DURING BREAK IN!
Simply re-oiling the new valves is not going to lessen your problem . . . for a while. Let's "speed up" the break in period and make the horn totally reliable starting TONIGHT!



CLEANING REGIMEN
1. VALVES--Remove the valves and stand them up in an old coffee cup that’s filled will warm, soapy water high enough to cover the valves below the valve spring areas (never the felts!) and allow the soapy water to degrease the valves while you attack the horn.

2. SLIDES--Before soaking the slides, wipe down the male-inserted parts that slide into the horn . . . As well as the male areas on the horn that the slides fit onto to remove as much lanolin or slide grease as possible. [Slide grease both lubricates the horn AND traps microscopic contaminants including metal, so you want to get as much of that crud out of the horn so it doesn’t eventually float into the valve casing area]

3. HORN BODY AND SLIDES
Let ’em soak about 15 minutes, then snake out each area well. After snaking the horn, brush the valve casings with a nylon valve casing brush, then rinse in clean water, followed by swabbing out the valve casings extremely well with a piece of clean, soft 100% cotton. This will further remove any oily build up, especially in the critical area just below the valve in its up position.

4. Now attack the valves! Remove them from the degreasing soapy water, CLEAN OUT THE VALVES INTERNAL HOLES with your valve brush (lots of crud comes down the leadpipe and can collect in the valve . . . ready to break free and lock up a valve at any time). Rinse everything with clean water and then use the cheesecloth, which will remove remaining oil and bits of contaminants! Place the valves on a VERY CLEAN surface.

Before putting the valves into the horn evenly run a sparing amount of valve oil down and around the valve casings. Then oil the valves, place 'em in the horn and gently rotate them 5 or 10 degrees from their normal alignment spot (again to make sure all contaminants break free). Push the valve up and down a couple of times, then REMOVE and clean the valve again with the cheesecloth. Lightly re-oil the valves and return the valves for good.

BOTTOM LINE . . .
The goal is to flush all that factory buffing rouge and metal-to-metal crud from the entire horn as soon as possible so the valves don’t’ get broken in with abrasives causing valve metal scoring.

Expect the cheesecloth to be super black each time you wipe down the valves when you OIL THE VALVES EVERY TIME YOU TAKE IT OUT TO PLAY FOR THE FIRST THREE MONTHS!

Once the cheesecloth doesn’t show black, congratulations, your super clean horn is also properly broken in and your valves will be incredible and reliable for years to come!

Hope this helps,

Tom

PS: After the break in period and the cheesecloth is not black each time, you can switch to your favorite “brew” for your valves!

Good luck and let us know if this cures your problem. I’ll bet it does!!!