Hi, sorry, I was asleep/working/playing a brass instrument ... I'm back now. Sounds like you've tried it all. You should see the shit state-of-repair of instruments Mr Limey is sent to teach on :eek:
Leave it in a bath of warm water and dishwashing soap for a good few hours, like Ali says, but it seems you've done that. If the school is going to fleece you for repairs/a new instrument it might be worth seeking out a repair shop and paying them to do it (they have Ways©), which'd probably work out cheaper.

A lot of the advice I found on the internet said hitting the valve caps with a hide mallet is the magic trick, a wooden spoon was a home alternative, i haven't tried that yet, I'm very reluctant to go bashing it.

Another suggestion was a jar opener, a mini strap wrench, this looks like a fairly safe option. I couldn't find my scrap bycicle inner tube last night to try that or go buy one somewhere.

Haven't really tried soaking the whole thing in the bath

Ali - the valves aren't stuck, it's the caps that you unscrew to even get to the valves.

Thanks to all, will keep trying.

Yup - mini strap wrench is good (friends report success with rubber gloves, too!). Give the thing a soak for an hour or two, that won't hurt it at all. I'd not bash it with anything, leave that to the professionals.

thanks :) bashing it is a frightening idea, we've heard how much dent removal costs....


see, beest, I said rubber gloves....


so no to WD40 then?

No to WD40. A music repair shop should charge perhaps up to $100 to sort it for you. They may say it's not worth it, but you can say you're conscientious parents trying to return school property in good nick (or dodge a punitive charge).

Sent by thought transference

I tried rubber gloves, mini strap wrench is definitely worth picking up, I knew I needed to go to harbor freight for something.

it's serious bath time for the baritone...... how'd you think it'd feel about a dip in the pool? Chlorine's a cleaning product, right? ;)

thanks all :)




muttermutterlazyboysandinattentiveparentsmuttermutter

Last resort, make it disappear and call your insurance company. :lol2:

Fraud! I mean FORD! Did you see that Ford???!

It's only fraud if you break the 11th or 12th Commandments
*
(What? You didn't know about those? Why yes, for sure, Moses actually came down the mountain with three tablets (iPad, Android and WindowsRT) but dropped the Microsoft one which had Commandments #11 - #15 on it which is why 99.9% of the population only know the first Ten Commandments.
*
11th Commandment:
Thou Shalt Not Get Caught
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12th Commandment:
Thou Shalt Not Get Found Out
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So basically, and with God's full approval obviously, it's like speeding, unless Smokey (US) or Plod (UK) pulls you over and gives you a ticket for doing it, it never happened.
*
Here endeth the first lesson.

Oh, unless you actually hit someone on a zebra crossing. Or put a child in hospital.
And no, that's not Daily Maily speak. I was hit on a zebra crossing and my nephew-by-marriage also hit when crossing the road. We both got away with soft tissue damage because the drivers weren't speeding.

So a bad choice of analogy on my part.
Note how restrained I am being in not bringing any sort of abuse into the discussion :rolleyes:

yes, no, what I was meaning is that getting caught for speeding alone is fantastically difficult, and officially unless you got caught (by police) or found out (speed cameras) then there's no record of you speeding so officially you didn't.
road traffic collisions or any other incidents are not "speeding" even if speeding was a factor in that other incident.

likewise unless someone can catch a fraudster or find one out after investigation (or one of us grasses the offender up) then there is no record of fraud so officially it didn't occur.
(yet!)

and I do appreciate the lack of abuse, thank you.

You know what?
I did read that completely wrong.
I thought you were saying that speeding was fine as long as you weren't caught.

And apart from being hard of understanding, I do admit it's one of my buttons.
Please accept a genuine apology.

If the hot bath doesn't work, I'd personally try WD40 or even PB Blaster. I know they both tend to break down rubber seals, etc., but if you can get it apart, you can clean the innards off afterwards.