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I’m returning to playing after a six-week layoff due to surgery issues, and I have a very stuck valve. Horn is a Josef Lidl LBB 701, third valve is stuck tight. Any suggestions, short of getting the pliers out? Thanks.

Pull the tuning slides and flood the rotor with oil, and I mean flood! I use a variation on bloke juice, aka lamp oil, with a little ATF for color, thickening, and ambiance.

Heck,.squirt some down the lead pipe and the first valve tuning slide, and all of the while you're at it. If it doesn't give immediately, wait a.few minutes, then try. The ATF in my mix is a WONDERFUL cheap penetrating oil. I use it all the time on the farm.

My Cerveny does the same thing, maybe it's the Czech valves?

Got it, thanks. I think it was the six weeks that did mine in. My Packer was frozen up too, but was easier to get released.

It happens, but if you flood it with oil, it will help keep bad things from happening like red rot, my struggle.

That's a rotor horn, right?

You could also tap the mechanism open with a rubber mallet very lightly (on the rotor side, not the linkage). My 181's valves like to freeze up when I haven't played it in a while, and that usually works for me.

If no one knocked the thing over when you were away from playing, there's about a 99.5% chance that it's just spit stuck.

It stinks, but if you put some PB Blaster between the valve and the casing and use some fairly convincing but not overwhelming type of force to get it to move a little bit again, you can break it loose.

You just have to use common sense and pay attention.

The rubber mallet tip on the rotor side is worth trying first, since that's the least invasive option here. If it really is spit or old residue sticking the valve, though, tapping alone may not break the seal. Before going to PB Blaster, I'd try a few drops of valve oil worked in and let it sit overnight; often that's enough to loosen things. Also worth confirming whether the valve moves even slightly — if it's completely frozen, forcing it risks bending the linkage.

The Brute Squad wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2026 8:31 am That's a rotor horn, right?

You could also tap the mechanism open with a rubber mallet very lightly (on the rotor side, not the linkage). My 181's valves like to freeze up when I haven't played it in a while, and that usually works for me.

Brute, your signature comment about being “breaker of things” concerns me when talking about using a rubber mallet on my horn.

And truth be told, Joe’s advice about using a certain amount, but not an overwhelming amount of force is what did the trick.

Thanks to all for your advice.