I have recently notice that my water key cork does not cover the hole at the bottom of the slide entirely, do I need a new cork, or is it out of alignment.

It could be both...

Nobody can tell you without photos, I think.

Yesterday I took a older King in to repair with the same problem, a cup that doesn't align perfectly with the nipple (apologies for wrong technical terms?) and a pad that needs changing.

The tech said no way he could bend the key without risking breaking it, but he could put a new pad on that would seal. Charged me $2.12 USD.

I guess I could order a new key that might fit. And then when I go to change it the spring will fly across the room and be lost forever, and I'll order a new spring. By the time it comes I'll have forgotten where I put the key. Maybe I'll just live with watching the pad closely and changing when it stops sealing.

Anyway, I suspect that cups that don't meet the nipple squarely are fairly common.

A scrap piece of sheet brass to protect the waterkey from marring, and a pair or two of quality parallel jaw pliers can fix the majority of waterkey issues. Unless, of course, it was installed incorrectly.

Proceed at your own risk.

[quote="timothy42b"]...

The tech said no way he could bend the key without risking breaking it, but he could put a new pad on that would seal. Charged me $2.12 USD.

I guess I could order a new key that might fit. And then when I go to change it the spring will fly across the room and be lost forever, and I'll order a new spring. By the time it comes I'll have forgotten where I put the key. Maybe I'll just live with watching the pad closely and changing when it stops sealing.

Anyway, I suspect that cups that don't meet the nipple squarely are fairly common.[/quote]

All it takes is a light bump to cause that misalignment. The water key is sometimes made of soft metal and bends easily.