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Topic: Can These Speakers Be Repaired? |
Bill Bassett
From:
Papamoa New Zealand
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Posted 26 Sep 2011 7:27 am |
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OK, maybe I'm not the only one to have ever had this problem but I don't recall seeing it posted here.
You know those little braided wires that come off the voice coil of a speaker and attach to the terminals? Can those be repaired or soldered? I have a pair of 15 inch speakers that have been sitting in my garage for several years and I discovered when I went to clean them up so I could use them last weekend that the tiny wires had been eaten by mice. Yup, mice got in there and did their thing. One of the speakers has enough wire left to reach the terminals but the other just has little nubs sticking out of the paper cone.
I know those wires ae different and difficult to solder so, short of having these speakers re-coned, (they probably are not worth the money to do that.) Do you think they can be repaired by grafting a short wire onto the nubs? If so, how would that effect the impedence? Is there a trick to soldering them, special flux or something that works better regular electronics solder?
Thanks,
B |
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 26 Sep 2011 7:49 am
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| If these are throw-aways otherwise you can't hurt anything by trying and the impedance will not be affected. Use a good quality electronics solder and soldering pencil, tin all the new wire pieces first, heat the wire nubs on the speaker and get some new solder to melt into them as well, then when you heat the two together you can hope for a quick clean joint. Do the same thing at the other connections and try it out, GOOD LUCK! |
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Blake Hawkins
From:
Florida
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Posted 26 Sep 2011 9:54 am
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Dave is spot on about the repair.
You need very flexible wire for the replacement.
I've had good success with "Solder Wick." Choose a size that is close to that of the old wire. |
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Rich Santucci
From:
Perkasie Pennsylvania USA
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Posted 26 Sep 2011 4:09 pm
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| The proper way to effect this repair is to carefully remove the dust cap, you can't save it, but you don't want to cut into the cone. Using the tip of a soldering iron, melt the glue holding the tinsel lead/voice coil connection being very careful not to punch into the cone. Attach the new tinsel wire, resolder and reglue. Then of course you will need a new dust cap to install. I've never heard of it being done the way you mention, but I guess it could work. |
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Blake Hawkins
From:
Florida
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Posted 26 Sep 2011 4:40 pm
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Rich,
I've used Dave's exact method successfully for many years. There is the possibility that if the speaker
is driven hard, that the solder joints could break.
In which case, the method you have described would
be more reliable.
This is the kind of repair that is usually labeled:
"Authorized Technicians Only" and "Do Not Do This At
Home."  |
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Rich Santucci
From:
Perkasie Pennsylvania USA
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Posted 27 Sep 2011 8:31 am
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Blake,
As a re-coner myself, I've seen a lot of crazy customers custom fixes come across my bench, but I can't recall one that used solder wick! I've seen them with alligator clips, paper clips, solid wire etc.
But hey if it works, it works! LOL
Rich |
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Blake Hawkins
From:
Florida
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Posted 27 Sep 2011 11:43 am
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Rich,
I could never find a source for the original speaker
fine wire. Had headphone tinsel cords but they were
too fragile.
Solder wick is thin, flexible, comes in different
sizes and was easy to obtain.
I repaired and restored radios, amps, and broadcast
television equipment including video recorders.
So I was not a professional speaker repairman.
I did do a lot of old speakers, however which had broken wires and other damage. If I could not fix
it with with my resources, I'd replace it with a new speaker. If the old one was worth reconing, I'd send
it to a professional such as yourself.
Thanks for the info.
Blake |
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Clyde Mattocks
From:
Kinston, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 27 Sep 2011 12:12 pm
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JBL had some problems maybe ten years ago with some 15's that the excursion was too great and would break these wires. They sent me some replacement connector wires and I successfully repaired them. Not the easiest job. You have to scratch thru the black glue and get a good connection while leaving the right amount of slack for the excursion (speaker movement). Then you have to cover the repair with something like silicone cement. I'd just send them out for a recone rather than mess with the problem.
_________________
LeGrande II, Nash. 112, Fender Twin Tone Master, Session 400, Harlow Dobro, R.Q.Jones Dobro |
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