L-pads questions..

[brianjrealto]

Hi all,

My speakers are in need of the L-pads needing a good cleaning. The sound is a bit scratchy when rotating the Brilliance control on both.

Luckily, the L-pads on my ESS Monitors have the ported air vents on the back of the L-pad itself. After spraying into the ports to clean them with DeOxit fader lube, is there anything I can use long-lasting to cover up those vented ports after the cleaning to prevent future dust from getting inside the L-pads? Or, is it a bad idea to cover those vented ports?

 

[brianjrealto]

Here's a pic I found online of what the L-pad looks like

 

[bimasta]

They can get hot, hence the vents. I'd leave them open. How many years did it take to accumulate enough dust to become annoying? 30? If it takes another 30 years to be annoying again, I could live with that. One squirt of De-Oxit every three decades doesn't strike me as onerous.

There are other ways to discourage the ingress of dust besides completely blocking them. You'd have to make it, or repurpose a common household item, to create a more circuitous route the dust must follow — dust particles passively fall into those vents, they don't curve or make hairpin turns — this way you keep the cooling air circulation.

 

[brianjrealto]

thanks!! I figured there was a reason for the ported vents.

 

[Porkloin]

I was going to suggest upholstery underlining, but you'd still have to diassemble to clean the accumulation off of the cloth every so often. I use it inside of computer vents, but those I can just hit with an air nozzle every once in awhile.

 

[brianjrealto]

yeah, I'm at a loss of reasonable ideas to prevent future dust. unless I glue something to the top of the control that makes like a "baseball cap" shade to deflect dirt from falling..

still thinking though...

 

[Porkloin]

Here's a pic I found online of what the L-pad looks like

Those big poly-caps are pretty ungainly. Did you notice a change in sound (over the original electrolytics) when you put them in?

 

[brianjrealto]

that was a picture I found online of a rebuilt crossover for the same speakers as mine. Just a guide to show what the L-pads look like on my Model of speakers. So, my crossovers have all original parts and caps.

 

[toxcrusadr]

Scratchy pots are not always due to dust and dirt from outside, BTW. Sometimes it's corrosion of the contact surfaces, sometimes the surfaces flaking off the contacts themselves. Due to those sources, it's likely you'll have to clean them again eventually, regardless of dust.

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

[brianjrealto]

agreed. I've found pictures online of old L-pads with the back cover removed showing alot of corrosion on all the contacts. Luckily, I bought these speakers in Minty-Cherry condition from the original owner who had kept them in their original boxes over the last 25 years stored inside his home in a closet. They looked like they just came off the showroom floor when I bought them from him- blew me away and almost brought tears to my eyes seeing them so pristine. So, hopefully the L-pads are just dirty and not corroded!

 

[R Swerdlow]

It's oxidation of the contacts, not dust.

All variable L pads oxidize, even when they aren't being used.

Spray them with De-Oxit and work the knob back & forth to clean them as well as you can. The only alternative is to replace them, but with time, they'll oxidize too.

 

[valvenator]

The above comment is correct. How would you get dust inside a speaker cab anyway?
Even if it's ported the dust will settle only an inch or so inside the port.
Out in the open it wouldn't see any more dust than the underside of a shelf unless the vents were facing up.

 

[jcidave]

Since you are doing some cleaning on your Monitors, it wouldn't hurt to carefully deoxit the little 4 pin terminal block that interfaces the heil leads with the crossover leads. I had a heil stop working some years ago simply because one of the leads lost its connection. after some hairpulling, I relanded all 4 connections on this terminal block and the heil worked again. By relanding , I just mean removing the leads and reinsirting into the block. Not restripping wire ends.