Refoaming speakers?
- Thread starter THOR
- Start date
No. 1 - Take your time
Clean the old foam off the frame and the cone.
Glue only one side of the foam at a time. I do the frame first.
If your replacing the dust cap you can shim the voice coil to make sure it's centered. If you're not, push the cone in and out with even pressure and adjust to make sure it doesn't rub anywhere.
Clean the old foam off the frame and the cone.
Glue only one side of the foam at a time. I do the frame first.
If your replacing the dust cap you can shim the voice coil to make sure it's centered. If you're not, push the cone in and out with even pressure and adjust to make sure it doesn't rub anywhere.
I removed all the foam from the speaker frame with a razor knife and the residue glue ( frame only, with acetone) From the cone I used my fingers, then rolled as much glue off as i could. Using a razor on the cone can be done, but i think you get the idea. I used the razor to kinda scrape the cone to break up some of the glue. The key is to get clean surfaces, you do not want to glue onto old glue, it does not bond as well. Hope this helps.
I never had to replace the dust caps, just move the cone up and down and listen for rubbing. The dust cover protects the voice coil, and the speaker cone moves up and down the voice coil, so if you center the cone, push it , up and down, you should hear no rubbing, make sure you apply pressure evenly, make the speaker move like it was getting bass. Mine worked out perfect and i can not build a model airplane. I did hear that it is hard with speakers that have really tight fitting voice coils but mine certainly did not fall into that type. You will be happy with your results.
Thor, this was a good thread from March; http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5656
JonTee
Well-Known Member
Thor, I just refoamed a set of BA A-100's this past week (my first attempt) and found it to be quite easy. Removing the speakers from the enclosures and setting them on their backs on a flat surface kept them lined up pretty well for me. Letting the glue dry completely between each step (the cone, rim, etc.) is the key. A few hours or overnight.
One other thing, the foam may not fit the cone angle, so by flipping the foam edge underneath the cone edge and letting it sit over night will shape the foam to the angle of the cone.
Jon
One other thing, the foam may not fit the cone angle, so by flipping the foam edge underneath the cone edge and letting it sit over night will shape the foam to the angle of the cone.
Jon
Thatch_Ear
Addicted Member
One of the things that I found most usefull was a 1 oz bottle with a dropper for applying the alcohol. If you use a razor to help clean on the cone an Exacto knife has a good angle on the blade. When you get most the crap cleaned off the frame a pice of Scotch Brite pad will finish it up qickly and easily. Using those plastic clamps that carpenters use for gluin can be a good thing, and I have seen some in the dollar store, so getting a good amount of the smallest ones will help you keep that foam in place while the glue sets.
Do not let those Poms help you do it.
Do not let those Poms help you do it.
THOR
Fearless Prophet
GAK! You guys all forgot to mention how messy this is!
I haven't received my order from parts express yet but decided to get started so I figured I would clean the old foam and glue off the first set I plan to work on, an old pair of 12" woofers that came out of some old Pioneer 3 way party speakers from the 80's. The speakers came to me with woofers in need of refoaming and mismatched tweeters, I put a pair of emit tweeters in em' and a 12" car sub in one and a 12" Rat shack woofer in the other. I know that's not very audiophilearific but they are for my son to headbang to in his room So since I care the least about these speakers I figured I'd practice on them first before I tackled the EPI's I'm more interested in saving.
So last night I sat down at the kitchen table (white linoleum floor) and took of the old foam and glue. What a mess! There was some sort of black tarry glue on the woofer cone and it was sticky as hell and it got stuck all over the table and all over the floor, I had to use a rag soaked with alcohol and scrub the floor and table to get it off
So I add to the list of hints, put some newspaper on the floor and on the table
I haven't received my order from parts express yet but decided to get started so I figured I would clean the old foam and glue off the first set I plan to work on, an old pair of 12" woofers that came out of some old Pioneer 3 way party speakers from the 80's. The speakers came to me with woofers in need of refoaming and mismatched tweeters, I put a pair of emit tweeters in em' and a 12" car sub in one and a 12" Rat shack woofer in the other. I know that's not very audiophilearific but they are for my son to headbang to in his room
So since I care the least about these speakers I figured I'd practice on them first before I tackled the EPI's I'm more interested in saving.So last night I sat down at the kitchen table (white linoleum floor) and took of the old foam and glue. What a mess! There was some sort of black tarry glue on the woofer cone and it was sticky as hell and it got stuck all over the table and all over the floor, I had to use a rag soaked with alcohol and scrub the floor and table to get it off
So I add to the list of hints, put some newspaper on the floor and on the table
