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Help restoring QLS1

Thanks, Well I have to confess I tried to clean those pots without removing them and if thats the problem with the one midbass coupler then it looks like Im going to be following the advice yuns gave me a little better and going back in and pulling the crossovers back out. (this time I will take them apart and clean them right) I suppose
this is one lesson to remember. I reattatched the crossover with liquid nails and a couple of screws. Also I noticed that the mids sound better on my right speaker. This might be due to some cheap speaker wire im running on the left just to test with, but I suspect ALL the pots need cleaning since they only seem to work on one spot (mostly) Is this normal ? I have 2 mids that need the tinsel wire repaired. Is there a way to get that coating off without too much damage? they are really fragile and I may send those up to bill (but Im not sure what the cost might be) But I will say that these are better sounding speakers than anything Ive ever had and learning how to refoam them was a pleasure. Where might I get some dust caps ? That would make them look even better. My grills are in good shape but I noticed that the badges are both on the bottom right ? Is that stock or not? Again thanks and Im always glad to hear from yuns for advice.
 
I use "Stripeze' paint and varnish remover along with an inexpensive small artist brush to patiently soften the material surrounding the tinsel.
A carefully applied vacumm suction can remove most othe cave-in on the dustcaps(hopefully) and Watkins ixnays removing the dust caps of his beloved woofers...http://www.watkinsstereo.com/
 
i think i mentioned it to you before, but the guy who may have the most experience fixing those mids is Carcel at Seattle's "Around the Sound." of course, you have shipping to deal with, but his work is excellent and i suspect his per-driver cost would be lower than Watkins' (if they work on these). he's fixed a dozen of mine alone.
 
Well i think ive found my problem on the midbass coupler, I cleaned the pots (again but they were fine) I started checking all the resisters and found the one thats soldered to the wire going to my midbass coupler has no reading(its dead) My question is do I need to replace these in both speakers for even sound or does it matter. Im really treading new ground here. I confirmed this check by checking the one on the working speaker (midbass coupler) the numbers on the resister are 25w 5.4 ohm + or - 10% . Can I find something like this at radio shack ? Thanks for helping out. By the way its the one next to the edge in the pic.
 

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sounds like you may have found it. to be doubly sure, clip one of the leads and measure it again.

here's a helpful tip (i can't remember your electronics starting point, you may know this already): you generally have to be a bit careful reading resistors when they're still in the circuit (and capacitors, if your multimeter does those as well). you have to make sure that there isn't more than one closed circuit path between your test leads, or else your reading will be "averaged" between all those paths. the simplest way to do this is to remove the element you're measuring from the circuit at one end, either by clipping a lead or removing a connector. you can also tell if this is necessary by reading the schematic closely -- in this case, it looks like all alternate paths would flow through a capacitor, so whatever reading you get should be valid.

can't remember if they have 20W-25W resistors at the Shack. either way, i'd recommend the Dayton non-inductive 10W models from Parts-Express for better performance. if you parallel two 10W resistors, in this case 10 Ohms and 12.5 Ohms, you get essentially a 20W 5.5 Ohm resistor, and that will be just fine.
 
Ok so when you say parallel Do you mean in line or stacked together with ends twisted to form one unit ? Also what I meant on the bad resister was that it had no continuity, My meter has a setting with sound for checking continuity, and I definatly have a break at that resistor as I was getting nothing by checking Ohms and nothing checking continuity. I did take loose one side to protect any( foolish checks I might made)switching my meter settings. I got to go to the shack and pick up some solder and look for those resisters,Are there any other things I may need for this repair that
you know of?
 
yeah, parallel means twisting each of the ends together so that there are two "paths" through, as opposed to putting the resistors in line.
 
Well first of all I want to thank everyone here that helped me with this project. Youall really walked me through alot of spots. I picked up 2 10 watt 10 ohm resistors and wired them according to cdfac advice amd that took care of the midbass coupler. I got everything together and gave them a run with some Fleetwood Mac and some Waylon and all I can say is (fantastic) Ive never had speakers that sound this good. The detail on the ribbons is really nice and I dont think Ive ever heard Fleetwood like this. Waylon Jennings consistent Bass beat sounds really tight ,something that my Polks (even with my Klipchs sub helping) cant compare. I think Im gonna have to break off working on those 2 mids for a week and spend a little time with the (woman of the house) before before i end up in the doghouse. Thanks Fellers!
 
I picked up some rubbing on the voice coil on my left woofer, so I quess ILL be refoaming it again. Im not sure what happened with it but, maybe I will do a better job getting it centered the next time. I used the cd that came with the refoam kit and it sounded ok when I first checked it. I havent been playing these QLSs I was waiting till I got those last 2 mid domes tinsels fixed, however theres a 18 yr old here that just loves to play loud hard bass so who knows. I tried to just break the glue seal and recenter the voicecoil (A sad, sad day for that new foam). Off topic anybody here know where i might get a thread to remove the cartridge on a revox B790 TT ?
 
jt45 said:
I picked up some rubbing on the voice coil on my left woofer, so I quess ILL be refoaming it again. Im not sure what happened with it but, maybe I will do a better job getting it centered the next time. I used the cd that came with the refoam kit and it sounded ok when I first checked it. I havent been playing these QLSs I was waiting till I got those last 2 mid domes tinsels fixed, however theres a 18 yr old here that just loves to play loud hard bass so who knows. I tried to just break the glue seal and recenter the voicecoil (A sad, sad day for that new foam). Off topic anybody here know where i might get a thread to remove the cartridge on a revox B790 TT ?
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Hi JT,

it sounds like you may have run into the same problem I had during my refoam. Check out posts 41, 45, 46 amd 50 of the Watkins white paper thread here...
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=276032&page=2
 
Thanks, I will spend a little more time on it this time around. Strange how it wasnt rubbing after i first ran them, since they had sat for a spell while I worked out that resistor problem. Do you know if the paper outer rings can be replaced, since I destroyed the one I just refoamed while removing it (again). Im gonna order another refoam kit and was hoping someone might have a source for that Ring (looks like a gasket to me). Im starting to get attatched to these speakers in more ways than one ( another 26.00 lesson) still they were free so I SHOULD BE GRATEFULL. Thanks again, JT
 
jt45 said:
Thanks, I will spend a little more time on it this time around. Strange how it wasnt rubbing after i first ran them, since they had sat for a spell while I worked out that resistor problem. Do you know if the paper outer rings can be replaced, since I destroyed the one I just refoamed while removing it (again). Im gonna order another refoam kit and was hoping someone might have a source for that Ring (looks like a gasket to me). Im starting to get attatched to these speakers in more ways than one ( another 26.00 lesson) still they were free so I SHOULD BE GRATEFULL. Thanks again, JT
Click to expand...

About the Ring Gasket I spoke with Bill Watkins on this subject and he said
it is only for cosmetics so when I put mine back in I just left them off.

BTW if I was as close to him as you I would have seen if I could have arranged a date
and waited for the repair and maybe even watched him do them.

You may still want to give him a call and discuss your situation he maybe able to fix your issue....

I am envious of your system I have been looking for a pair of QLS for a while enjoy
 
I ordered a paper gasket and another foam surround for that woofer. Watkins Emailed me today and said they didnt have time to work on the 2 mid domes with broken tinsel wires. Money is tight right now with a 18 yr old here starting college, so Im doing as much DYI as possible. I think Cdfac sent his to someone in the northwest for repair. Maybe I can get a address from him, As far as I know Ive been real lucky with these as they have good grills and all working except those 2 mid domes. The cabinets are very good only a few minor scratches on them, Something that a good wood refinish polish would take care of. I would love to put new crossover and or caps in these, but they sound great now, I can only Imagine how good they would be with new guts. But like others here I will keep looking for more speakers to rescue and (well you know how it is) LOL!
 
I refoamed the woofer that was rubbing, so good so far. Also used some Howards restore,refinish on the cabinets and some feed-n-wax. I really like the results, I thought I would share the results, also thanks for all the help here at AK .
 

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looks great! i guarantee you'll just love them when you're done, or give me a call and you'll get every cent back you put into them plus more!
 
Excellent!!!
I do believe those Quantums will cause rumble issues with the pictured stereo placement:) Enjoy.
 
yeah, you're right Goat. and it was a mistake i suppose. i've been around the block and i can see that now! the RS4.5's and RS1b's i've had since are also great, but there is still something special about that line array setup with the single Watkins in the huge cabinet.
 
You can be sure that if I ever decide to try on something different, You fellers will be the first to know , besides that some of yuns help put them back together. I will be around here for awhile since im so messed up in the head over Vintage stuff. Does it ever get any better? My spare room downstairs is starting to look like a episode of hoarders and I cant hardly get to my fishing poles for all the stray stuff i get from(places) I suppose (sigh) I will just have to live with it!!!
Whats rumble issues ? I hope that was complement . Heck I dont fishin anymore nohow, I go speaker hunting, Yep I must be messed up in the head . I would blame somebody but
I cant think of who it might be!
 
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Very nice !!! The QLS was my dream speaker during my college years. I bet you they sound pretty darn good.

Great job restoring them. :tresbon:
 
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