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JBL L110 Restoration

goldswimmerb

goldswimmerb

Failed out of engineering, but look at me now!
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Hey guys, I recently picked up a set of JBL110s from a goodwill. They're pretty trashed. Both tweeters were completely pushed in, the dust cap on one mid-range has been pushed in, as well as the cone torn, and the other has the dust cap pushed in as well as torn.

I'm trying to removed the drivers, however it seems the midranges are unwilling to come off, I've unscrewed the screws but the driver is still in there tight as can be. Am I doing something wrong?
 
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Cool; I’m in a similar sitch, although my drivers are in decent shape. (Not so much the cabinets and grilles.) Likely the mids are simply stuck to the paint. I’d gently pry them out. A thin Philips screwdriver in a screw hole may do it, or a gentle plastic shim under the frame edge; masking tape can protect the paint. A little hair dryer heat may help.
 
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A few light taps on the edges of the driver frame before you lift. I have small plastic and rubber ended hammer. Also very thin putty knife between cab and driver.
 
Zonker92 said:
Cool; I’m in a similar sitch, although my drivers are in decent shape. (Not so much the cabinets and grilles.) Likely the mids are simply stuck to the paint. I’d gently pry them out. A thin Philips screwdriver in a screw hole may do it, or a gentle plastic shim under the frame edge; masking tape can protect the paint. A little hair dryer heat may help.
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An easier way to loosen a stuck driver is to use a small block of wood and a few light taps with a hammer. Usually gives in a bump or 2 and will not damage the paint or driver.
 
jobrewer1983 said:
Yep! :)
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I eventually got them out with a spludger and a hammer, not sure why they're so stuck. The tweeters sound fine (had to pull them back out as someone apparently though they were buttons) however, it appears they were touched alot as the black coating is fading in some spots, should I worry?

I've already ordered replacement midranges as they're torn and I don't feel like reconeing them.

And I've got new surrounds for the woofers on the way, one of the woofers has a small dent (can't get it out, I've tried everything, it seems to just be left over from that one being pushed in pretty bad, I got it mostly back to shape). Should I worry about the dent? Or just live with it since it's tiny and these drivers seem high enough mass it shouldn't make too huge of a difference.
 
Johnny_Law said:
I wouldn't worry about the paint on the tweeter dome.

The woofer dent, do you mean in the cone itself or in the dust cap?
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Also should I consider recapping the crossover? It looks like JBL used wax caps in some spots, which don't hold up well in the heat and humidity where I am.
 
goldswimmerb said:
Dust cap. I'd cry if it was the cone.
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A trick that has worked wonderfully for me on the thicker cloth JBL dust caps is to gently wet the creases / dented area (using a q-tip, or folded paper towel) and let the water penetrate through. Then, it will be supple and more prone to suggestion. Gently use a vacuum cleaner and it should now pop back out. Assuming it's clean, and the water is clean, it'll dry without a trace. I've done this many times (works great on JBL LE20-1 and similar dust caps too ;) ).

goldswimmerb said:
Also should I consider recapping the crossover? It looks like JBL used wax caps in some spots, which don't hold up well in the heat and humidity where I am.
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My L110As sounded excellent with the original crossover. Perhaps listen first and then decide?
 
Johnny_Law said:
A trick that has worked wonderfully for me on the thicker cloth JBL dust caps is to gently wet the creases / dented area (using a q-tip, or folded paper towel) and let the water penetrate through. Then, it will be supple and more prone to suggestion. Gently use a vacuum cleaner and it should now pop back out. Assuming it's clean, and the water is clean, it'll dry without a trace. I've done this many times (works great on JBL LE20-1 and similar dust caps too ;) ).



My L110As sounded excellent with the original crossover. Perhaps listen first and then decide?
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Tried the water trick, no dice, I'm guessing I've popped the cap out as much as is possible given the original damage. I don't think the dent is as bad anymore though, just a small one. Looks like someone before me tried to fix it too since there's marks of what looks like super glue slightly discoloring the cap. I'll just have to see how they sound once I get the new surrounds and determine the damage from there.

I'd rather have a permanent dent in the woofers than a permanently pushed in tweeter, so I'd say I'm happy so far.
 
goldswimmerb, did you order a pair of JBL LE5-10s to replace your damaged ones? I wouldn't go with anything other than OEM. JBL LE5-6s, LE5-8s, LE5-10s and LE5-12s will work. I have taken LE5-12s and painted the bright aluminum frame flat black to use in my L110s.

Larry
 
lrb1951 said:
goldswimmerb, did you order a pair of JBL LE5-10s to replace your damaged ones? I wouldn't go with anything other than OEM. JBL LE5-6s, LE5-8s, LE5-10s and LE5-12s will work. I have taken LE5-12s and painted the bright aluminum frame flat black to use in my L110s.

Larry
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Yup, went with LE5-6s since they were black and easier to find in good shape.

I have run into a strange issue, so maybe you, or another AK member can help me.

The right speaker works just fine after restoration and sounds fantastic.

The other, is having issues. It's reading an idle impedance of 17.4 ohms, where the other is reading about 8. It sounds like the midrange is trying to play full frequency and it's adjustment pot doesn't do anything. What should I look for in the crossover to see if I can fix this? They sound the same volume wise when playing but that one speakers midrange messes things up and sounds very off.
 
Could possibly be a bad L-pad. The impedance you are speaking of is that across the terminals on the back of the enclosure or across the two wires that connect to the midrange? If you remove the midrange speaker you can check the impedance to see if it changes as you turn the L-pad for the midrange. If it doesn't change you have a bad L-pad.

Larry
 
lrb1951 said:
Could possibly be a bad L-pad. The impedance you are speaking of is that across the terminals on the back of the enclosure or across the two wires that connect to the midrange? If you remove the midrange speaker you can check the impedance to see if it changes as you turn the L-pad for the midrange. If it doesn't change you have a bad L-pad.

Larry
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When I remove any of the drivers the reistance just shows an open circuit.
 
lrb1951 said:
Could possibly be a bad L-pad. The impedance you are speaking of is that across the terminals on the back of the enclosure or across the two wires that connect to the midrange? If you remove the midrange speaker you can check the impedance to see if it changes as you turn the L-pad for the midrange. If it doesn't change you have a bad L-pad.

Larry
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And this is across the back from the speaker wire clips
 
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