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Need advice on repairing a JBL L830

A

arcticranger

New Member
Hi all, first post.

Dug these JBL's out after about ten years safe storage and found a total loss of high frequency on my left speaker. Confirmed that both the tweeter and crossover are giving no sound. Upon opening everything looks as good as new, all wires well connected, all capacitors solid, clean as a whistle.

Given the solid construction of both tweeter and crossover and how clean it seems doubtful they'd both go bad at the same time. Which makes me dubious about just buying new ones.

Anyone familiar with these puppies?
 
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You need to disconnect at least one wire from each driver (tweeter) you are testing, both if possible, then MARK WHERE EACH WIRE GOES.
Set the meter for Ohms (upside down horseshoe symbol), use lowest or next to lowest setting and see what reading you get.
Let us know what reading(s) you get.
Youtube how to video..
 
I had to run out and get a meter lol. So here's the spec, thank you for that @goodolpg

Low-Frequency Transducer 4.8 ohms
High-Frequency Transducer 3.3 ohms
Ultrahigh-Frequency Transducer 3.6 ohms

My good speaker matches all of these, my bad speaker has

Low-Frequency Transducer 4.6 ohms
High-Frequency Transducer 0 ohms
Ultrahigh-Frequency Transducer 1.1 ohms

So I'll see if these parts can be ordered for less than an entire new set of these.

Excellent website you folks are great.
 
It looks like you did it correctly as the first speakers' readings look good.
One last test if you feel like it, take the HF and UHF drivers out of the "bad" speaker and try them in the other speaker and see if they make sound.
I doubt they will, but just in case...not sure why the one UHF reads 1.1, indicates it's electrically solid but restricted in some manner.
The one HF that reads 0, is that no reading at all, or is the reading 0?

If you decide to search for replacements ebay might be your best bet, use the model number and the numbers/letters on the back of each driver. It's possible drivers from other JBL models will work as well, JBL owners/fans might know.
I prefer listings that state tested electrically and give a reading and even better show a meter hooked up and showing the readout as part of the listings pictures.
 
goodolpg said:
take the HF and UHF drivers out of the "bad" speaker and try them in the other speaker and see if they make sound.
Click to expand...

By drivers you mean the actual speaker units correct? You feel this will isolate the problem to the speakers and not to capacitors or other electronics? I see no reason not to try that. My meter defaults to 0 and when connected to the HF didn't even blink, no reading. Maybe the HF and UHF somehow work together and the HF is reporting a 1.1 because it's partner is sick.

It's incredibly easy to damage the cones in these L-series tweeters and I did so today.

Chatted with JBL and tried to order replacement parts today, they were great but this spec got damn confusing and I wound up holding off until I can establish that I am buying speakers not just their metal casements which are not damaged. These same HF and UHF tweeters are used on multiple models and they did say they have stock.

They're gonna call me to clarify the order, I'm asking for these parts from that spec:

353107-001 UHF tweeter.
353237-001 HF tweeter

Learned a lot today thanks all.
 
353107-001 UHF tweeter.
353237-001 HF tweeter

Yes, it appears those are the drivers you need if yours are indeed faulty. I'm not sure plates/horn, screws, or gaskets will come with those. No problem you can use the ones you already have.
Save the screws and any plates/horn or gaskets you remove from your speaker as you will need those to use with the new drivers . Also mark each wire as to where it goes, HF + and -, UHF + and - in order to reinstall them properly. Pictures are a good idea as well for both proper wiring and any plates or gaskets involved.

Yes, by swapping to the other cabinet where all the drivers are working that would isolate whether it is the drivers themselves or some other component like crossover, etc.

If I am understanding correctly, the HF that reads 0 on your meter has no continuity between the + and - post on the driver. You said it doesn't even blink. In simplistic terms the wire from the + terminal (tinsel, often larger than the voice coil wire) may be joined to a thinner wire that is wrapped around the voice coil many many times and the other end comes out (may be joined again to tinsel)) and goes to the - terminal. Could be the wire is broken, sometimes where the tinsel is joined to the voice coil wire) sometimes a sort of easy fix, sometimes more difficult.
A bit more difficult for me at least, is the lowered resistance reading for the other unit, 1.1. That would suggest the circuit from + to - is complete but something is not right. Someone smarter than me could hopefully say why.
 
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goodolpg said:
353107-001 UHF tweeter.
353237-001 HF tweeter

Yes, it appears those are the drivers you need if yours are indeed faulty. I'm not sure plates/horn, screws, or gaskets will come with those. No problem you can use the ones you already have.
Save the screws and any plates/horn or gaskets you remove from your speaker as you will need those to use with the new drivers . Also mark each wire as to where it goes, HF + and -, UHF + and - in order to reinstall them properly. Pictures are a good idea as well for both proper wiring and any plates or gaskets involved.

Yes, by swapping to the other cabinet where all the drivers are working that would isolate whether it is the drivers themselves or some other component like crossover, etc.

If I am understanding correctly, the HF that reads 0 on your meter has no continuity between the + and - post on the driver. You said it doesn't even blink. In simplistic terms the wire from the + terminal (tinsel, often larger than the voice coil wire) may be joined to a thinner wire that is wrapped around the voice coil many many times and the other end comes out (may be joined again to tinsel)) and goes to the - terminal. Could be the wire is broken, sometimes where the tinsel is joined to the voice coil wire) sometimes a sort of easy fix, sometimes more difficult.
A bit more difficult for me at least, is the lowered resistance reading for the other unit, 1.1. That would suggest the circuit from + to - is complete but something is not right. Someone smarter than me could hopefully say why.
Click to expand...

I did a swap of the bad tweeters to the good cabinet, however I think I tested it incorrectly. I just hooked up one terminal of each tweeter to the cabinet wire then did a reading. The results were the same, 1.1 and no reading. Did you mean I should fully connect them and see if they actually produced sound?

Also is this voice coil inside the tweeter or the cabinet? Where would the broken wire be fixed?
 
No, connect the tweeter to both wires in the good cabinet and see if it makes sound.
unnamed.gif

The voice coil is the small wire I mentioned earlier.
The + and - in that picture would connect (it's soldered) to the thicker tensil wire which then goes to the connection terminals

The tensil is the thicker wire from the terminals to the smaller voice coil wire
Speaker-construction.jpg


If the wire is broken it could be right at the terminal, or where the tensil is soldered to the voice coil wire, or in one of the many turns around the voice coil.

Below, see the two "blobs" at about 11:00, that is where the tensile meets and is soldered to the voice coil wire.
08-jblc1-dustcap2.jpg
 
I did the complete install of bad tweeters into the "good" cabinet and the tweeters did not work. It was exactly like the bad cabinet. JBL did get back via email:

It appears that the parts that you're trying to order was not available on our warehouse. I would highly suggest that you reach our 3rd party parts seller like Crutchfield or Speakerworks and you may use the part numbers to order: 353237-001 (Ultra High Frequency Tweeter), 353107-001 (Regular tweeter). Thank you.

I checked those sites and boy are they hard to search. I'll phone them but would appreciate any tips on alternate sources.

At least I do know the issue is the HF and UHF tweeters, thanks.
 
I wonder if Speakerworks and/or Crutchfield were/are official service providers for JBL, that might improve your chances of sourcing drivers from them. I think calling them is worth the effort.
Otherwise Ebay, see my post above, #6 for tips on how I check listings for parts, usually a reading in range indicates a driver works. Also use the zoom feature to closely inspect the cosmetics.
If you go ebay you could set up an alert to be notified if any are listed for sale.
Another option, you could subscribe to AK ($25/yr) and place an ad in Barter Town which is the only place buying and selling is allowed here. No guarantees of course that someone would have what you need.
 
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elitopus said:
https://reconingspeakers.com/product/jbl-362830-001-tweeter/

Here’s an alternate for one of them. Maybe replace both so they match.
The tweeter might be harder to find.
Click to expand...

Got the 2 tweeters from Speaker Exchange as you suggested, easy install. The + and - tweeter connections use different sizes so no confusion there. Only problem was once I got the bad speaker working there the good one would not, HF and UHF silent. I disconnected, reconnected those tweeters, tested with another receiver, etc. Then I put the "bad" tweeters from the original broken speaker in and they worked fine.

Doesn't make sense but both speakers are now giving the same balance of woof and tweet, sound good. At some point I'll do another ohm test, for now I'm happy.

So thx!
 
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