Quad ESL-63 rehab
- Thread starter mrehorst
- Start date
Oh, Man I love... "T Slot" bars... They rock and at 2$ a Lb... OMG~!
Makes me look like I know what I'm doing.
Makes me look like I know what I'm doing.
mrehorst
Super Member
Nice! I sent you a PM with the contact info for the makerspace friendly scrap dealer who sells t-slot for scrap price. Sometimes the stuff is pretty clean, sometimes pretty rough, depending on what it was used for, so you might have to spend some time cleaning it up, depending on your application.Oh, Man I love... "T Slot" bars... They rock and at 2$ a Lb... OMG~!
Makes me look like I know what I'm doing.
mrehorst
Super Member
I have published a summarized version of the Quad ESL-63 Rehab blog post, leaving out the stuff that didn't work. You can see it here.
mrehorst
Super Member
I just listened to Patricia Barber singing Ode to Billy Joe on the Quads. I plugged a binaural mic into my PCM-M10 recorder and recorded it. You can hear the file, straight out of the recorder, here. You may hear some extraneous noises, too. I live in the city and it's never really quiet. The recording is binaural, so wear headphones!
mrehorst
Super Member
I'm building a new diaphragm stretcher using some aluminum extrusions I had in storage and 3D printer corner pieces. The aluminum parts are cut to the exact dimensions of the driver (583mm and 175mm) so the diaphragm resonance should be the same on the stretcher and when it's glued to the driver grid. The final corner pieces are being printed now. The printed parts fit tightly into the aluminum and 4 screws hold each corner in place. It's all very solid.
mrehorst
Super Member
This is sized specifically for ESL-63s (and 989s, etc.). It won't fit 57s. So sad!
This aluminum is oddly sized- about 56.8mm high x 42.5mm wide (that doesn't even work out to anything normal in inches). That means I need a new tire tube for it. I ordered a 20 x 1 3/8 tube with a 60mm long stem and Presta valve that should arrive tomorrow. The valve stem will go all the way through the aluminum and still have some length left to connect the pump. I still need to make a base and figure out how to make it tiltable. The edges where the plastic meets the metal feel very smooth, but I'll probably cover them with duct tape to ensure there aren't any sharp edges to cut the diaphragm film.
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At any rate, they look great. You must have a lot of hours in them.
Excellent! I’ve recently discovered the Makerspace at the HB public library and printed some fazors for some headphones. It’s an amazing resource. Is the film just wrapped around the inner tube? I’m loving this thread.
mrehorst
Super Member
One of the problems with the whole process of replacing the diaphragms is handling the film. It comes off a roll and that generates a triboelectric charge
that makes it want to stick to anything and everything it gets near, including the adhesive tape on the underside of the stretcher. I decided I needed a dispenser for the film and made one using my 3D printer (of course!), some skate wheel bearings, and a couple pieces of steel electrical conduit.
I grounded the conduit and routed the film over both pieces so that both sides of the film contact the grounded metal, hoping that would kill the static charge that comes from pulling the film off the roll, but it doesn't work that way. All I have done is created another source for triboelectric charge (plastic rubbing against steel).
But, the good news is that it doesn't matter and I am able to mount the film on the stretcher just by keeping the roll of film in close proximity to it and not having to walk it across the room.
I found the technique that seems to work best is to pull the film over the stretcher, attach it to the stretcher only at the two front corners, then cut the film free of the dispenser, pull it slightly tight and attach it to the two rear corners, then attach the film at the short sides, and finally the long sides, pulling out wrinkles as the film is being attached. Then I put some air in the tube to take out all the wrinkles, tilt it up to check resonance and put in more air until the resonance is where I want it (about 80 Hz).
After that I wipe the film and driver grid down with IPA, then apply glue to the film and to the driver grid, wait 15-20 minutes, check resonance one more time and adjust if needed, then put the grid down on the stretcher. I put a couple kg of weight on the grid and wait a few hours, then let the air out of the tube and cut the driver free of the stretcher and trim off the excess film.
I'm in the process of putting new diaphragms on some old drivers that I had rebuilt about 25 years ago (I didn't have any ability to measure the resonance back then, so they are all over the place). Once they are done I'll be taking a more serious look at rebuilding the 63s into 989s with the extra bass panels.
that makes it want to stick to anything and everything it gets near, including the adhesive tape on the underside of the stretcher. I decided I needed a dispenser for the film and made one using my 3D printer (of course!), some skate wheel bearings, and a couple pieces of steel electrical conduit.
I grounded the conduit and routed the film over both pieces so that both sides of the film contact the grounded metal, hoping that would kill the static charge that comes from pulling the film off the roll, but it doesn't work that way. All I have done is created another source for triboelectric charge (plastic rubbing against steel).
But, the good news is that it doesn't matter and I am able to mount the film on the stretcher just by keeping the roll of film in close proximity to it and not having to walk it across the room.
I found the technique that seems to work best is to pull the film over the stretcher, attach it to the stretcher only at the two front corners, then cut the film free of the dispenser, pull it slightly tight and attach it to the two rear corners, then attach the film at the short sides, and finally the long sides, pulling out wrinkles as the film is being attached. Then I put some air in the tube to take out all the wrinkles, tilt it up to check resonance and put in more air until the resonance is where I want it (about 80 Hz).
After that I wipe the film and driver grid down with IPA, then apply glue to the film and to the driver grid, wait 15-20 minutes, check resonance one more time and adjust if needed, then put the grid down on the stretcher. I put a couple kg of weight on the grid and wait a few hours, then let the air out of the tube and cut the driver free of the stretcher and trim off the excess film.
I'm in the process of putting new diaphragms on some old drivers that I had rebuilt about 25 years ago (I didn't have any ability to measure the resonance back then, so they are all over the place). Once they are done I'll be taking a more serious look at rebuilding the 63s into 989s with the extra bass panels.
mrehorst
Super Member
I've never heard 57s, but they seem to be extremely popular even though they seem to have more severe limitations than the 63s.
DQ-10’s sound very similar to 57’s which was the target. I heard them side by side along with Harold Beveridge 2’s and some Frankenstein 5KV Dayton Wright’s (each with their own bottle of argon gas). Dr Walter Bishop speakers probably. The Beveridge’s won the day.
