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Removing spider from basket/Realign/Reuse. What to remove it with?

woofercooker

woofercooker

Well-Known Member
Its a 40 year old woofer that is in great condition. So is the spider. I just need to realign the spider. I've tried MEK as recommended by audio people on the internet. How long does it take to work? I've been at it for a hour now and apply about every 10 min. Still not lifting.
 
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Who made the woofer?

MEK is good for a lot of glues but perhaps not yours. EV recommended MEK for the "spiders" they used as tweeter covers, but on their passive radiator spider they advise "cut it out". Acetone, toluene, xylene, and THF are also solvents that can work but are even more volatile than MEK. I would try Goof-Off original, a witch's brew of nasty and very effective chemicals including some of the above.

I assume you're gently pulling on the spider to see if it will come loose?
 
I've released spiders with toluene with great success. When using solvents like this be sure you work in a very ventilated area and if possible wear a suitable mask as it's nasty stuff to breath in. apply it with either a cotton bud or small paint brush. It doesn't take long for the adhesive to soften.
 
You can try 3M 08984 general purpose adhesive cleaner. I've used it for years to clean up glue when doing re-foams. Dries without leaving a residue and is a lot faster than most other chemicals I've tried like acetone, denatured alcohol, etc.
 
+1 on the 3m 08984 - should definitely work. It is a little hard to find around here - industrial suppliers only. Toluene is the main ingredient.

Home Depot is a lame solvent supplier but Ace Hardware carries cans of toluene, xylene, and lots of others.
 
Thanks to to you all! I'm going to Menards and buy some Toluol/Toluene. The woofer is a United Speaker used in the MCS 683-8226. I just need to re-set the spider. Don't want to cut as I cannot find a spider exactly like the original. The after market stuff is too tall, too short, not wide enough etc. And I have checked many many places including the china made stuff on ebay. Though they do have many varieties and choices.. Just not the exact size.
 
Xylene works too, apparently there are some similarities between it and tuolene. I've used Xylene to remove whatever glue/bedding klh used to adhere the screens on their tweeters.
 
Some spiders are glued with epoxi. I usually cut the spider all the way around , the closest I can to the glued part, and glue it again.
 
any autobody supply store will have above mentioned chemicals but they are mostly sold in pre packaged gallons. some stores may have a 5 gallon can in the back and pour off quarts. some carquest stores sells paint so there's an option for those that have no other options available to them.

the 3m 08984 should be readily available at those places in quarts, if not they can surely order it.

anything at the paint store will be a less watered down than your hardware store "klean-strip" brand but it comes at a price. obviously, if you want faster evaporation , you want less water....

that being said, my local ace hardware carries most of the chemicals in quarts, as "klean-strip"

same thing goes for "duplicolor" brand. more water..most times it doesn't matter, some times it does. for spider glue it shouldn't matter
 
elnaldo said:
Some spiders are glued with epoxi. I usually cut the spider all the way around , the closest I can to the glued part, and glue it again.
Click to expand...
That's what I'm probably going to do. I'm going to meet up with my tech buddy tomorrow and go from there. It must some epoxy and not glue cause it never soften the "epoxy" in the least.
 
I did it many times. No problems yet. You can glue it again with care. And reinforce that cut edge with more glue.
 
Pure acetone may be your best bet. Available at most hardware stores. I knew a fella in the 70's who used it in his speaker repair shop. Dissolves just about any adhesive except epoxy.

I used to tease him with the following statement. Sit on a loudspeaker and give your acetone. ROFL.GIF

Robert
 
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