Here in Sweden you can buy "T-Red", wich is basicly etanol for cleaning/diluting, in almost every drugstore, gas station, hardware store e.t.c.
It's perfect for disolving Elvamide!
I'm personaly going to try and disolve Elvamide in washer fluid, wich is etanol with added surfactants - should do the trick!
I've done some experiments with Elvamide and added antistatic varnish with good results. Elvamide is a bit tricky to apply on the PET-film but well there, it should be a longlasting coating.
Good luck with your build and keep us posted!
/Roger
The first stator panel is done. I tested it and to my surprise everything was working right away. After a short listening test it's difficult to say anything about the sound except that I was positively surprised. The panel went maybe a bit lower than i was expecting it to go. I tensioned the mylar with tapes by pulling it with 2,5g force and the tape distance was about 2cm. Those are both the same numbers that I found elsewhere on this forum. Knowing that the sound quality is only going to get better after I'll finish the other panel and hook up the woofers makes me both proud and satisfied about my diy esl's. We are living interesting times...
Hi,
Nice to see another ESL project going.
From pictures it looks like you one used standard resistors on outputs of EHT supplies.
These are not really suitable for high voltage application. However if lets say 10x 1MegaOhm are connected in series their voltage rating is no longer exceeded and it will be safe to use.
Some hints about stretching the diaphragm : so far I have found the most predictable method is to carefully mark some small dots with a marker and measure before and after stretching. about 2% should be ok. This method has an advantage that it does not depend on membrane thickness.
I have never had good results with using just adhesive tape to stretch the film. A stretching frame gives far more predictable results.
Good luck!
Lukas.
Nice to see another ESL project going.
From pictures it looks like you one used standard resistors on outputs of EHT supplies.
These are not really suitable for high voltage application. However if lets say 10x 1MegaOhm are connected in series their voltage rating is no longer exceeded and it will be safe to use.
Some hints about stretching the diaphragm : so far I have found the most predictable method is to carefully mark some small dots with a marker and measure before and after stretching. about 2% should be ok. This method has an advantage that it does not depend on membrane thickness.
I have never had good results with using just adhesive tape to stretch the film. A stretching frame gives far more predictable results.
Good luck!
Lukas.
Lukas
That was a good catch. The output resistors that i am using on output are 18Mohm 400V rated, which might not be the best choice. I also ordered higher voltage rated 10Mohm resistors just in case the bigger ones will fail.
I did thought about building some kind of jig for stretching the mylar. I am sure that its the best way to do the job but in my case it was not going to happen. I don't have any good place to do the building unless livingroom floor and balcony are counted. Try to guess how happy my missus has been about my project.... The stretching seemed to go alright but the result isn't perfectly even.
For my next ESL project I will build the jig. I just don't know when that is going to happen. I'll try to finish this one first. I still have enough perforated metal and laminating epoxy to build 2 pairs of similar size panels or one pair bigger size panels.
That was a good catch. The output resistors that i am using on output are 18Mohm 400V rated, which might not be the best choice. I also ordered higher voltage rated 10Mohm resistors just in case the bigger ones will fail.
I did thought about building some kind of jig for stretching the mylar. I am sure that its the best way to do the job but in my case it was not going to happen. I don't have any good place to do the building unless livingroom floor and balcony are counted. Try to guess how happy my missus has been about my project.... The stretching seemed to go alright but the result isn't perfectly even.
For my next ESL project I will build the jig. I just don't know when that is going to happen. I'll try to finish this one first. I still have enough perforated metal and laminating epoxy to build 2 pairs of similar size panels or one pair bigger size panels.
it works!
I put together the second panel on today. I'm going to move in to another town in a few days and I've already packed pretty much all of my audio equipment. I had to settle on macbook headphone output and Trends TA10.1 amplifier. No woofers were connected. After a short listening test the sound of these ESL's were exactly what I was looking for - live like, detailed, clear, big. With the better amps, minidsp and woofers the sound is going to get even better than this. Me happy
I put together the second panel on today. I'm going to move in to another town in a few days and I've already packed pretty much all of my audio equipment. I had to settle on macbook headphone output and Trends TA10.1 amplifier. No woofers were connected. After a short listening test the sound of these ESL's were exactly what I was looking for - live like, detailed, clear, big. With the better amps, minidsp and woofers the sound is going to get even better than this. Me happy
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