Repair?
Hi,
Mine are starting to go on some days.
Moca Audio in France will repair them The cost is 60 euro/tweeter plus shipping cost.
I purchased another pair on ebay with the idea of having a go repairing these myself. So far I have discovered that there is a screw in the middle of the rear (covered by a label) if you remove this, air can be pumped through to re-pressurize the dome.
What I need to do now is get a piece made that replaces the screw with a hole down the middle, I can then attach a tube with a cycle valve.
Watch this space!
Hi,
Mine are starting to go on some days.
Moca Audio in France will repair them The cost is 60 euro/tweeter plus shipping cost.
I purchased another pair on ebay with the idea of having a go repairing these myself. So far I have discovered that there is a screw in the middle of the rear (covered by a label) if you remove this, air can be pumped through to re-pressurize the dome.
What I need to do now is get a piece made that replaces the screw with a hole down the middle, I can then attach a tube with a cycle valve.
Watch this space!
with just 2-3 turns in this screw, you can pump in air (gently - you can do it with your mouth as well) and have a timeframe of ca 4-5 seconds to screw it tightly afterwards. Experiment a little and you will be able to do it easily 
I managed to rescue 4 pairs of them, which I thought (for years) that were forever lost.
I managed to rescue 4 pairs of them, which I thought (for years) that were forever lost.
thanks for the info guys.
my tweeters still have output but it is low in level.am i right in thinking they are deflating because i can see the wrinking around the edges of the dome.i can still feel there is some pressure when i gently touch the middle area of the dome?
also do you guys agree that these have an unusually sweet sound but lots of detail.i have not heard these when fully inflated as they were in a pair of used speakers that i bought.
my tweeters still have output but it is low in level.am i right in thinking they are deflating because i can see the wrinking around the edges of the dome.i can still feel there is some pressure when i gently touch the middle area of the dome?
also do you guys agree that these have an unusually sweet sound but lots of detail.i have not heard these when fully inflated as they were in a pair of used speakers that i bought.
Hi fransiscan, your tweeters are definitely deflating... it happens to them all eventually. You'll find the detail will be fully restored when they are re-inflated although they will take a few days to get back the fluidity they are famous for. I hope you received my e-mail detailing the repair process, and take note of the caution on over-inflating. Once you have burst one, it's all over.
with just 2-3 turns in this screw, you can pump in air (gently - you can do it with your mouth as well) and have a timeframe of ca 4-5 seconds to screw it tightly afterwards. Experiment a little and you will be able to do it easily
I managed to rescue 4 pairs of them, which I thought (for years) that were forever lost.
I personally reinflate my tweeters HD3P using a vacuum cleaner (!)
I know it seems strange but it works. (I think a similar process were used on the manufacturing)
The principle is to apply a vacuum on the front side so that atmospheric pressure fills the cavity of the speaker when the cap is withdrawn to the rear.
I made a simple box with two openings for the front and a connection for the vacuum hose,
To reinflate the LS you simply place them on the two openings of the box, diaphragm down, rear screw removed, you gradually turn the vacuum on until the maximum speed, and you retighten the two screws with a dough to seal.
Advantages of the method:
- The pressure of speakers is not too high, equal to the depression of the vacuum, always less than 1 atm
- The pressure is the same in the two tweeters.
Hope it helps
FP
I know it seems strange but it works. (I think a similar process were used on the manufacturing)
The principle is to apply a vacuum on the front side so that atmospheric pressure fills the cavity of the speaker when the cap is withdrawn to the rear.
I made a simple box with two openings for the front and a connection for the vacuum hose,
To reinflate the LS you simply place them on the two openings of the box, diaphragm down, rear screw removed, you gradually turn the vacuum on until the maximum speed, and you retighten the two screws with a dough to seal.
Advantages of the method:
- The pressure of speakers is not too high, equal to the depression of the vacuum, always less than 1 atm
- The pressure is the same in the two tweeters.
Hope it helps
FP
Hello, I'm new to the forum and just been looking for info on the HD3P's, I built a pair of World Hifi kit KLS11 about 15 years ago, checked over and re introduced to my listening room now. I have noticed a slight loss in treble to one of the units, but there are certainly no signs of crinkle to the domes at present( in storage they did shrink and crinkle at -0C though).
I'm very interested in the upkeep of these great tweeters and would like to add my post to the thread to keep things going.
I'm very interested in the upkeep of these great tweeters and would like to add my post to the thread to keep things going.
Hi m-rider3!
I think your method sucks! But jokes aside I must say what Andrew said that this is very clever engineering! I used your method to refill my HD-3P:s on my Leedh Nazca speakers. I have up to now used the syringe and nipple method to refill them from the backside but that is a much lesser method and not so precise. Now I just have to watch my local (Stockholm) forecast reports to show the highest airpressure that is displayed hour for hour on a website and I can then fill my precious tweeters with confidence! The diaphrams should be near flush with the faceplate on the tweeters. For best results the airpressure should be at least 1015 hPA. So now my Nazcas sings again (hurray!) and it now feels much easier to keep the tweeters tight and fresh over a long time now.
Thanks and regards to you!
Leedh-bo
Watch this wbsite as a reference.
SMHI - Observationer Sverige| SMHI
I think your method sucks!
But jokes aside I must say what Andrew said that this is very clever engineering! I used your method to refill my HD-3P:s on my Leedh Nazca speakers. I have up to now used the syringe and nipple method to refill them from the backside but that is a much lesser method and not so precise. Now I just have to watch my local (Stockholm) forecast reports to show the highest airpressure that is displayed hour for hour on a website and I can then fill my precious tweeters with confidence! The diaphrams should be near flush with the faceplate on the tweeters. For best results the airpressure should be at least 1015 hPA. So now my Nazcas sings again (hurray!) and it now feels much easier to keep the tweeters tight and fresh over a long time now.Thanks and regards to you!
Leedh-bo
Watch this wbsite as a reference.
SMHI - Observationer Sverige| SMHI
Well, I have news after a long period of deliberation and research (I must say that the methods mentioned here do actually 'suck', no offence.). I felt that the introduction of Oxygen to the tweeter was the main worry and then the lack of uniform pressure.
Chatting with a good friend of mine over a pint one night who works as a Lab technician, we came to the conclusion that the Glovebox at his Lab may hold the key. So I made a framework to hold the HD3, with a rubber tipped pressure lever that sits against the dome which measures the rigidity, we then placed the whole thing in the glovebox and set to work under pressure of some very helpful Argon gas, released the rear screw until the dome showed the desired reaction and re tightened the screw.
I very happy with the results and after probably 3 months now they are still holding pressure and sounding better than ever.
Chatting with a good friend of mine over a pint one night who works as a Lab technician, we came to the conclusion that the Glovebox at his Lab may hold the key. So I made a framework to hold the HD3, with a rubber tipped pressure lever that sits against the dome which measures the rigidity, we then placed the whole thing in the glovebox and set to work under pressure of some very helpful Argon gas, released the rear screw until the dome showed the desired reaction and re tightened the screw.
I very happy with the results and after probably 3 months now they are still holding pressure and sounding better than ever.
Well, there´s no need for fiddeling with other gases than plain air, the designer of HD3P did not(Gilles Milot). There is oxygen(gas) on the outside so why must there be another gas inside one could ask. Pressure is pressure how can it be ununiform pressure in this little cavity? Are there thermic turnovers inside? No, m-riders3 suggestion did really help me out and works fine and with my own developed tool I can reinflate a HD3P in less than a minute and with totally uniform pressure between two HD3P:s or twenty for that matter. So i think
m-riders method clobbers yours. Also can I do this at home and need no Laboratory to make it. My HD3P:s (have 6 samples) still holds tight and I´m totally confident they stay that way.
m-riders method clobbers yours. Also can I do this at home and need no Laboratory to make it. My HD3P:s (have 6 samples) still holds tight and I´m totally confident they stay that way.
Sorry leedh hadn't wanted to get your back up.
Anyway great news that there are more HD3's being saved and glad that you've had success too, I think I'm up to 10 pairs or so repaired now, some mine but most for other people.
I soon moved out of the 'Lab' after all a Glovebox is just a chamber, which I made and now have in my workshop.
The reason for my aversion to oxygen ( we cant live without it, but its slowly killing us haha ) is that it's corrosive. I hadn't known the originals were actually filled with 'air' as it were, so all's good there then. Oh and who doesn't like a good clobbering now and then, keeps you on your toes, don't you think.
Anyway great news that there are more HD3's being saved and glad that you've had success too, I think I'm up to 10 pairs or so repaired now, some mine but most for other people.
I soon moved out of the 'Lab' after all a Glovebox is just a chamber, which I made and now have in my workshop.
The reason for my aversion to oxygen ( we cant live without it, but its slowly killing us haha ) is that it's corrosive. I hadn't known the originals were actually filled with 'air' as it were, so all's good there then. Oh and who doesn't like a good clobbering now and then, keeps you on your toes, don't you think.
Ok, gold is the most non-reactive of all metals and never reacts with oxygen.
Gilles Milot (Leedh) the designer once recomended me to use the syrrange/nipple method and I sucsesfully did, no problem there. This was after Audax the producer of HD3P had shut down their business and he could not offer after- service for them. Anyhow I do not have bad feelings about that. It was when I later read m-rider3:s method I though that this was even better, and it really is because it workes so effortlesly. Case closed I thought, then you came along with research, glovboxes and laboratories , the works, when it just wasn´t needed and above all it did not help anybody,as it was, but maybe yourself. That´s why I thought m-rider3:s clobbered your method. You just as I are free to use either method but I use mine(ofcourse) based on m-rider3:s. Oh btw Gilles Milot said when I suggested to fill my HD3P:s with nitrogen (thought I was clever), "oh well that will only save you a couple of days, if it leaks it leaks"
FYI I have to say that Gilles Milot is a great person and not in the least greedy.
Gilles Milot (Leedh) the designer once recomended me to use the syrrange/nipple method and I sucsesfully did, no problem there. This was after Audax the producer of HD3P had shut down their business and he could not offer after- service for them. Anyhow I do not have bad feelings about that. It was when I later read m-rider3:s method I though that this was even better, and it really is because it workes so effortlesly. Case closed I thought, then you came along with research, glovboxes and laboratories , the works, when it just wasn´t needed and above all it did not help anybody,as it was, but maybe yourself. That´s why I thought m-rider3:s clobbered your method. You just as I are free to use either method but I use mine(ofcourse) based on m-rider3:s. Oh btw Gilles Milot said when I suggested to fill my HD3P:s with nitrogen (thought I was clever), "oh well that will only save you a couple of days, if it leaks it leaks"
FYI I have to say that Gilles Milot is a great person and not in the least greedy.
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