Speaker makes a scratching sound

[DIFORCE]

Hi , just wanna confirm with you guys about how absolutely retarded I am

So the other day I wanted to chamfer the inside of the woofer's hole in the back with an 1\2 inch chamfer .... The thing is there was bits of aluminium flying around everywhere and sticking to the speakers magnet ... No problem i though to myself , easy to clean... right ? wrong.

Thing is a didnt put any protective sponge or somthing inside the hole so the bits wont go inside the woofer or anywhere near the voice coil while im chamfering... so they did , and now when i push the cone with my finger the speaker makes a scratching and buzzing sound when I move it up and down , the speaker is the Seas ER18RNX 7 inch woofer .., Obviously small bits of metal are in between the magnet and the voice coil.

My question is simple Do I have to buy new speakers for my project ? or is there any way to clean it up ? I tried vacuuming it with my vacuum cleaner but it doesn't come off .... maybe some oil spray or air pressure spray ? help ?

[Ron E]

Originally Posted by DIFORCE

Hi , just wanna confirm with you guys about how absolutely retarded I am

So the other day I wanted to chamfer the inside of the woofer's hole in the back with an 1\2 inch chamfer .... The thing is there was bits of aluminium flying around everywhere and sticking to the speakers magnet ...

My question is simple Do I have to buy new speakers for my project ? or is there any way to clean it up ? I tried vacuuming it with my vacuum cleaner but it doesn't come off .... maybe some oil spray or air pressure spray ? help ?

Cut around the dustcap, leaving it attached with a small flap (I hold an exacto flat against the cone - so half the handle thickness above the existing glue joint) then use sticky tape to fish out the filings - these are iron, not aluminum. Aluminum wouldn't stick to the magnet. Then glue the dustcap back down when you are sure there is no more rubbing.

[DIFORCE]

Will try that !!! thank you very much

[DIFORCE]

Tried it , But it is impossible to fish out the little bits of iron that are just between the VC and the magnet they are too small ... and wont stick as they are magneted hard to the .. magnet.

Any way to reverse magnet polarity or somthing ? or use a stronger magnet ? or maybe i could just cut through the surround ... remove the membrane entirely clean it up and glue everything back ?

[Ron E]

Originally Posted by DIFORCE

Tried it , But it is impossible to fish out the little bits of iron that are just between the VC and the magnet they are too small ... and wont stick as they are magneted hard to the .. magnet.

Any way to reverse magnet polarity or somthing ? or use a stronger magnet ? or maybe i could just cut through the surround ... remove the membrane entirely clean it up and glue everything back ?

Well, it was worth a try. Magnets can be demagnetized and remagnetized, but it takes special equipment. If you start getting into major disassembly of glued parts, your FR probably won't look so nice when you are done. I wonder if you can buy a recone kit for the driver from the mfg? If you can pull the whole thing off, it might be easier to clean it out, and then insert a new diaphragm assembly. But if that doesn't work you may be getting close to the cost of new drivers.

[DIFORCE]

I did get close to the cost of new drivers , oh well. Might as well order the new U18RNX woofers and build the 2-way Idunn instead of mark K's ER18DXT ...