Hi,
I have both tweeters blown on my pair of HB2's. Looking closely the fine wire between the terminals and the coil has corroded and broken a couple of mm from the coil. Can I repair this (e.g. solder together)? I know I can get a replacement tweeter on Falcon Acoustics but that will set me back £50each, so I thought I would try a DIY repair first.
Any thoughts or advice appreciated.
Ed
PS Anyone know what a Heybrook Trio speaker is? Is it similar to the HB1? Is it any good?
I have both tweeters blown on my pair of HB2's. Looking closely the fine wire between the terminals and the coil has corroded and broken a couple of mm from the coil. Can I repair this (e.g. solder together)? I know I can get a replacement tweeter on Falcon Acoustics but that will set me back £50each, so I thought I would try a DIY repair first.
Any thoughts or advice appreciated.
Ed
PS Anyone know what a Heybrook Trio speaker is? Is it similar to the HB1? Is it any good?
If you get lucky, it is sometimes possible to unwind a turn on a tweeter coil and resolder. You might use some epoxy resin to tie things down. It might also be good to obtain some toxic old lead solder to avoid excessive heat, and scrape off enamel insulation.
But these sort of fixes usually last 5 minutes. Speakers probably got hammered at parties. Maybe ferrofluid dried out. LOL.
Replacement beckons, hand in wallet, IMO. You should try and identify the exact tweeter. Many variants IIRC.
WA HB2 Loudspeaker
But these sort of fixes usually last 5 minutes. Speakers probably got hammered at parties. Maybe ferrofluid dried out. LOL.
Replacement beckons, hand in wallet, IMO. You should try and identify the exact tweeter. Many variants IIRC.
WA HB2 Loudspeaker
Thanks for the advice. Yep over zealous turning up of the volume by me or the kids I am sure!
Tweeter has Audax HD 12x9D25A, 8-9 Ohms, 2016 on the back.
Where exactly should the ferrofluid be? (excuse my ignorance). There is the coil part with the black diaphragm, that you see from the outside of the speaker. This dome feels wet and has debris inside. Is this leaked ferro fluid or should it be like that?
The magnet comes off the back and has an orange dome (this is breaking up and I think is the source of the debris in the diaphragm) that fits into the front section. Which of those parts should have the fluid?
I am assuming that is all bad news and I need to buy a complete new unit rather then just a new coil/diaphragm.
Once that is sorted I will need to start checking the cross over components for leaks.
Thanks
Tweeter has Audax HD 12x9D25A, 8-9 Ohms, 2016 on the back.
Where exactly should the ferrofluid be? (excuse my ignorance). There is the coil part with the black diaphragm, that you see from the outside of the speaker. This dome feels wet and has debris inside. Is this leaked ferro fluid or should it be like that?
The magnet comes off the back and has an orange dome (this is breaking up and I think is the source of the debris in the diaphragm) that fits into the front section. Which of those parts should have the fluid?
I am assuming that is all bad news and I need to buy a complete new unit rather then just a new coil/diaphragm.
Once that is sorted I will need to start checking the cross over components for leaks.
Thanks
Hello Ed, you could test the voice coil with multimeter for dc resistance and then if proven okay, think of a way to solder the broken wire with another piece of bare wire. The tricky part is to scrape the excess enamel off from the original wire and solder these back together with the patch wire.
Unfortunately, Lojzek, it looks like what are technically called the tinsel leads to the tweeter have fractured due to over-excursion. The debris might be foam or fibrous dome damping that has fallen apart over the years. Best cleared out altogether IMO. You might replace it with loose cotton-wool, but that's a guess, and it might even ignite when run hot! I could be wrong on this, but I think the idea of the damping was to glue it to the dome and magnet.
You can see the copper wires on a split aluminium former (split to reduce eddy currents) there. AFAIK, brown ferrofluid wasn't used in this one. This is a very difficult repair. As I said, unwinding a turn might give you some hope, and that's not a huge issue, since a tweeter has about a 100 turns. But you've still got to give the attached wires room to move, and stick them down too.
AFAIK, Falcon offer a drop-in £50 replacement: Audax HD12x9D25 HD12x8D25 spares and replacement voice coils from Falcon Acoustics, The Leading Supplier of DIY Hifi Components..
Its a 6 ohm DC 90dB fabric-dome by all accounts. IMO, anything that might physically fit around 90dB will do. As we all know, it isn't hard to adjust a resistor in a tweeter crossover for level. With a 6" bass, the tweeter must be quite attenuated anyway.
You can see the copper wires on a split aluminium former (split to reduce eddy currents) there. AFAIK, brown ferrofluid wasn't used in this one. This is a very difficult repair. As I said, unwinding a turn might give you some hope, and that's not a huge issue, since a tweeter has about a 100 turns. But you've still got to give the attached wires room to move, and stick them down too.
AFAIK, Falcon offer a drop-in £50 replacement: Audax HD12x9D25 HD12x8D25 spares and replacement voice coils from Falcon Acoustics, The Leading Supplier of DIY Hifi Components..
Its a 6 ohm DC 90dB fabric-dome by all accounts. IMO, anything that might physically fit around 90dB will do. As we all know, it isn't hard to adjust a resistor in a tweeter crossover for level. With a 6" bass, the tweeter must be quite attenuated anyway.
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I have repaired metal done tweeters in the manner suggested already by System7. Unwind 1 turn and resolder it to the terminal, with tiny amount of slack, and it will last. The wire usually releases if its a surface wire and not buried. I had both tweeters (on 15yr old Missions) with wires broken and ferrofluid sprayed everywhere.
If there was ferro fluid, you'd see brown residue. I don't see any.
As for the cause. Maybe excess volume, maybe metal fatigue, maybe transient from changing sources or live cables. In either case it's already broken, you have nothing to loose in trying. You can even try a few times
If there was ferro fluid, you'd see brown residue. I don't see any.
As for the cause. Maybe excess volume, maybe metal fatigue, maybe transient from changing sources or live cables. In either case it's already broken, you have nothing to loose in trying. You can even try a few times
Possibly BAF wadding would be usable as dome damping, you know, that white fluffy stuff often put in a speaker as a bit of midrange damping. It's most used as air-conditioning air filters and most offices have a roll of it in a store-room.
But the dome will work without it. You could probably clear off some of the old stuff with a cotton bud.
I don't know what sort of glue would be most suitable. Epoxy or Superglue might do it, and a certain heat resistance will help. You'd probably need to stick down both ends of the tinsel leads, leaving a bit that can flex. And scrape off the enamel for soldering.
But nothing to lose here. Wilmslow have a few Monacor units that will work if they fit conveniently. Monacor Treble Units. Like I said, 90dB and 6 ohms DC would be ideal. They do one called the DT-100 which looks promising. Tweeters are tweeters, IMO. Tell us how you get on.
But the dome will work without it. You could probably clear off some of the old stuff with a cotton bud.
I don't know what sort of glue would be most suitable. Epoxy or Superglue might do it, and a certain heat resistance will help. You'd probably need to stick down both ends of the tinsel leads, leaving a bit that can flex. And scrape off the enamel for soldering.
But nothing to lose here. Wilmslow have a few Monacor units that will work if they fit conveniently. Monacor Treble Units. Like I said, 90dB and 6 ohms DC would be ideal. They do one called the DT-100 which looks promising. Tweeters are tweeters, IMO. Tell us how you get on.
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OK, so I have not started this repair as I have found out that my Audiolab 8000PX power amplifier appears to be on the blink, so I am going to try and sort this out first. It may have been the cause of my blown tweeters. I will post in the amp forum for any guidance for this. Once amp sorted I will be back to the speakers!
Thanks for all the great advice!
Thanks for all the great advice!
You are in the wrong forum for advice on amps here except in the most general terms... you should be in Solid State...
But all is not lost.
Let's see: Preamp and stereo power amp? How hard can it be? Do you even need a manual?
FS: Audiolab 8000PX Amp & 8000C Pre
6moons audio reviews: audiolab 8000 Q+M
I don't need a manual for that. Hook your 4-8 ohm speakers up to top left and right on the power amp. Run phono leads from the first preout phono outputs on the preamp to the power amp.
Regular inputs to the preamp. I doubt you will be using any tape recorders on the preamp or bridged mode on the power amp or even biamping. Thus it will be the input to the power amp you use rather than the load outputs which are for bridged mode.
But all is not lost.
Let's see: Preamp and stereo power amp? How hard can it be? Do you even need a manual?
FS: Audiolab 8000PX Amp & 8000C Pre
6moons audio reviews: audiolab 8000 Q+M
I don't need a manual for that. Hook your 4-8 ohm speakers up to top left and right on the power amp. Run phono leads from the first preout phono outputs on the preamp to the power amp.
Regular inputs to the preamp. I doubt you will be using any tape recorders on the preamp or bridged mode on the power amp or even biamping. Thus it will be the input to the power amp you use rather than the load outputs which are for bridged mode.