ME....
This afternoon when doing some tests on my speakers I was screwing the screws back in and slipped off the screw and put the phillips head screw driver through the edge of the rubber suround
It is just a rupture, it meets up perfectly, no missing material, but I'm wondering whether I should put some rubber glue on it, and if so what type?
I'm wishing I had have bought some Allen head or other types of screws and proper tnuts now Will have to be more carefull!! and make sure I don't work on speakers when I haven't really had enough sleep!!
Tony.
This afternoon when doing some tests on my speakers I was screwing the screws back in and slipped off the screw and put the phillips head screw driver through the edge of the rubber suround
It is just a rupture, it meets up perfectly, no missing material, but I'm wondering whether I should put some rubber glue on it, and if so what type?
I'm wishing I had have bought some Allen head or other types of screws and proper tnuts now
Will have to be more carefull!! and make sure I don't work on speakers when I haven't really had enough sleep!!Tony.
Attachments
Ooooh, bummer.
The trick is to put your other hand over the driver; if the screw driver slips out, the pain will remind you to take more care. Also, the puncture wound on your hand will heal itself. No glue necessary.
Can you get Robertson (square drive) wood screws and drivers in Aus? I imagine not, as they are considered exotic in the US. Standard fare up here though. If you can get them, do. The driver simply WILL NOT jump out.
Max
The trick is to put your other hand over the driver; if the screw driver slips out, the pain will remind you to take more care. Also, the puncture wound on your hand will heal itself. No glue necessary.
Can you get Robertson (square drive) wood screws and drivers in Aus? I imagine not, as they are considered exotic in the US. Standard fare up here though. If you can get them, do. The driver simply WILL NOT jump out.
Max
Hi Max,
getting anything other than phillips (or worse still flat head) bolts with hex nuts here in Aus has been proving difficult (and I can't really justify spending $50 AUS on shipping from Parts express (and to make it even worse they have a minimum international order of $50 US, so to get some bolts and insert nuts would cost me about $125 AUS, still I guess that's less than the cost of the driver I just air conditioned)....
Someone pointed to farnell the other day, nice button head M4 screws, but they only came in 20mm (I have 25mm thick baffles and need at least 30mm )
I'll have to try the pain reinforcement method next time.... I have slipped before but never done any damage, time to break out some new bolts too, I suspect the head on that one is a bit past it!
Tony.
getting anything other than phillips (or worse still flat head) bolts with hex nuts here in Aus has been proving difficult (and I can't really justify spending $50 AUS on shipping from Parts express (and to make it even worse they have a minimum international order of $50 US, so to get some bolts and insert nuts would cost me about $125 AUS, still I guess that's less than the cost of the driver I just air conditioned)....
Someone pointed to farnell the other day, nice button head M4 screws, but they only came in 20mm (I have 25mm thick baffles and need at least 30mm )
I'll have to try the pain reinforcement method next time
.... I have slipped before but never done any damage, time to break out some new bolts too, I suspect the head on that one is a bit past it!Tony.
Hey, lets turn this thread into a report of stupid things we've done.
Here's the one that hurts me the most.
Router and countersink a couple of 3-way baffles. everything must be perfect - flange clearance, flange depth and airflow scallops next to the woofer and mid frames.
Then router the roundover on the wrong side. Believe me, a screwdriver through my hand would have hurt less.
ps. I used the "pain" method when I used standard screws, but now I use socket head cap screws with t-nuts on everything. Looks better and pulls stronger too.
Here's the one that hurts me the most.
Router and countersink a couple of 3-way baffles. everything must be perfect - flange clearance, flange depth and airflow scallops next to the woofer and mid frames.
Then router the roundover on the wrong side. Believe me, a screwdriver through my hand would have hurt less.
ps. I used the "pain" method when I used standard screws, but now I use socket head cap screws with t-nuts on everything. Looks better and pulls stronger too.
ouch!!! knowing how long it took me to do my baffles I can understand, and suspect there were a few choice words flying about
The stupid thing I did with this project (other than the one at the begining of this post) was forget to drill the holes (and especially the bigger ones on the inside of the baffle) for the bolt holes and nuts, before gluing the box together..... I said to myself first thing in the morning I must set up the drill press and drill the holes in the second baffle. when I got up I went and glued and clamped the box together, didn't realise till about 20 mins after I had it all together doh.
I'm still having some problems with those nuts ( I think this box is cursed, as it is the one I did the damage on this midbass on), time to araldite them in I think (next disaster waiting to happen????)
I'm happy for this to be a stupid mistakes thread
anyone with suggestions on rubber glue feel free to post too
Tony.
The stupid thing I did with this project (other than the one at the begining of this post) was forget to drill the holes (and especially the bigger ones on the inside of the baffle) for the bolt holes and nuts, before gluing the box together..... I said to myself first thing in the morning I must set up the drill press and drill the holes in the second baffle. when I got up I went and glued and clamped the box together, didn't realise till about 20 mins after I had it all together doh.
I'm still having some problems with those nuts ( I think this box is cursed, as it is the one I did the damage on this midbass on), time to araldite them in I think (next disaster waiting to happen????)
I'm happy for this to be a stupid mistakes thread
anyone with suggestions on rubber glue feel free to post too
Tony.
For repairs to driver surrounds my favourite is.... that very light, aromatic glue you get in puncture repair kits. No really- it's a contact adhesive, and it bond rubbery things like surrounds incredibly well. I 've used to keep togther rotting foam surrounds before, in one case that repair lasted 3 years of daily use before i decided to recone the drivers!
Give it a go.
Give it a go.
Stupid things you say?
hehe, how about putting my 10.000uf caps the wrong way, not once, not twice but three times on a lm3886 amp i was building.
they all got hot and bubbely, nothing boomy though, as was the case when i did the exact same thing with my lm 4700amp.
the cap, qite sturdy, didnt blow for 20 minutes. but when it blew, it took half the veroboard and some resistors with it. seriouse blow..
wintermute:
you dont have umbraco bolts and hammer-inn bolts?
even up north we do..
Go to a specialist, or a company that deals specially in hardware, you know, those privatly owned thats been around for decades, that stock everything, and that's about 50% more expencive than all the others..
-Marius
hehe, how about putting my 10.000uf caps the wrong way, not once, not twice but three times on a lm3886 amp i was building.
they all got hot and bubbely, nothing boomy though, as was the case when i did the exact same thing with my lm 4700amp.
the cap, qite sturdy, didnt blow for 20 minutes. but when it blew, it took half the veroboard and some resistors with it. seriouse blow..
wintermute:
you dont have umbraco bolts and hammer-inn bolts?
even up north we do..
Go to a specialist, or a company that deals specially in hardware, you know, those privatly owned thats been around for decades, that stock everything, and that's about 50% more expencive than all the others..
-Marius
Hi Marius,
hehehe about the caps, I blew up a 1000uF electro once (teach me to solder on into the wee hours), made quite a bang!!! scared the life out of me, and since that day I always double check them Blowing 10,000uF caps three times must have been a somewhat expensive excercise!!
I did find insert nuts but the smallest were M6 and I needed M4.... I did find a specialty nuts and bolts place in the yellow pages, but I got slack and didn't ring them, partially because I already had one box done with standard phillips head bolts..... now I guess I'm paying for my slackness
Tony.
hehehe about the caps, I blew up a 1000uF electro once (teach me to solder on into the wee hours), made quite a bang!!! scared the life out of me, and since that day I always double check them
Blowing 10,000uF caps three times must have been a somewhat expensive excercise!!I did find insert nuts but the smallest were M6 and I needed M4.... I did find a specialty nuts and bolts place in the yellow pages, but I got slack and didn't ring them, partially because I already had one box done with standard phillips head bolts..... now I guess I'm paying for my slackness
Tony.
Just finished my subwoofer project, got it moved into the living room, all hooked up. Couple quick test runs. Went into the garage to clean up my mess, including my notes on dimensions, etc. Saw the page with port length. Port Length? Was I suppose to cut my ports to length? You bet. Did I? Nope. Are they epoxied in place? Yup!
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Joined 2003
Once I was testing a TDA7293 circuit and had the probe on I think the negative supply pin of the chip. So the probe slipped and shorted two of the pins together on the chip. BOOM! A lighning bolt shot out of the middle of the chip, and a capacitor on the voltage supply let out it's magic smoke.
Stupid IC's with their stupid pins too close together...
Stupid IC's with their stupid pins too close together...
69 sting
I have the same situation, but caused becaused I have decided that I want to shorten my ports because I think they would sound better. Too bad I also glued them in..
I am thinking cutting the head off a long 1/4"bolt, clamping an abrasive cut-off wheel onto it fixed with 2 nuts, then clamping it in the chuck of my router set at pretty low speed. Then inserting it from the outside into the port and cutting the tube shorter. I may be better able to do this better than you because my ports are 4" in diameter and only about 5" long...
I have the same situation, but caused becaused I have decided that I want to shorten my ports because I think they would sound better. Too bad I also glued them in..
I am thinking cutting the head off a long 1/4"bolt, clamping an abrasive cut-off wheel onto it fixed with 2 nuts, then clamping it in the chuck of my router set at pretty low speed. Then inserting it from the outside into the port and cutting the tube shorter. I may be better able to do this better than you because my ports are 4" in diameter and only about 5" long...
Hi Al,
Hmmmm I wondered about superglue!! was a bit worried about the surround melting away or something though!! the thin stuff that will seep into gaps might be the go... Oh and a quick question too, completely off topic... what crossover freq did you settle on with your MW144's??? I played around with an active crossover (through my soundcard, and it seemed to sound best (with my tweeters, morel DMS37's) around 2800Hz...... any lower and the tweeters didn't cope too well, and any higher and the mid seemed to be lacking. was using 4th order LR.
Jaudio, I think bicycle tyre repair glue was the sort of thing that martin was suggesting... I'm thinking though if superglue is safe then it might be my best bet. will have a go at fixing it tomorrow
69stingray, any chance of getting a pipe cutter around the pipe through the woofer hole?? how far off is your length??
DcibeL I've done the same, but have managed to not let out any magic blue smoke yet must be lucky on that front!!! touch wood.
Tony.
Hmmmm I wondered about superglue!! was a bit worried about the surround melting away or something though!! the thin stuff that will seep into gaps might be the go... Oh and a quick question too, completely off topic... what crossover freq did you settle on with your MW144's??? I played around with an active crossover (through my soundcard, and it seemed to sound best (with my tweeters, morel DMS37's) around 2800Hz...... any lower and the tweeters didn't cope too well, and any higher and the mid seemed to be lacking. was using 4th order LR.
Jaudio, I think bicycle tyre repair glue was the sort of thing that martin was suggesting... I'm thinking though if superglue is safe then it might be my best bet. will have a go at fixing it tomorrow
69stingray, any chance of getting a pipe cutter around the pipe through the woofer hole?? how far off is your length??
DcibeL I've done the same, but have managed to not let out any magic blue smoke yet
must be lucky on that front!!! touch wood.Tony.
I wouldn't use super glue. It tends to get white powedery stuff everywhere which will make your drivers look ****... Superglue sure will bond rubber well, I use it to glue the tyres to the rims on my rccars and it works well... but I am pretty sure it works by melting itself into the rubber...
Because the cut is so tiny you dont really need to glue it for strength, its more sealing it for air tightness so maybe the tyre sealant would work... Personally id start off with a much milder glue though, something that didnt melt the rubber and something that I could remove if it didnt work, and then work my way up to the heavy duty stuff.
Because the cut is so tiny you dont really need to glue it for strength, its more sealing it for air tightness so maybe the tyre sealant would work... Personally id start off with a much milder glue though, something that didnt melt the rubber and something that I could remove if it didnt work, and then work my way up to the heavy duty stuff.
Try a fastener supply outfit - there will definitely be a few around your area They'll very likely have what you're after.
at a pinch, id imagine RTV silicon would work well on a driver; its fairly elastic, easy to remove if problems occur, and seals really, really well.
And it comes in black
They'll very likely have what you're after.at a pinch, id imagine RTV silicon would work well on a driver; its fairly elastic, easy to remove if problems occur, and seals really, really well.
And it comes in black
Superglue works fine and with care isn't messy at all. Just apply with a pin, only to the area you want to glue. It doesn't dissolve the rubber at all. If you use rubber cement from a puncture repair kit, then that will make a mess, so only apply to the rear of the surround, not the front.
As for the crossover frequency, I use 3rd order on the mid, strangely enough at about 2700Hz. The higher orders do work better, but as always it's a compromise between cost/complexity and results. Because of that, I think active is the way forward with these drivers, so if you can continue down that route then you should get excellent results.
As for the crossover frequency, I use 3rd order on the mid, strangely enough at about 2700Hz. The higher orders do work better, but as always it's a compromise between cost/complexity and results. Because of that, I think active is the way forward with these drivers, so if you can continue down that route then you should get excellent results.
Thanks Al, The active was just a test, I was planning on doing passive for the final (tri amping might be a bit much, although I have built in the provision with separate terminals for each driver ). Had been thinking a 3rd order butterworth because it is an MTM, but the KX drivers only allowed me to use 2nd or 4th order LR for the active test.
getting at the back of the surround could be a bit of a problem... you (Al) know what the basket is like on an MW144! Thanks for the suggestion of a pin, I was thinking a tooth pick, but a pin is finer.
Oh well hopefully tomorrow I'll get serious and get some work done I got my veneer on Thursday so once I have stuck that on I can chamfer the baffle.... and do some serious tests.
Etacovda, I did a search on the yellow pages and did find a place that looked promising, I might go and check it out tomorrow certainly need to do it (If I'm going to) before I glue the backs on the boxes !!
Megame, I know what you are talking about with the white powder, but hopefully if I use a tiny amount I can avoid it, the cut is not in a particulary visible place either.
Tony.
). Had been thinking a 3rd order butterworth because it is an MTM, but the KX drivers only allowed me to use 2nd or 4th order LR for the active test. getting at the back of the surround could be a bit of a problem... you (Al) know what the basket is like on an MW144! Thanks for the suggestion of a pin, I was thinking a tooth pick, but a pin is finer.
Oh well hopefully tomorrow I'll get serious and get some work done
I got my veneer on Thursday so once I have stuck that on I can chamfer the baffle.... and do some serious tests. Etacovda, I did a search on the yellow pages and did find a place that looked promising, I might go and check it out tomorrow
certainly need to do it (If I'm going to) before I glue the backs on the boxes !!Megame, I know what you are talking about with the white powder, but hopefully if I use a tiny amount I can avoid it, the cut is not in a particulary visible place either.
Tony.
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