Replacing Tinsel leads

[BassAwdyO]

You generally only get one shot to do it right, so take the time to do it right.

With the amount of magnet wire I have exposed... I could do it 20 times...

I really doubt super fine strand copper with flexible insulation would fail before a few years time. Honestly I dont care if it lasts forever... Its not my speaker. If he has to come back and pay me to fix it again in a year or two, well it will still be cheaper than having it done somewhere else or buying new speakers.

[djk]

You don't know, and you don't want to know.

With friends like you he doesn't need an enemy.

Do what you like.

[ejohanne]

Just like the cone and suspension the leads have resonant nodes. I have experimented with other types of wire that was very flexible but if you connect the speaker to a function generator you will see gross vibration at ceartain frequencies grealy reducing reliability. At low power its fine but real tinsel leads are light and have a ceartain degree of damping or low Q. Heavy insulated wire that is too soft can actualy form multiple nodes at higher bass frequencies riping itself apart.

[AndrewT]

Hi,
your thoughts on using ultra flexible instrument lead sound OK.
But strip the insulation off, you don't need it tucked away as it is.
The 0.1mm cores used to form these leads will not fatigue that quickly and you could anneal them before you fit them to lengthen their life even more. If you are ambitious try plaiting them just like the ladies do with their hair. Looks real good on them, don't know about your speakers though.

[BassAwdyO]

I took a look at the Rat shack desoldering braid and well for 2dollas and a few cents I figured what the hell. Its super flexable and probably about 14 or 16 guage actually so it can handle some power I'm sure. I think Im going with this... Thanks for the suggestions guys... I think this thread is done

[scooperman]

Got a Fender guitar amp here with the same problem. I took a look at the wire remnants under the microscope, hmmmm sure looks like somebody cut these wires with scissors. Now why would anybody do that? Anyway, I did put in some solderwick as the temporary fix, this allowed me to verify the speaker was still OK. Wick is OK but not great for this application, it will of course stiffen at the solder joints so you have to leave extra length for slack, it ain't as flexible so it won't move as well as real lead-in braid, I would worry about using it in this application. When you solder to it some of the flux dries out, after that you get tarnish, maybe you could reflux it to keep it flexible, who knows. If this was some precious restoration I wouldn't use the wick. Anyway I have ordered new lead-in wire, when it gets here I will replace the wick and fix it right. I couldn't find a local source, so I ordered from www.speakerbits.com in Australia, cost is reasonable, postage is about 3 bucks.

[dnsey]

To increase the flexibility (and lessen the possibility of fatigue), just wind it round the shank of a small screwdriver or similar to form a self supporting spiral. This used to be a standard 'anti-vibration' trick, and I've seen military gear designed for rough handling in which all the components have a loop formed in their leads for the same reason.

[BassAwdyO]

I've actually been meaning to put an update here


I'm reluctant to say I am not very wise.... Whoever said desoldering wick wouldnt have much longevity... you were RIGHT! Either that or I really didnt leave enough slack because about 2 weeks ago I get a call and hear that the subs stopped working...

The leads were torn apart