I had my 12 inch paper cone woofer surrounds replaced some years ago. However the repairer used a horrible off grey rubber instead of the original black coloured surrounds. I have never been happy with them and after many years I want to paint the rubber surrounds black. Firstly, can this be effectively done without altering the woofers characteristics and secondly what type of paint can I use without effecting the rubber surrounds? Cheers ....
1)No.
2) And therefore none.
If it's been many years, you got your money's worth, do it again with more original surrounds.
2) And therefore none.
If it's been many years, you got your money's worth, do it again with more original surrounds.
That's classic obsession over trivial things.
Use a grille cover, and fuss over what's for dinner instead.
Grill cloth.
There may actually be some sort of dye that would work, but might effect the dissolved oils in the rubber that make it flexible.
If your speakers are so old that you had them re-surrounded years ago, then maybe playing around is worth it as they are probably obsolete anyway. You also do not know if the replacement surrounds were as original. There is always a Sharpie!
There may actually be some sort of dye that would work, but might effect the dissolved oils in the rubber that make it flexible.
If your speakers are so old that you had them re-surrounded years ago, then maybe playing around is worth it as they are probably obsolete anyway. You also do not know if the replacement surrounds were as original. There is always a Sharpie!
If it's that big of a deal, have them repaired again and specify black only, or simply buy new woofers.
If the surrounds are rubber and not foam, you can try 'tyre sheen' or 'tyre black'. It is used to make dull brown looking car tyres look semi-glossy and black, like new tyres. I think it contains a black pigment.
Use it at your own risk. There are all kinds of rubber and I am not sure that this stuff is compatible with the rubber of loudspeaker surrounds.
Use it at your own risk. There are all kinds of rubber and I am not sure that this stuff is compatible with the rubber of loudspeaker surrounds.
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That's a way to go be a man and replace them and buy latest one,,,,,, in Black,classic black,dark black whatever u like
Silly idea, but you may try to clean them with cloth lightly moistened in alcohol, and then apply black permanent marker in few layers, with 1hour dry period between each pass.
Standard black enamel spray can paint will adhere to rubber, and a few thin coats will have virtually no effect on the T.S. parameters.
That's good thought but they don't give you the classic look of colour and also result in some other colour by mixturing it with grey
I would have to see that proved. Mar Hyde is the SOP for rubber or plastic, but it will change the parameters.
Mar Hyde may go on thicker than typical spray paint, I have never tried it.
A few thin coats of spray paint would be approximately 1mil, or 25microns thick, about the same as the plastic in a bread bag.
Just cut up an entire bread bag, which would be at least 4 times the area of a 12" woofer surround, and it's weight was under 1gram. Even figuring on the high side, with paint adding 0.5 gram, the weight addition would be less than 1% of a typical 12" woofer's Mms. That difference in weight would be on the order of variability in manufacturer tolerance.
If the rubber surround's thickness is 1mm, the paint would be only 1/40th as thick.
At any rate, though appearance was improved, I could not find any measurable "before and after" difference in speaker performance in any of the many I have lightly spray painted, whether just the surround, or entire cone.
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Rubber is a terrible product to begin with, we accept it only because it´s SO useful and plentiful, but it´s self destroying from day 1.
It polymerized into a useful form, by a weird unstable reaction which is self degraded by plain ambient light, oxidation, self depolymerization the wrong way, it becomes brittle or gummy, the works, ALL rubber products self destroy.
Even "best rubber in the World", literally NASA quality , no expense spared Moon suit joints have fully degraded for DECADES now, even if kept in the Smithsonian Institution.
Also syntetic paint is the crudest of them all, also based in very similar reaction of oil oxidation to cure; so if mixing both, what could go wrong?
Leave as is which will provide longest possible life.
Terrible idea.
Rubber is a terrible product to begin with, we accept it only because it´s SO useful and plentiful, but it´s self destroying from day 1.
It polymerized into a useful form, by a weird unstable reaction which is self degraded by plain ambient light, oxidation, self depolymerization the wrong way, it becomes brittle or gummy, the works, ALL rubber products self destroy.
Even "best rubber in the World", literally NASA quality , no expense spared Moon suit joints have fully degraded for DECADES now, even if kept in the Smithsonian Institution.
Also syntetic paint is the crudest of them all, also based in very similar reaction of oil oxidation to cure; so if mixing both, what could go wrong?
Leave as is which will provide longest possible life.
Very true, and having used enamel spray paint on rubber tires in the high desert of New Mexico (6200 feet), I can attest it slows down the attack of UV light radiation, less cracking of the sidewalls, longer life span.
That said, modern rubber tires sidewalls don't last anywhere near as long compared to stuff the 1970s and before, but they stick to the road better.
Have had no embrittlement or gummy problems with enamel spray paint on rubber, though attempting to paint certain types of synthetic formulations used for speaker cables has resulted in a perpetual mess...
Anyway, your mileage may vary, horses for courses, etc. 😎
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