I'm in need of some repair advice for my Mark Audio Alpair 10p. An hour ago I walked into the room and found the cat having a stretch up one of the speakers. The stretch turned into a scratch and the result is a cut in the rubber surround on one of the drivers!! It's not a great photo and it might not be apparent but the nick has gone all the way through the rubber. Does anyone know if this is repairable?
Ouch. It is not repairable.
Bit you can likely patch it up to minimize long-term pain. I would put a minimal amount of some sort of glue to the cut. SInce i have it on hand i would use puzzlekoat (PVA).
You want enuff tp hold it together, but as little as possible.
dave
Bit you can likely patch it up to minimize long-term pain. I would put a minimal amount of some sort of glue to the cut. SInce i have it on hand i would use puzzlekoat (PVA).
You want enuff tp hold it together, but as little as possible.
dave
Thanks Dave, I was hoping you would chip in. Just curious as to how the cut would affect the performance/sound of the driver? What should I expect to hear? I had a non critical quick listen at lowish volume before going out and it seemed ok, I guess it's when you crank it up and the cone really gets moving that the performance degrades??
Superglue will repair the slice, but it's not flexible, so I wouldn't apply it to the entire cut. You could apply it to the center of the surround only, maybe a 2mm section. This would be an experiment. 😉
Probably a good idea to make a removable grill. This could happen again.
jeff
Probably a good idea to make a removable grill. This could happen again.
jeff
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The front suspension is about 110% of the total. It needs to be sealed, and not degrade at greater excursions. It is hard to see how deep it is. If it is a scratch it will have little or no effect. If it is all the way thru (razor claw cats?) that will need to be watched.
One of the A7PeN i did got cat scratches, mostly the cone. I (almost) gave them away, and they have been happily used in a set of the big A12pw MTMs.
dave
Thanks guys. The heartache isn't so much the price of a replacement (about £100 for a single in the UK) it's the very long break in time but it is such a GREAT driver!!
One horror story I heard here was of an audiophile happening on his 2-year old happily hammering away with a 3000 dollar tonearm on his 5000 dollar turntable. Consider yourself lucky...
captain pugwash,
The problem can be fixed... 🙂
You will need:
1. UHU Multipurpose adhesive
2. A piece of thin polythene from a polythene bag
Images of both are provided for your reference.
Steps:
- Cut a piece of polythene from the bag - the piece should be large enough to cover the ripped part of the surround and then have a few mm extra on every side. Apply glue (as thin as possible) to one side of that piece.
- Then apply glue (again as thin as possible) around the ripped part of the inside part of the rubber surround. The area of glue application should be roughly the same size as that of the piece of polythene you cut.
- According to the instructions for using the glue, wait a few minutes till mostly dry.
- Carefully fix the piece of polythene on to the inside of the rubber surround where you have applied the glue. The side where you applied the adhesive (on the piece of polythene) should meet the adhesive on the inside of the rubber surround.
- Then let it rest for a day. 🙂
You can practice first on an old throwaway driver if you have one of those somewhere...
The problem can be fixed... 🙂
You will need:
1. UHU Multipurpose adhesive
2. A piece of thin polythene from a polythene bag
Images of both are provided for your reference.
Steps:
- Cut a piece of polythene from the bag - the piece should be large enough to cover the ripped part of the surround and then have a few mm extra on every side. Apply glue (as thin as possible) to one side of that piece.
- Then apply glue (again as thin as possible) around the ripped part of the inside part of the rubber surround. The area of glue application should be roughly the same size as that of the piece of polythene you cut.
- According to the instructions for using the glue, wait a few minutes till mostly dry.
- Carefully fix the piece of polythene on to the inside of the rubber surround where you have applied the glue. The side where you applied the adhesive (on the piece of polythene) should meet the adhesive on the inside of the rubber surround.
- Then let it rest for a day. 🙂
You can practice first on an old throwaway driver if you have one of those somewhere...
Attachments
Hello Captain Pugwash:
I would attempt your repair from the back side if possible.
It will give you a bit more room to be messy with the glue application. Pick a pliable glue. A thin (narrow) application of rubber cement may do the trick. You will only get one shot at it, so think it through before you go for it.
Good luck
I hope this helps
I would attempt your repair from the back side if possible.
It will give you a bit more room to be messy with the glue application. Pick a pliable glue. A thin (narrow) application of rubber cement may do the trick. You will only get one shot at it, so think it through before you go for it.
Good luck
I hope this helps
Thanks to all for the options. I'm instinctively drawn to a thin layer of a flexible adhesive, even something like the glue that comes with bicycle inner tube repair kits (the Sylgard stuff is a bit pricey!!) but will have a practice with the UHU and polythene. I thought that UHU dries a bit stiff but I will give it a go.
I've been surprised how little info there is on a repair like this. It leads me to think that either splits and cuts in surrounds don't happen that much or its just not doable!!
I've been surprised how little info there is on a repair like this. It leads me to think that either splits and cuts in surrounds don't happen that much or its just not doable!!
Don't be. Most commercial speakers come with grill cloths, or some other type of protection.
jeff
Thanks, I was thinking on similar lines and maybe attaching small magnets to line up with the screws to make the grills removeable instead of permanently attaching them. I had a pair of Fostex Grills many years ago for FE127's and they attached via longer replacement screws through the driver screw holes, ugly but a great defence against small inquisitive hands at the time.
I will attempt the repair as soon as I get some good time and document it here whatever the outcome.