Exactly one year ago i finished complete refurbish (mylar and most electronics) on my Audiostatic ES 100's. They worked excellent until this week, when i returned home from a 2 week vacation. During my vacation i had the speakers unplugged from the wallpower so i guess they discharged completely. This was the first time they where disconnected from power for longer than a day.
Before reconnecting to power, i vacumed the panels. Something i have done once ore twice before.
After connecting them to i heard crackling noise in both speakers. Right speaker worse than left speaker. Crackling did not go away after few days of connection to mains and it is audible when i listen to music.
I have inspected the panels a few times very thouroughly by eye but i don't see anything wrong, like excessive dust, hair or holes in the mylar. There are no sparks visible in the dark. I did vacume again and also blow dry with hairdryer to get anything away that should not be there. Helas, without succes.
Could it be that i broke something by vacuming the panels or is it possible that some component (resistor or capacitor) did not survive a 2 week discharge? Anyone ever experience this?
Before reconnecting to power, i vacumed the panels. Something i have done once ore twice before.
After connecting them to i heard crackling noise in both speakers. Right speaker worse than left speaker. Crackling did not go away after few days of connection to mains and it is audible when i listen to music.
I have inspected the panels a few times very thouroughly by eye but i don't see anything wrong, like excessive dust, hair or holes in the mylar. There are no sparks visible in the dark. I did vacume again and also blow dry with hairdryer to get anything away that should not be there. Helas, without succes.
Could it be that i broke something by vacuming the panels or is it possible that some component (resistor or capacitor) did not survive a 2 week discharge? Anyone ever experience this?
Since both speakers are crackling, it seems unlikely that there was a component failure in the both power supplies.
- Can you isolate where on the panel the crackling noise is coming from?
- What type of coating did you use, and what method are you using to connect the HV to the coating?
- Can you isolate where on the panel the crackling noise is coming from?
- What type of coating did you use, and what method are you using to connect the HV to the coating?
Yes there are 2 main places were the crackles seem to be coming from when i listen and look at the mylar.
Please see attached photo's of how i did HV connection.
I used ER coating in the right dilution. On the parts with the copper tape i used the coating undiluted to get the best contact between copper track and mylar. I didn't go over the edges of where the pertinax stops and i left the mylar in the corners free of coating.
I did tension mylar with sticky tape and springweight-measure. After that i did new silicone dots.
Allthough i don't see anything wrong, i guess i have 'ruined' something during vacuming.
I think i'm going to focus on refurbish on a set of ESL 63's i bought a while ago and redo mylar on the ES 100's after that. Probably with 2um mylar instead of the now 3um because i'm curious how the Audiostatics will sound with even thinner foil.
In the meantime i will hook up my Totem monitors again. These sound good, but nothing like the ES 100 without crackle 😉
Please see attached photo's of how i did HV connection.
I used ER coating in the right dilution. On the parts with the copper tape i used the coating undiluted to get the best contact between copper track and mylar. I didn't go over the edges of where the pertinax stops and i left the mylar in the corners free of coating.
I did tension mylar with sticky tape and springweight-measure. After that i did new silicone dots.
Allthough i don't see anything wrong, i guess i have 'ruined' something during vacuming.
I think i'm going to focus on refurbish on a set of ESL 63's i bought a while ago and redo mylar on the ES 100's after that. Probably with 2um mylar instead of the now 3um because i'm curious how the Audiostatics will sound with even thinner foil.
In the meantime i will hook up my Totem monitors again. These sound good, but nothing like the ES 100 without crackle 😉
Can it be that your film lost some tension and is sucked to the stator? That can be one of the reasons you hear a crackling sound from specific parts.
Audiostatics are one of the most reliable ESLs and have the best chance to repair succesfully. My advice would be to get the audiostatic fixed and then move on to the Quads, just my 2 cents......
Audiostatics are one of the most reliable ESLs and have the best chance to repair succesfully. My advice would be to get the audiostatic fixed and then move on to the Quads, just my 2 cents......
That could very well be the case and i think you're right about fixing them first. It's not that hard and time consuming so that would get me back on track fastest. Also i am curious if thinner mylar has a positive audible affect on the Audiostatics.
Thanks all for thinking with me!
Thanks all for thinking with me!
Are the 2 places causing the crackles out in the middle of the diaphragm? or around the perimeter or edge of the diaphragm near the copper tape. If out in the middle, MJ Dijkstra's suggestion of a diaphragm collapse to stator from loss of tension is probable. If around the edge, the contact between the copper tape and coating may have deteriorated in those places. I have had better luck using copper tape with conductive adhesive for higher bias voltages like the Audiostatics rather than try to bridge the gap from the sharp edge of the tape to the coating with another layer of undiluted coating.
I used this copper tape wich has conductive adhesive, i guess that's the right tape to use?
3M™ EMI Copper Foil Shielding Tape 1181 | 3M United States
3M™ EMI Copper Foil Shielding Tape 1181 | 3M United States
The crackling was coming from the side of the panel. Meanwhile i have started to dismantle the panels and do new mylar. I see no other option. It's not so much of a problem, i like this hobby 😀
I wanted to let you know that i finished repairing my ES 100's. They have 2um mylar now and i think it's an improvement in sound which is more fluid now (don't know a better word to describe it). Voices seem to have more of their own space.
The reason i started this, was the crackling and that is completely gone 🙂
The reason i started this, was the crackling and that is completely gone 🙂
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Congratulations, job well done !. I am about to rebuild a pair of audiostatic esh100. I am curious to know why you left the corners of the membrane uncoated. Also did you place the dots on both sides of the diaphragm or on one side ?
Thanks! Corners have to be uncoated to prevent unwanted tension when playing music.
The silicone dots are added only on the back side.
Succes with your rebuild 🙂
The silicone dots are added only on the back side.
Succes with your rebuild 🙂
Coating is from ERaudio. I think it is excellent! Apply it on one side only (frontside).
Restatic, sorry for not answering, i only just now saw your question. I got the mylar from eBay.
Restatic, sorry for not answering, i only just now saw your question. I got the mylar from eBay.
i wish you luck with 2 micron 🙁 i tried 3, getting the proper resonance is not easy 🙁 the quads are harder to do then the ES100.
as a side note, you would be god if you would hear a difference between 3 or 2 micron 🙂 but good news you got them playing once more!!!!. i do hope that the white tape is not doublesided tape for carpet. or you might run into the same problem soon 🙁 it creeps
that copper tape is nice ! , might need to find me some to. another option lkike they used int he original is use some graphite paint like low resistance from copper to mylar, so you wont have sharp edges.
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