Mirage 460. Voice coil lead broken. Tried to solder without success - just smellt burned cotton. Any suggestions?
I’m sorry,
I would start with a very close inspection of the wire connection at the coil, use a magnifying light if you have it. If the connection looks good, this is how I would proceed:
Trim the cotton just a touch, to even it up. Then pull it back to expose the wire more and secure it so it doesn’t get in the way when you solder it. I would try to very carefully scrape the wire end with a very sharp exacto blade to clean it of any varnish or oxidation. A very fine grit sand paper (1500) may also work. Be careful not to damage the connection at the coil. Try not to overheat the connection and use a small amount of flux to be sure the wire is clean enough to allow solder to flow. Try to use minimal solder and look for a bright finish. If you have some spare cotton sleeving use that to protect the new wire. I don’t think heat shrink would be a good choice. One last detail, protect the cone from any splatter.
I’m sure no expert but this is what I would do
I would start with a very close inspection of the wire connection at the coil, use a magnifying light if you have it. If the connection looks good, this is how I would proceed:
Trim the cotton just a touch, to even it up. Then pull it back to expose the wire more and secure it so it doesn’t get in the way when you solder it. I would try to very carefully scrape the wire end with a very sharp exacto blade to clean it of any varnish or oxidation. A very fine grit sand paper (1500) may also work. Be careful not to damage the connection at the coil. Try not to overheat the connection and use a small amount of flux to be sure the wire is clean enough to allow solder to flow. Try to use minimal solder and look for a bright finish. If you have some spare cotton sleeving use that to protect the new wire. I don’t think heat shrink would be a good choice. One last detail, protect the cone from any splatter.
I’m sure no expert but this is what I would do
The Mirage 460:
8" Plastic Polycone and 1" tweeter.
What I know: Don't think the cone will appreciate too much heat... but you need clean new tinsel lead wire for sure.
https://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=CNV16R40DW
Solder wick is NOT recommended. It lasts 5 minutes apparently.
I think 63-37 leaded solder is advised too since it melts at lower temperature. Hard to get in Europe.
Flux can help too.
I am following with interest. But I think you need to work out how the tinsels are attached to the voicecoil wires. It varies.
Sometimes you have to take off the dustcap.
A refresher on good solder (sodder?) technique:
Hope it helps a bit. Never done it! But seen it done by a professional on a 12" bass.
Best, Steve.
8" Plastic Polycone and 1" tweeter.
What I know: Don't think the cone will appreciate too much heat... but you need clean new tinsel lead wire for sure.
https://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=CNV16R40DW
Solder wick is NOT recommended. It lasts 5 minutes apparently.
I think 63-37 leaded solder is advised too since it melts at lower temperature. Hard to get in Europe.
Flux can help too.
I am following with interest. But I think you need to work out how the tinsels are attached to the voicecoil wires. It varies.
Sometimes you have to take off the dustcap.
A refresher on good solder (sodder?) technique:
Hope it helps a bit. Never done it! But seen it done by a professional on a 12" bass.
Best, Steve.
Last edited:
Thanks! I have considered this approach, but the lead metal are spun around (!) the cotton thread. Good idea for vibrations - as for a violin string, but makes it very hard to work with. I've been thinking about it for a while and I think I will try to solder solid copper wire to the binding post as a fixed extension, and then use a screw terminal to clamp the coil lead. I will think a bit more before I risk to screw things up even more. Again - thanks! /Martin
It's not much help really, Martin, but I can't even visualise the problem from your huge blurry photo!
Looks a cheapish bass though. Might be easy enough to replace it if I knew where you live and the chassis diameter and cutout size.
Any markings on the bass? Might be something easily obtained or substituted.
Best, Steve.
Looks a cheapish bass though. Might be easy enough to replace it if I knew where you live and the chassis diameter and cutout size.
Any markings on the bass? Might be something easily obtained or substituted.
Best, Steve.
... Like this. With some glue for rubber soles where the lead meets the terminal. Not so professional but it may work. The woofers are obsolete (Mirage 360 and 460) and the speakers not worth a replacement without any specs in my opinion. I'll be back to report. /Martin
are you trying to re attach this to the terminal?
when attempting this i would use hemostats or in a pinch an alligator clip to clamp off a 1/4 inch from the end of the lead it's amazing how much trouble it saves to do this, next with a lighter or a mini butane torch burn the "wick" out of that 1/4 inch end (the hemos or clip will prevent the wick further on from burning) then clean with contact cleaner or isopropyl now you can attempt to tin that length of lead. at no point should you remove your clamp.
can you get a pic of where the lead attaches to the cone,please?
when attempting this i would use hemostats or in a pinch an alligator clip to clamp off a 1/4 inch from the end of the lead it's amazing how much trouble it saves to do this, next with a lighter or a mini butane torch burn the "wick" out of that 1/4 inch end (the hemos or clip will prevent the wick further on from burning) then clean with contact cleaner or isopropyl now you can attempt to tin that length of lead. at no point should you remove your clamp.
can you get a pic of where the lead attaches to the cone,please?
More than 20 years ago, when I was a student, I was repairing loudspeakers and I also replaced this wire many times.
I don't remember if I encountered this repair on speakers with a temperature-sensitive membrane (plastic), so I can't really give you too many indications in this direction, but it's clear that it would be useful to have access to both sides of the solder on the membrane.
In Romania, this type of wire can be found in many specialized stores under the name "fir leonic". It is available in several diameters for speakers of different powers.
I don't know the equivalent of the name in English.
Some links from shops in Ro. maybe also delivers to you:
https://www.poweraudio.ro/index.php?route=product/search&search=Fir Leonic
https://contactelectric.ro/cautare?controller=search&s=Fir+leonic
https://tor-online.ro/rezultate-cautare.html
https://www.iqelectric.ro/produse?c=fir+leonic
I don't remember if I encountered this repair on speakers with a temperature-sensitive membrane (plastic), so I can't really give you too many indications in this direction, but it's clear that it would be useful to have access to both sides of the solder on the membrane.
In Romania, this type of wire can be found in many specialized stores under the name "fir leonic". It is available in several diameters for speakers of different powers.
I don't know the equivalent of the name in English.
Some links from shops in Ro. maybe also delivers to you:
https://www.poweraudio.ro/index.php?route=product/search&search=Fir Leonic
https://contactelectric.ro/cautare?controller=search&s=Fir+leonic
https://tor-online.ro/rezultate-cautare.html
https://www.iqelectric.ro/produse?c=fir+leonic
oh hey just saw that last pic!
good god no please don't do that...you may wind up losing to much lead length.
these are standard terminals i'd bend that terminal back so that it could be used as intended this is all about getting a new solder joint to take, no?
good god no please don't do that...you may wind up losing to much lead length.
these are standard terminals i'd bend that terminal back so that it could be used as intended this is all about getting a new solder joint to take, no?
I'm super lazy. I would try attaching a miniature alligator clip to it. Otherwise you could look at soldering a new braided wire at the cone where the solid copper wire comes from the voice coil.
If you shorten that wire, it will break faster, much faster, and the repair will only be a patch that will last maybe only a few hours.
as some, sorry most tinsel leads are enamel coated i'm not sure just clip leading would work...for the super lazy...
and sesebe's right my suggestion could well come up short in the length department... if the tinsel can be successfully tinned it could attached to terminal via a solid wire extension...less flex there no?
and sesebe's right my suggestion could well come up short in the length department... if the tinsel can be successfully tinned it could attached to terminal via a solid wire extension...less flex there no?
The wire will bend exactly after the soldering point more and will break in a short time from that place.
Believe me, as a student, I looked for the cheapest solutions, but the only viable one is the complete replacement of the wire if you want it to last over time. The wire is not expensive but is hard to find, especially many years ago when I was a student.
One of the above links was wrong. The correct ones: https://tor-online.ro/produse/196-d....8mm-1m-fl73402-pentru-reparat-difuzoare.html https://tor-online.ro/produse/196-d...7810ag-argintiu-pentru-reparat-difuzoare.html
Believe me, as a student, I looked for the cheapest solutions, but the only viable one is the complete replacement of the wire if you want it to last over time. The wire is not expensive but is hard to find, especially many years ago when I was a student.
One of the above links was wrong. The correct ones: https://tor-online.ro/produse/196-d....8mm-1m-fl73402-pentru-reparat-difuzoare.html https://tor-online.ro/produse/196-d...7810ag-argintiu-pentru-reparat-difuzoare.html
Well, I kind of like MacGvyer-ish solutions, so this was the best I could think of. The copper rod was soldered at both ends and the voice coil lead screwed, the screw loctited and I put a tiny dab of liquosole (as I think it was called in the eighties in USA) where the lead went into the connector - hopefully to relieve stress a bit. The leads now has the same amount of "play". Thanks for all the cautions, but I needed to test this. If it woks for a year or two I would call it a success with these 40 bucks flee market speakers.
Cheers, Martin in Sweden
Cheers, Martin in Sweden
You can buy braided wire for this purpose from Aliexpress. Solder it onto the broken piece (don't glob it on).
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/328...jc9IPqBI&utparam-url=scene:search|query_from:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/328...jc9IPqBI&utparam-url=scene:search|query_from:
