woofer cleaning

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jstark

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 2, 2004
Messages
114
Location
Austin, TX
Hello:

Anyone have any good tips on cleaning the woofers on my Mackie HR824s?  They have become incredibly dusty.

Thanks,
David

(sorry if this is the wrong forum for a weird question like this).

 
thanks for the tips, y'all.

i should have been more specific--this goes beyond dust.  i've had these in storage for the last three years, and they're just filthy.  there are a few spots on there--I don't know what it is, but if I had to recreate it, I would start with an eyedropper full of Koolaid.

i don't know anything about woofer construction, but these appear to be made of some sort of rubber/plastic--could I use distilled water on a soft cloth?

thanks so much.
david.

 
I would shy away from ANY liquid as I could imagine wetting would deform the cone. It would certainly wreak havoc if there was any paper involved. Try to clean them using a dry cloth with gentle pressure.  And patience. I recently replaced a pair of woofers in a set of mackies and the difference was amazing. I would recommend it if you had the money and you wanted any accuracy from them. Fatigue is a real problem and people think that if it aint broke, dont fix it. In this case, i would replace them both every few years. Youd be surprised. Sony ny would replace all drivers every few months. They were westlake speakers though.  I didnt work for sony, just the speaker company.
 
Simple. I use compressed air with a blow nozzle pressure set at about 5 Bar - 75psi
I've refurbished a couple of 1969 Fender Twin Reverbs, that's where I first used the idea.
You can't really use a damp cloth on paper coned speakers of that age. :O/

Frank B.
 
I would shy away from ANY liquid as I could imagine wetting would deform the cone
good to know.


In this case, i would replace them both every few years. Youd be surprised. Sony ny would replace all drivers every few months
wow--I didn't realize drivers were such a "consumable".  not to second guess you or Sony, but are other folks around here replacing their drivers regularly?


is it a paper cone?
so I dug a bit more and found this thread, http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=18415.0--apparently it is "Mineral filled poly cone, butyl rubber surround, cast magnesium basket"
man, I really don't know shit about speakers.


I emailed Mackie, I'll see what they have to say on the subject.


peace.
david.
 
Speakers are usually long lived devices.  The only long term problem is foam.  Foam surrounds fall apart.  Foam in vented enclosures may turn to (toxic) dust.  Replace with fibreglass roof insulation.

The main cause of death is blown treble units from using domestic speaker in discos.

Electrolytic bipolar caps may dry out but even this takes a long time.

If a speaker doesn't buzz & rattle on a sine sweep at 3V, it is probably as good as the day it was made.  I certainly wouldn't bother replacing units if it passes this test.

Paper cone units usually improve slightly with age.

In your case, I'd just carefully brush or vacuum the dust off and try the 3V sine sweep.  Mold & stuff is only cosmetic and wouldn't affect a plastic cone.

There are good speakers 40+ yrs old which are still good speakers today if they have not been abused.
 
jstark said:
not to second guess you or Sony, but are other folks around here replacing their drivers regularly?

first time I heard of such a thing and it sounds maximally excessive, precaution of a precaution.

perhaps amorris was talking about PA speakers, or maybe they were using speakers in a way they were not designed to be used? maybe he could tell us a bit more about what he meant.
 
not to second guess you or Sony, but are other folks around here replacing their drivers regularly?

No facility I ever worked in or heard of had to replace drivers as regularly.  Except when a certain top 40 US Hip-Hop act came to town...
 
I could name a few studios that used to replace their main's drivers monthly.  It's not unheard of.  If the money is there it's actually kind of nice, snap, definition and transients stay.

Flip the coin and let's look at microphones ... do you think if you used a mic for the kick drum that it would still sound the same on other sources?  Take a 57 that's been around for a while and compare it to a brand new one.  There's more detail and snap usually.  Microphones age, wear out  and get abused ... as do speakers.

Michael
 
12volts said:
Simple. I use compressed air with a blow nozzle pressure set at about 5 Bar - 75psi
Frank B.

A nice delicate brush (maybe like a clean/unused makeup brush - ask the wifey) with some compressed air and a LIGHT touch (those with tremors need not apply), that's what I would do.

Remember for the air: the more PSI, the further back from the surface you should be, for fear of "blowing a hole" through the cone. Personally, I would go no more than 60 PSI, no closer than 6 inches from the surface. Had good luck with that with MANY speakers with no real problems. Of course, YMMV.
 

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