Dynamic capsule repair/stripping laquer off small gauge wire

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bobschwenkler

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Anyone have much experience with this? I have a couple questions right now about the topic.

What is the best way to strip the laquer off the coil wire? It's tough to do without breaking the wire or at least making it weaker by using the edge of a razor blade.

I just pulled the diaphragm off of a D112 capsule that had a broken lead under the diaphragm. It was just glued onto the back plate. What kind of adhesive might be suitable to reattach it?

Thanks!
 
I've done this a few times. The best way to remove the enamel is to use a soldering iron with some fresh solder on it.

Thick super glue is sometimes suitable for re-attaching the diaphragm - just make sure that the voice-coil sits nicely in the circular gap as it will not work well if it rubs.

Roddy
 
I find the easiest way is to use a needle file & trap the end of the wire (the area to be stripped) between the file blade & my finger pad, & pull the wire with the other hand. Turn the wire 180deg to the side that has not been stripped & do it again & you will be pretty close to getting all the enamel off.

I regularly do .16 mm wire using this method, dont know if it will work with thinner wire.

The enamel covering I was using did not come off very easily with the soldering iron, YMMV.

Peter
 
Lindy Frailin uses fine sandpaper to strip the ends when winding his coils.

If regluing is the way to go, then conductive epoxy might be the best solution. Check Mcmaster. Make sure it's truly conductive, not just metal filled.

-Chris
 
Just to say, the reason I mention the soldering iron method is because the wire is often extremely thin - to the point where you can't put any pressure on it. I actually found the wire in AKG D19s can dissolve in the heat of a soldering iron if you wait long enough! Guitar pickup wire is quite a bit thicker in my experience, but maybe some mics use thicker wire in the coils.

If you have a broken wire on either end of the voice-coil, then you can possibly unwind a turn or two of wire. Obviously if it's at the wrong end of the voice-coil then you need to remove the coil from the diaphragm which is tricky.
 
Thinner than pickup wire, uuughh. Too thin for my ham fists....

Regarding my post on the conductive epoxy, perhaps I misunderstood the construction. My suggestion only applies if this glue attachment is required for making an electrical connection.
 
What's a good source for voice coil wire that would be generally useful for repairing dynamic mics? I have no idea what gauge something this small is.
 
[quote author="bobschwenkler"]What's a good source for voice coil wire that would be generally useful for repairing dynamic mics?[/quote]

Guitar pickup wire? :razz:

You probably won't be able to find anything that thin elsewhere, but it doesn't matter too much really as the mass of the wire which you attach won't be directly connected to the voice-coil. Find some stranded wire which uses very fine strands (perhaps good quality mic cable screen) and try this. You can twist the voice-coil wire round the new wire prior to soldering.
 
[quote author="Emperor-TK"]Regarding my post on the conductive epoxy, perhaps I misunderstood the construction. My suggestion only applies if this glue attachment is required for making an electrical connection.[/quote]

I don't need a conductive connection.

It seems like even Elmer's glue might work well enough. The glue that was on there was more like a rubber cement, strechy and pliable. It was really easy to just run a jewler's screwdriver around the perimeter and detach the diaphragm...
 
[quote author="rodabod"]Find some stranded wire which uses very fine strands (perhaps good quality mic cable screen) and try this. [/quote]

That sounds perfect. I didn't even consider it.

Thanks for the advice everyone!
 
What is the best way to strip the laquer off the coil wire? It's tough to do without breaking the wire or at least making it weaker by using the edge of a razor blade.


Back in the 80s, I use a match.

Strike the match, bring the wire to the flame, and it burns off the varnish/lacquer.

Then wipe it clean with a damp rag (soot from the flame turns it black).
 

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