AKG C 414 EB capsule repair: searching for DIY suggestions

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frobozz

Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2021
Messages
24
Location
Italy
Hi everybody, I just dismounted this bad working capsule and I found that the backplate was sitting on a orange foam that vanished being aged.
Any suggestions for a DIY replacement or any chance for a spare?
Thank you very much!
 

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this looks like polyurethane foam, which will only last a few years. it also may not be dense enough, be careful
Thank you but I don't have knowledge on foam... any idea on where I can cut a small piece of a better foam? my coach or pillow :) maybe
 
Would they be able to use something like EVA foam from a crafts store?

EVA foam is generally closed-cell foam. The black foam in the above pictures looks like open-cell (sponge-like) foam. I wonder what the original foam was, and whether it's supposed to seal like a gasket (in which case you want closed cell) or NOT seal, like a sponge.

OT but I discovered you can vacuum form EVA foam. (And you can vacuum form with a toaster oven to heat the foam, a vacuum cleaner, a board with a hole in it, and a mold of some sort.) I'm wondering if that might be useful for making soft mic domes or suspensions or something.
 
From what I remember it is more like compressed felt or paper than foam. Any foam should work. The chamber depth is set by the plastic it presses the membrane against.
 
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In that case, I'm wondering if a loop of the right thickness of yarn might be easier to deal with than cutting a ring of foam.
 
The capsule went bad many years ago, removed and somehow I lost the body. If I could get it back into shape for under $300 and use it for a “C12” I’d be happy with that.
 
We’re talking about the brass and machine screws capsule?
No, we are discussing this nylon capsule the OP is trying to repair. I am sure there are plenty of them out there on the used market because people replace them often with modern "brass" versions. You could also just replace it with one of the "brass" versions out there.
 
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