# Repairing speaker surrounds.



## drf (Oct 22, 2006)

A little while ago these 12" drivers came into a local Op-shop. Due to there condition (obviously) they didn't sell. As I never refuse free stuff, when they were offered to me I took them. 











The surround was so perished that just running my finger through the surround was causing it to simply crumble away. I did a little quick testing to ensure the VC's hadn't burnt out and it was still capable of reproducing sound, then I went and purchased some new surrounds.









The first thing todo was to remove the old surround:









This left bits of old suround and deteriorated glue:










To clean the rest up I used Acetone, cotton buds and a rag, by soaking the basket with acetone and wiping with the rags Iwas left with a driver read to recieve the new surrounds.









once the driver is ready I carefully cut the dust cap off, and slid shims (thin strips of overhead transparency) inbetween the pole piece and the VC former. The number of shims will vary from driver to driver. I slid 3 sets of 2 shims in as this was enough to hold the cone firmly in place and centred. Some people say you don't have to use the shims :coocoo:, however the job will be a lot better and a bucket load easier if you do.:nerd: 









Once the cone is centred, a thin bead of glue is applied to both the cone and the basket rim. This doesn't need to be a large bead just 3-4mm. For paper cones (my favorite) I use of the shelf PVA hobby glue (so long as it is thick), if your new surrounds came with glue then use that. After the glue is in place I carefully placed the new surround in position and gently squeezed it onto the cone and the basket pushing the excess glue out. The surround started to lift a little from the cone so I simply extended the cone forward a little (remembering the shims will hold it forward) so the new surround closed neat all the way around. 









Once I was happy with the position and fit of the new surround I gently warmed the entire surround with a Hair dryer (not a paint stripper:no: ) which starts the glue drying and while this was happening I could work my way around the speaker gently ensuring no gaps open up. this only takes 5 minutes.

After all the glue is dry the shims come out and the dust cap is glued back in place.

Battries are dying in my camera so I will try to take a photo of the finished product tommorow.


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## WillyD (Sep 6, 2006)

Thanks for the pictures and post. I think this will be quite useful for those needing to repair some surrounds.


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## drf (Oct 22, 2006)

I have got a final pic. I have put the driver into this box (a dodgy 4-way) to test. Judging by the tone, SPL and allowing for the inproper enclosure I'd say this is a very good speaker with it's only set back being it will probably only handle about 20Watts. The pair might make a great candidates for some near feild monitors, I'll have to get some TS for them and start a new project :daydream: .


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

Refoaming is really not as bad a job as most people assume. A good DIY project if you can get the surrounds. Where did you get them?


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## drf (Oct 22, 2006)

I got these ones from Jaycar electronics. Speakerbits also do a wide range of repair kits for all the vintage and classic speakers like JBL, CV, eminance and celestion. Both are australian companies.


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

Do they sell just the surrounds or did you have to buy a kit. We can get kits here as well but the run about $25 (US). When I can find the surrounds alone, they are just a few dollars. Very few aer available, however. If anyone knows of a source that sells the surrounds by themselves inexpensively in the US, I would appreciate the info and will put it in the vendor references. I know about MAT, who advertises them, but rarely has them. and MWA, who sells them to speaker repair shops only and not to the public.


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## drf (Oct 22, 2006)

Jaycar sell just the surrounds and glue, while speakerbits package the surrounds, shims, glue and new dustcaps in a kit. I strongly doubt they will be cheaper than anything you can get in america, even with the exchange rate prices in Aus are still inexplicably high.


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