Speaker cone tear repair.

Archived from groups: alt.audio.pro.live-sound,rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Hi,
I have a proline speaker which somebody has managed to put a screwdriver
through the rippled edge of the cone (near where the screws are to hold
the speaker in place, so it was obviously someone being careless who
slipped with the screwdriver, and no it was not me!). There is no
material missing so I don't need to "fill" out any space, I just need to
use some kind of glue I think.

What kind of glue would be best? Any specific recommendation for
something available in the UK?

Cheers,

Mark.
--

Archived from groups: alt.audio.pro.live-sound,rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Mark <marks@nospamhere.com> wrote:
>Hi,
>I have a proline speaker which somebody has managed to put a screwdriver
>through the rippled edge of the cone (near where the screws are to hold
>the speaker in place, so it was obviously someone being careless who
>slipped with the screwdriver, and no it was not me!). There is no
>material missing so I don't need to "fill" out any space, I just need to
>use some kind of glue I think.

Silicone RTV (or higher grade silicone bathtub caulking) will do the job
in a pinch. Be SURE to keep the layer very thin so that the area of the
surround is not too stiff.... if it's even a little bit stiffer it will
change the breakup characteristics of the driver (although with a Proline
driver it probably won't make them much worse).
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Archived from groups: alt.audio.pro.live-sound,rec.audio.pro (More info?)

"Mark" <marks@nospamhere.com> wrote in message
news:yMmdncZP34Q-8A3fRVnysw@pipex.net...
> Hi,
> I have a proline speaker which somebody has managed to put
a screwdriver
> through the rippled edge of the cone (near where the
screws are to hold
> the speaker in place, so it was obviously someone being
careless who
> slipped with the screwdriver, and no it was not me!).
There is no
> material missing so I don't need to "fill" out any space,
I just need to
> use some kind of glue I think.
>
> What kind of glue would be best? Any specific
recommendation for
> something available in the UK?

One of the most commonly used adhesives for assembling
speaker cones is probably POLYVINYL ACETATE emulsion, PVA,
or ordinary white liquid "Elmer's" glue.

Archived from groups: alt.audio.pro.live-sound,rec.audio.pro (More info?)

I'd second Scott's advice and stay with something that remains semi-pliable
after it 'dries', thus to maintain the compliance of the original cone
material. My friend's practice of smearing a single cut-to-appropriate size
roll yer own, low-mass cigarette paper with the same adhesive would probably
give you an even closer "skin graft" hybrid material closely matching the
original cone....not to mention a larger surface area of contact for better
adhesion. Just be careful about increasing the apparent mass in any specific
segment, to avoid promoting any vibrational nodes....so be rigorous about
maintaining only a thin film of adhesive !
Ray


"Scott Dorsey" <kludge@panix.com> wrote in message
news6q39p$auv$1@panix3.panix.com...
> Mark <marks@nospamhere.com> wrote:
> >Hi,
> >I have a proline speaker which somebody has managed to put a screwdriver
> >through the rippled edge of the cone (near where the screws are to hold
> >the speaker in place, so it was obviously someone being careless who
> >slipped with the screwdriver, and no it was not me!). There is no
> >material missing so I don't need to "fill" out any space, I just need to
> >use some kind of glue I think.
>
> Silicone RTV (or higher grade silicone bathtub caulking) will do the job
> in a pinch. Be SURE to keep the layer very thin so that the area of the
> surround is not too stiff.... if it's even a little bit stiffer it will
> change the breakup characteristics of the driver (although with a Proline
> driver it probably won't make them much worse).
> --scott
> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Archived from groups: alt.audio.pro.live-sound,rec.audio.pro (More info?)

On Sun, 22 May 2005 12:32:06 +0100, Mark <marks@nospamhere.com> wrote:

>Hi,
>I have a proline speaker which somebody has managed to put a screwdriver
>through the rippled edge of the cone (near where the screws are to hold
>the speaker in place, so it was obviously someone being careless who
>slipped with the screwdriver, and no it was not me!). There is no
>material missing so I don't need to "fill" out any space, I just need to
>use some kind of glue I think.
>
>What kind of glue would be best? Any specific recommendation for
>something available in the UK?
>
>Cheers,
>
>Mark.

The pleated edge? I'm assuming it's rubber coated cloth then?
Either clear RTV silicone(stay away from silicone for winshield gasket
repair, it sets up far to hard.) or elmer's rubber cement.
If the cloth is actually torn you'll have to stitch it up with a fine
needle and thread, use craft/upholstery thread as it doesn't break and
is rot resistant. After stitching seal it up with the silicone or
glue. If you can get a speaker repair shop to sell you a bit of the
cold set butyl rubber it'd be even better.
If the tear is big you may need to do a patch job. Your local fabric
store should have something that'll be close to the fabric of the
original pleat.
If it's a foam or paper pleat you'll have to use the silicone to seal
it up as best you can even though I've seen some foam pleats that were
patched using strips that were cut out of old speakers and glued in
with silicone.
On paper pleats you can sometimes press the rough edges back in and
fix it with the glue/silicone.
On large tears use a scrap out of an old speaker cone. Cut or shred it
up to a fine pulp and mix it with rubber cement then apply with a
narrow putty knife or artist's palette knife.(use some sort of backing
on the opposite side of the cone such as a butter knife to allow you
to compress the mix onto the hole and sculpt it to the shape of the
pleat.)
Use a heat gun set on low to dry the patch to a firm texture, this
will allow you to shape it further to get a more precise match of the
original pleat shape. allow it to set up and dry completely before
applying any silicone overcoat, usually 4hrs to overnight.

Archived from groups: alt.audio.pro.live-sound,rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Phildo wrote:
> "Arny Krueger" <arnyk@hotpop.com> wrote in message
> news:WPmdnQGQ08WnhQzfRVn-2w@comcast.com...
>
>>One of the most commonly used adhesives for assembling
>>speaker cones is probably POLYVINYL ACETATE emulsion, PVA,
>>or ordinary white liquid "Elmer's" glue.
>>
>
> Not that it would do much good in this case. Dries way too stiff to be any
> use.
>
> Phildo
>

If you are in the UK, look for a product called Copydex, it`s a liquid
latex carpet adhesive, and very similar to what speaker front surrounds
used to be coated with. Also useful for affixing ratfur and vinyl
cabinet coverings.

Ron


--
www.lunevalleyaudio.com