There are several videos on RUclips for DIYing the speaker surround replacement. So far I think yours is probably the most informative and easiest way to get er done. Thanks.
It’s easy to remove the central cap without damage. Pour a little 10-15 grams of alcohol directly into the diffuser (the alcohol gets directly onto the adhesive seam) and cover with a plastic cup to slow down the evaporation of alcohol. After 5-7 minutes the cap comes off easily, I use an old credit card to help.
This is the best video I've seen for replacing the foam. Big thumbs up for the test tone tip; it makes so much sense! Very well explained and easy to follow you all the way through. This helped me repair some RE 30's my brother just recently gave me. They'll be sure to rock for years to come! Thanks again
This is one of those videos you don’t watch until you NEED to and man, this is possibly the best guide out there. Follow up question though - if it was a midrange driver or something like an 8 inch woofer, how would we know what frequency to use?
I want to thank you for posting this repair. I have a fairly growing collection of speakers each with different issues. I am doing my first foam repair while watching your video. Thanks again friend for taking the time. By the way you kind a look like ducky from 16 candles.
iv got a set of car speakers about 15 years old i had them in highschool ...well the other day i gave the nabor a ride to town his dog jumped in the back and busted both speakers....looks like your idea will work ...its just i had them soo long and they always sound great till now with the cracking ... thanks for making this video guys i think i can save mine too
Sir… you earned your sub right there. You fixed my sub 😂 I haven’t even begun to fix them all yet but thanks to your video I am not even remotely concerned. And ordered my red foam and gonna repair it. I got nothing to lose with these. They are worth it they are ok speakers peavey and loudest I can afford haha
13:40 looks like the glue didn't work, keeps lifting, not sticky, I had a similar issue very frustrating, i see gaps around the edge on yours, make sure to go over it again after it dries and from the underside
Really helpful, and leaving the dust cap in place, often the old C-V caps had a nice logo on them. One less step, one less chance for a mistake like nicking a wire. Just picked up a garage sale set of C-Vs for my first refoam job.
The best videos for replacing surrounds on subs period. I'm still in awe about using a tone frequency to center the coil. I have 2 12 jl w0 that just needed surrounds and I really didnt want to remove the dust caps since they are original and I can't find anymore
When i glued my two surrounds in I thought I was going to run out of the glue provided so I researched quite some time on line. Turns out the consensus of opinions said the glue to use was Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue. Which is good because you can buy it everywhere. I had just enough to finish my two surrounds but I bought some anyway to be sure I had enough to finish.
I just happen to be revisiting this video about a year after I saw it the first time. I was searching for a glue to reattach a surround to a 6.5 inch Cerwin Vega component speaker. The surround on this particular speaker was made of rubber. I tried the Aleene's Original Tacky Glue to adhere it back to the frame. The glue did not hold very well. I'm assuming it was because the surround was of the rubber type and not foam. Just wanted to recommend you don't use on rubber surrounds. I ended up using a typical hot glue gun, using the glue sparingly but covering the mating surfaces.
A nice video. A tip for the Isopropyl alcohol is to use proper 99.9% and not rubbing, as any water content can damage the paper cone of some drivers. Using a Q-tip to apply, then you simply use a small plastic scraper to remove the gunk, again while supporting the cone, easier than using a water diluted alchohol and risking cone damage as we see on your cone. You use a low tone to help you center your cone, to be frank the spider on many bass drivers is meant to be rather stiff and that should be centering the cone, if you have coil rub then it could be a sign cone sag has affected the spider meaning a full recone, or it needs rotated, personally I would simply buy dust caps and shim the coil. With a Q-Tip and 99.9% alcohol most glues come away easy on the dust cap, and a Q-tip and alcohol cleans most of the residue. Any gluing of a surround is leading to cone and surround flex as you apply pressure, so you could in theory have uneven tension around the surround, or at worse, rub some of the insulation off your actual coil. Another tip for raising the cone is a small 1.5 volt battery. It will simply raise the driver, allowing you to glue under the surround. You can buy a single battery clip with lead out wires and use crocidile clips if this is something you will do more than once. Also helpful for testing a driver is actually working in the absence of any other equipment. A few others have had success with leaving the glue for a couple of minutes until tacky, this of course will depend on how accurate and confident someone is, and will also depend on the adhesive. But worth looking into. Nice to see video's on recone work instead of items going to landfill.
Hi Bill nice video. Can you use the same electromagnetic cone centering technique on a midrange; and if so, what freq. would the tone be to center cone for re-foaming? Thanks, bc
You need to spread the glue evenly because there is almost no (continuous) pressure to spread it. Use a piece of paper/plastic (or anything flat) to spread the glue on the whole surface. If you don't do this there is a chance some glue connections are weak and get loose over time because of vibrations.
Did my JBLs. Undermounted the surround, as they originally were. Coil very close tolerance, could not easily slip in a playing card shim. Shimmed one, skipped it in the other. No difference. Both sound better than ever. $25 investment was way worth it.
Update your vid to drop references to "double-edged razor blade". Unless your fingers are made of steel, you will use a single-edge razor blade or hobby knife.
Great video, I've followed your instructions to replace the foam on the CV 417R woofer. Can you please tell me what is that cosmetic thing that covers the screw holes you installed in the end called, and where can I buy it? Thank you.
hi my surrounds are just coming unglued a little in a couple spots can i just glue them back down or will that mess up the way it sounds somehow? still sound fine to my ear, but i dont want it to get worse! thanks :)
Same here but I did the tone generator method anyway just to check. My speakers needed no centering, the spider held it firmly in place. My opinion is that replacing undamaged dust caps is a waste and pretty much a shim/cap selling scam.
The cone can be off center if the spyder is not stiff. So your results may not be as good without some cone centering process. Also your skills may not center the foam when glueing and cause a problem.
Contact cement has very specific properties that do not match the adhesive being used. With contact cement you put it on both pieces and let it dry for a while before putt the two together, and you really can't adjust much after that... they join on CONTACT. This application needs to be able to be adjusted, so it would be a terrible situation for contact cement.
Hello and greetings from Italy. sorry for my English. I liked your video, and, today, I changed one FOAM of my speacker (ESB 7/06). The worst part of that work was centered the ring, now seems work . Very hard to do, probably because is the very first time. What king of glue you used ? I soo two king: one is called vinavil and is water based, and the other one is bostick. I used the second one, but, the problem, was to correct the thing. as soon I have posed the pieces the glue stick and block very rapidely. BDW, now one is done. As the second going broke I change. Have good time, Stefan, Iltaly
My cat just jumped on my brand new monitors and slipped--Poked a little hole in the surround. Very small, is there like a glue I could use to realign the hole.
Thanks for the informative video. I am trying to work myself up to re-foaming my 12" Cerwin Vega subwoofer. Local repair shop wanted $160.00 to re-foam, so I figured I could give it a try for the approximate $26.00. I have watched a few other RUclips videos on the subject, and they suggest centering the coil just by manually pushing it in and out, and stopping when it does not rub. I don't have the equipment or desire to use the tone generator method that you recommend. Is the "manual" method suitable? Thanks for your honest opinion.
I ordered the foam kit to repair my cerwin vegas and I used the manual method as instructed in the Simply Speakers video. It worked fine for me. Actually when I got the new foam installed, it pretty much centered itself. Hope this helps.
@@tsims73 Agreed, once I put the foam on the cones they were pretty much centered already. I did the test tone to center the speaker anyway and it was pretty much spot on. This was a good method for me. CV RE-30's
does anyone here have contacts for places that create hifi decals ? I have a Kenwood Shelf Hifi that the rubberised surface has perished and is sticky, after cleaning the labels and details will be gone and i would like to have a replacement set prior to starting.
I wish there was more detail about how to hook up the low frequency tone. I don't really think a phone by itself can drive that speaker, so how is it hooked up to the amp while out of the housing? I don't have long wires on my driver, nor do I know how to hook them up. Some weird thing with alligator clips? Bleh, so much work. I bought some replacement foam, and I might be able to deal with the mess of cleaning the old foam off (and gluing down the new foam rings), but then even more obstacles with the voice coil make this just about beyond my skill level. :( Maybe I'll just wing it and hope its lined up.
I wouldn't wing the alignment and hope. That's a recipe for failure and/or frustration. You are right that a smart device's headphone jack doesn't have enough power to be hooked up directly to the woofer and drive it at reasonable levels. The iPod / phone / whatever is hooked up to the stereo inputs of an amplifier with a 1/8" (3.5mm) to RCA adapter cable. I buy them from thrift stores for $0.25 to $1.00 a piece. Retailers like Monoprice have good ones for cheap too. The speaker wire is running from the outputs of the amplifier directly to the lugs on the woofer. I just kinda folded the ends of the wire over so the bare copper would make decent contact with the spade lugs. Like I said in the video though, if I had some wire with alligator clips on the ends, it would have been more secure. I was more interested in convenience during the making of the video.
You're a really cool dude to reply to my whiny comment with some seriously helpful tips & explanations. I think I will give this a go and with a bit more confidence now. Much appreciated brother!
@@mercurialmagictrees Wow, missed this in my notifications, but happen to come back to this video just now, because... wait for it... I'm STILL WORKING ON IT! Hahaha! :( Well, needless to say, I set it aside and because of numerous excuses and life distractions, BUT I have since set up an office with a work table on one side, and now have one of the drivers cleaned up (pretty tedious job) and ready to go. I've also already fiddled around with getting it hooked up to an AVR and Frankenstein-ing some wires (and some alligator clips I acquired by chance over a year ago) to play some music through my phone/portable CD player. I'm about to attempt to glue it in place, but... it really just does not seem possible to do with any precision. I'm just going to end up globbing on some glue and seeing if it works. :/ Also I just noticed that in the video the inside foam edge goes on top. On mine I have to glue the inside edge of the foam underneath the driver cone edge. Makes it a little more of a pain. EDIT: Also, what's the deal with other videos insisting you cut on the dust cap and shim the coil? I mean... shouldn't you be able to align it without cutting it out and re-glueing it back together? I can't mess with that...
Welp, about an hour or less later, I've got it glued down! (After all this time, finally did one! :P Had to sit there for like 5 minutes psyching myself up to start glueing, haha.) Hopefully it sounds alright when I test it tomorrow night, but if not, that'll be my excuse to start shopping for better speakers. ;)
Just let me slip on my chain mail gloves and we'll be ready to go. 😊 You are correct. I was thinking of double bevel, but out came the words double edge.
i thanks he very informative video ! I'm needing to do 4 10" woofers and 2 mids...where did you get your tone from to make sure the voice coil is centered ?
I Googled around and downloaded some test tones online then put them on an old iPod. I've done a few other speakers since then, and for them I downloaded a sine wave app to my wife's old android phone that lets you choose any frequency.
What makes you say that? I (and thousands upon thousands of others) have used this method for decades. I'm currently using the exact speakers that I refoamed in this video, daily in my living room, and have been for quite a while. Still no voice coil rub to be found. Nor in any of the other dozen or so woofers that I've refoamed and centered this way.
Actually it is a precise way of centering a coil. By introducing current..lower end frequencies, the bobbin will electromagnetically force itself to become center between the outer and inner pole of the magnet structure. Great results could also be obtained by using low voltage..amperage though the procedures are slightly different in centering then illustrated in this video. When shimming, extra steps are required and "this does happen" fine tunning the cone by checking rubbing points will require re-centering of outer foam. Both methods will achieve great results, myself, I prefer electromagnetic centering.
You should use the correct type of surround for the speaker you will be repairing. Rubber surrounds can be stiffer than foam, which can change how the cone moves, which can have negative effects on the response and sound.
Excellent tutorial many thanks unfortunately I’ve inadvertently ordered my replacement surrounds from China 😂 Duh Apparently now the adhesive to use is phone screen glue it’s black liquid silicone type and facilitates ease of future replacement too
The originals were designed to use foam surrounds. Other materials could be a different stiffness, which would change the way the driver responds. The companies that make these replacement surrounds usually stick with whatever the driver was originally designed with.
That is another technique where you don't use a tone to center the voice coil. Instead, you remove the dust cap, stick shims in the voice coil gap, and then glue down the surround. Either one should work. I just prefer the low frequency tone method because I have to cut and glue less.
@@TinyLittleWorkshop No need to fully remove the dust cap, cut it 70 to 90% around being careful not to cut or damage the wires, pull it back a bit to insert your shins. when done, glue it back BINGO Nice video by the by
how anyone does this without getting glue all over the place and ruining it is beyond me. Either its not enough and it wont stick or is too mich and squeezes out all over. besides its almost impossible to get the glue under the surround once the other side is glued because it just does not pull up. also noticed everyone showing this with big speakers but nobody shows it with 6 inch speakers for a reason.
The overall content of your presentation is good. I've been watching quite a few RUclips videos on foam surround replacements. The only thing that bothers me since I've been around shop equipment all of my 73 years of living is the blade on your table saw is raised all the way up. My father cut his little finger off on a table saw cause the blade was up and spinning down. Please lower it if you're not using it!
Most foam suppliers give you some glue, but in my case it was just barely enough. My research indicated Aleene's Original Tacky Glue was preferred. It's cheap and available everywhere.
Good catch. Bill is all for living fully metric but is stuck in the U.S. Most of the other Tiny Little Workshop videos eschew imperial measurements, but for those times something does sneak through, Google is pretty helpful about converting measurements straight from the search bar.
What an idiotic comment on a video like this. This video came out 7 years ago and the exact same kit he's using in this video is currently $22.95. He said in the video "$20 or so", it's not hard to believe he likely paid the same $22.95. Considering $22.95 seven years ago is equivalent to $29.47 today, you're actually spending 28% less on this kit than he paid when he made the video. A 7 year old video about speaker repair doesn't need to be political but, for some reason, here we are.
Always LAY DOWN the box when trying to remove the driver , simple , no ? Why do all these dummies try to do this with the box upright , just bewilders me . Yet here they are trying to be EXPERTS and showing others the DUMB way . wtf ?
I'm sure he had them up in the video because he's using a simple camera tripod and not a mount to aim down on a working surface. Thankfully most of us understand gravity well enough to know how to accomplish this simple task.
There are several videos on RUclips for DIYing the speaker surround replacement. So far I think yours is probably the most informative and easiest way to get er done. Thanks.
It’s easy to remove the central cap without damage. Pour a little 10-15 grams of alcohol directly into the diffuser (the alcohol gets directly onto the adhesive seam) and cover with a plastic cup to slow down the evaporation of alcohol. After 5-7 minutes the cap comes off easily, I use an old credit card to help.
This is the best video I've seen for replacing the foam. Big thumbs up for the test tone tip; it makes so much sense! Very well explained and easy to follow you all the way through. This helped me repair some RE 30's my brother just recently gave me. They'll be sure to rock for years to come! Thanks again
This is one of those videos you don’t watch until you NEED to and man, this is possibly the best guide out there. Follow up question though - if it was a midrange driver or something like an 8 inch woofer, how would we know what frequency to use?
I want to thank you for posting this repair. I have a fairly growing collection of speakers each with different issues. I am doing my first foam repair while watching your video. Thanks again friend for taking the time. By the way you kind a look like ducky from 16 candles.
One of the best vids for replacing foam. I especially like that you've included the tone generator step.
iv got a set of car speakers about 15 years old i had them in highschool ...well the other day i gave the nabor a ride to town his dog jumped in the back and busted both speakers....looks like your idea will work ...its just i had them soo long and they always sound great till now with the cracking ... thanks for making this video guys i think i can save mine too
Sir… you earned your sub right there. You fixed my sub 😂 I haven’t even begun to fix them all yet but thanks to your video I am not even remotely concerned. And ordered my red foam and gonna repair it. I got nothing to lose with these. They are worth it they are ok speakers peavey and loudest I can afford haha
13:40 looks like the glue didn't work, keeps lifting, not sticky, I had a similar issue very frustrating, i see gaps around the edge on yours, make sure to go over it again after it dries and from the underside
Really helpful, and leaving the dust cap in place, often the old C-V caps had a nice logo on them. One less step, one less chance for a mistake like nicking a wire. Just picked up a garage sale set of C-Vs for my first refoam job.
The best videos for replacing surrounds on subs period. I'm still in awe about using a tone frequency to center the coil. I have 2 12 jl w0 that just needed surrounds and I really didnt want to remove the dust caps since they are original and I can't find anymore
Hey Billy Guess what? You are a genius Hands Down the best most Informative video on how to Refoam a Speaker!!👍👍
When i glued my two surrounds in I thought I was going to run out of the glue provided so I researched quite some time on line.
Turns out the consensus of opinions said the glue to use was Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue. Which is good because you can buy it everywhere.
I had just enough to finish my two surrounds but I bought some anyway to be sure I had enough to finish.
Can confirm. I've used that exact brand of tacky glue with good results.
I just happen to be revisiting this video about a year after I saw it the first time. I was searching for a glue to reattach a surround to a 6.5 inch Cerwin Vega component speaker. The surround on this particular speaker was made of rubber. I tried the Aleene's Original Tacky Glue to adhere it back to the frame. The glue did not hold very well. I'm assuming it was because the surround was of the rubber type and not foam. Just wanted to recommend you don't use on rubber surrounds. I ended up using a typical hot glue gun, using the glue sparingly but covering the mating surfaces.
@@paulweston8184you won’t (or anyone else) be able to remove that foam😊 without tearing it
Outstanding video. Thank you for the time to show this. Extremely understandable and great humor. This helped so much. Best video out there.
A nice video.
A tip for the Isopropyl alcohol is to use proper 99.9% and not rubbing, as any water content can damage the paper cone of some drivers.
Using a Q-tip to apply, then you simply use a small plastic scraper to remove the gunk, again while supporting the cone, easier than using a water diluted alchohol and risking cone damage as we see on your cone.
You use a low tone to help you center your cone, to be frank the spider on many bass drivers is meant to be rather stiff and that should be centering the cone, if you have coil rub then it could be a sign cone sag has affected the spider meaning a full recone, or it needs rotated, personally I would simply buy dust caps and shim the coil. With a Q-Tip and 99.9% alcohol most glues come away easy on the dust cap, and a Q-tip and alcohol cleans most of the residue.
Any gluing of a surround is leading to cone and surround flex as you apply pressure, so you could in theory have uneven tension around the surround, or at worse, rub some of the insulation off your actual coil.
Another tip for raising the cone is a small 1.5 volt battery. It will simply raise the driver, allowing you to glue under the surround. You can buy a single battery clip with lead out wires and use crocidile clips if this is something you will do more than once. Also helpful for testing a driver is actually working in the absence of any other equipment.
A few others have had success with leaving the glue for a couple of minutes until tacky, this of course will depend on how accurate and confident someone is, and will also depend on the adhesive. But worth looking into.
Nice to see video's on recone work instead of items going to landfill.
Excellent video - helped me repair my Advent Laureate speakers. By the way, loved you in Two and a Half Men...
Now there's a comparison that I haven't heard in a while. Used to happen fairly frequently back when the show was on the air.😁
Jon is back on air but has a new hair style.
Thanks - I reformed a pair of Altecs 50 years ago. Now I have old Macs on my bench.
Great info on removing the old foam and glue, many videos skip that step! Also, you remind me of Alan from two and a half men.
i need to refoam my infinity ref 51 mk2 bass woofers. This video will definitely help to restore them fully in original quality. Thank you!
Hi Bill nice video. Can you use the same electromagnetic cone centering technique on a midrange; and if so, what freq. would the tone be to center cone for re-foaming? Thanks, bc
You need to spread the glue evenly because there is almost no (continuous) pressure to spread it. Use a piece of paper/plastic (or anything flat) to spread the glue on the whole surface. If you don't do this there is a chance some glue connections are weak and get loose over time because of vibrations.
Did my JBLs. Undermounted the surround, as they originally were. Coil very close tolerance, could not easily slip in a playing card shim. Shimmed one, skipped it in the other. No difference. Both sound better than ever. $25 investment was way worth it.
A lot more detail information from other vids, thanks for taking the extra time going back at times .
[5:00] What would be the result of installing the neg. wire on the pos. speaker terminal and vice versa?
It would be out of phase with the other speakers in the cabinet and with the other speaker pair.
Thank you, this video was fantastic
Excellent presentation, very useful. Thank you for posting this 👍🏻🙏
thank you for this video. where can I buy a foam for a 17 inches subwoofer Kenwood?
Silly question, but how do i know the size i need for my new foam surround? What do i measure?
Update your vid to drop references to "double-edged razor blade". Unless your fingers are made of steel, you will use a single-edge razor blade or hobby knife.
I have Al old 12" kicker with rotten foam.... Where do I find a new kit and proper glue... I gotta get my bumps in order LoL 😆 thanks 😊
You the man!! I'm glad I don't have to cut my dust cap now.
This is the best way ever to center a voice coil
i love the sine wave power amp centering trick
Where do I buy the new foam
Lot of practical tips. Thanks.
Good idea I never saw before. Running a 30 hz tone to center the voice coil. Yeah them mice also enjoy chewing wire and the surround.
Great video, I've followed your instructions to replace the foam on the CV 417R woofer. Can you please tell me what is that cosmetic thing that covers the screw holes you installed in the end called, and where can I buy it? Thank you.
hi my surrounds are just coming unglued a little in a couple spots can i just glue them back down or will that mess up the way it sounds somehow? still sound fine to my ear, but i dont want it to get worse! thanks :)
Isn't the speaker already centered by itself? A friend of mine didn't do all that "CENTERING" and the speakers sound great!!!!!
Same here but I did the tone generator method anyway just to check. My speakers needed no centering, the spider held it firmly in place. My opinion is that replacing undamaged dust caps is a waste and pretty much a shim/cap selling scam.
The cone can be off center if the spyder is not stiff. So your results may not be as good without some cone centering process. Also your skills may not center the foam when glueing and cause a problem.
Good information. i have trim pieces made to hold down the surround. Does a good job.
Great video. But always replace the non polarized electrolytic Capacitors while you are in there. They grow weak as well.
Great. So i need to buy something to make a test tone?
Thanks! great video. Its given me courage!
Contact cement has very specific properties that do not match the adhesive being used. With contact cement you put it on both pieces and let it dry for a while before putt the two together, and you really can't adjust much after that... they join on CONTACT. This application needs to be able to be adjusted, so it would be a terrible situation for contact cement.
When did the surround have anything to do with the centering of the speaker? Still a good video.
Hello and greetings from Italy. sorry for my English. I liked your video, and, today, I changed one FOAM of my speacker (ESB 7/06). The worst part of that work was centered the ring, now seems work . Very hard to do, probably because is the very first time. What king of glue you used ? I soo two king: one is called vinavil and is water based, and the other one is bostick. I used the second one, but, the problem, was to correct the thing. as soon I have posed the pieces the glue stick and block very rapidely. BDW, now one is done. As the second going broke I change. Have good time, Stefan, Iltaly
Most people advise using Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue. Everyone sells it and it's cheap.
@@pay9011 never heard of it. What sort of glue is it?
My cat just jumped on my brand new monitors and slipped--Poked a little hole in the surround. Very small, is there like a glue I could use to realign the hole.
Thanks for the informative video. I am trying to work myself up to re-foaming my 12" Cerwin Vega subwoofer. Local repair shop wanted $160.00 to re-foam, so I figured I could give it a try for the approximate $26.00. I have watched a few other RUclips videos on the subject, and they suggest centering the coil just by manually pushing it in and out, and stopping when it does not rub. I don't have the equipment or desire to use the tone generator method that you recommend. Is the "manual" method suitable?
Thanks for your honest opinion.
I've not tried centering one manually, so I can't say.
I ordered the foam kit to repair my cerwin vegas and I used the manual method as instructed in the Simply Speakers video. It worked fine for me. Actually when I got the new foam installed, it pretty much centered itself. Hope this helps.
@@tsims73 Agreed, once I put the foam on the cones they were pretty much centered already. I did the test tone to center the speaker anyway and it was pretty much spot on. This was a good method for me. CV RE-30's
does anyone here have contacts for places that create hifi decals ? I have a Kenwood Shelf Hifi that the rubberised surface has perished and is sticky, after cleaning the labels and details will be gone and i would like to have a replacement set prior to starting.
I wish there was more detail about how to hook up the low frequency tone. I don't really think a phone by itself can drive that speaker, so how is it hooked up to the amp while out of the housing? I don't have long wires on my driver, nor do I know how to hook them up. Some weird thing with alligator clips? Bleh, so much work. I bought some replacement foam, and I might be able to deal with the mess of cleaning the old foam off (and gluing down the new foam rings), but then even more obstacles with the voice coil make this just about beyond my skill level. :( Maybe I'll just wing it and hope its lined up.
I wouldn't wing the alignment and hope. That's a recipe for failure and/or frustration.
You are right that a smart device's headphone jack doesn't have enough power to be hooked up directly to the woofer and drive it at reasonable levels. The iPod / phone / whatever is hooked up to the stereo inputs of an amplifier with a 1/8" (3.5mm) to RCA adapter cable. I buy them from thrift stores for $0.25 to $1.00 a piece. Retailers like Monoprice have good ones for cheap too. The speaker wire is running from the outputs of the amplifier directly to the lugs on the woofer. I just kinda folded the ends of the wire over so the bare copper would make decent contact with the spade lugs. Like I said in the video though, if I had some wire with alligator clips on the ends, it would have been more secure. I was more interested in convenience during the making of the video.
You're a really cool dude to reply to my whiny comment with some seriously helpful tips & explanations. I think I will give this a go and with a bit more confidence now. Much appreciated brother!
@@mrhobs how did your speakers turn out?
@@mercurialmagictrees Wow, missed this in my notifications, but happen to come back to this video just now, because... wait for it... I'm STILL WORKING ON IT! Hahaha! :(
Well, needless to say, I set it aside and because of numerous excuses and life distractions, BUT I have since set up an office with a work table on one side, and now have one of the drivers cleaned up (pretty tedious job) and ready to go. I've also already fiddled around with getting it hooked up to an AVR and Frankenstein-ing some wires (and some alligator clips I acquired by chance over a year ago) to play some music through my phone/portable CD player. I'm about to attempt to glue it in place, but... it really just does not seem possible to do with any precision. I'm just going to end up globbing on some glue and seeing if it works. :/
Also I just noticed that in the video the inside foam edge goes on top. On mine I have to glue the inside edge of the foam underneath the driver cone edge. Makes it a little more of a pain.
EDIT: Also, what's the deal with other videos insisting you cut on the dust cap and shim the coil? I mean... shouldn't you be able to align it without cutting it out and re-glueing it back together? I can't mess with that...
Welp, about an hour or less later, I've got it glued down! (After all this time, finally did one! :P Had to sit there for like 5 minutes psyching myself up to start glueing, haha.) Hopefully it sounds alright when I test it tomorrow night, but if not, that'll be my excuse to start shopping for better speakers. ;)
The razor blade is a SINGLE edge blade. You REALLY don't want to use a DOUBLE edged razor blade by hand!!!
Just let me slip on my chain mail gloves and we'll be ready to go. 😊
You are correct. I was thinking of double bevel, but out came the words double edge.
Lol
Nice video by the way
Excellent. Thanks so much.
i thanks he very informative video ! I'm needing to do 4 10" woofers and 2 mids...where did you get your tone from to make sure the voice coil is centered ?
I Googled around and downloaded some test tones online then put them on an old iPod. I've done a few other speakers since then, and for them I downloaded a sine wave app to my wife's old android phone that lets you choose any frequency.
awesome video, best that I have seen 👍
has anyone told you, you look like alan from 2 1/2 men
Yes! I used to get that one quite a lot when I worked more directly with the public.
@@TinyLittleWorkshop 🤣
Thanks for the great and informative video
i doubt the voice coil was properly centered in this video. the most critical part of refoam process.
What makes you say that? I (and thousands upon thousands of others) have used this method for decades. I'm currently using the exact speakers that I refoamed in this video, daily in my living room, and have been for quite a while. Still no voice coil rub to be found. Nor in any of the other dozen or so woofers that I've refoamed and centered this way.
Actually it is a precise way of centering a coil. By introducing current..lower end frequencies, the bobbin will electromagnetically force itself to become center between the outer and inner pole of the magnet structure. Great results could also be obtained by using low voltage..amperage though the procedures are slightly different in centering then illustrated in this video.
When shimming, extra steps are required and "this does happen" fine tunning the cone by checking rubbing points will require re-centering of outer foam.
Both methods will achieve great results, myself, I prefer electromagnetic centering.
"Never Cut Toward Your Thumb, Always Cut Toward Your Chum"
What if the foam is on the backside of the paper??
So this process will work with some CVegas R-38s?
Can I use the cerwinwega surround rubber on an optimus brand speaker ?
You should use the correct type of surround for the speaker you will be repairing. Rubber surrounds can be stiffer than foam, which can change how the cone moves, which can have negative effects on the response and sound.
Excellent tutorial many thanks unfortunately I’ve inadvertently ordered my replacement surrounds from China 😂 Duh
Apparently now the adhesive to use is phone screen glue it’s black liquid silicone type and facilitates ease of future replacement too
Awesome video.
From where did you buy
Why not replace surrounds with rubber or is the drive foam also
The originals were designed to use foam surrounds. Other materials could be a different stiffness, which would change the way the driver responds. The companies that make these replacement surrounds usually stick with whatever the driver was originally designed with.
I will try this on my klipsch woofer, thanks!
How many ounces of glue should I need to do 2-10" subs?
i think around 2 kilo
@@dukeaudio1737 tree fiddy kilo
great lil vid man, thanks.. about to tackle a 10" kenwood and glue to the face rather than the back like it came. boom boom...
Why do some instructions say to remove the dust cap?
That is another technique where you don't use a tone to center the voice coil. Instead, you remove the dust cap, stick shims in the voice coil gap, and then glue down the surround. Either one should work. I just prefer the low frequency tone method because I have to cut and glue less.
@@TinyLittleWorkshop No need to fully remove the dust cap, cut it 70 to 90% around being careful not to cut or damage the wires, pull it back a bit to insert your shins. when done, glue it back BINGO
Nice video by the by
how anyone does this without getting glue all over the place and ruining it is beyond me. Either its not enough and it wont stick or is too mich and squeezes out all over. besides its almost impossible to get the glue under the surround once the other side is glued because it just does not pull up. also noticed everyone showing this with big speakers but nobody shows it with 6 inch speakers for a reason.
The overall content of your presentation is good. I've been watching quite a few RUclips videos on foam surround replacements. The only thing that bothers me since I've been around shop equipment all of my 73 years of living is the blade on your table saw is raised all the way up. My father cut his little finger off on a table saw cause the blade was up and spinning down. Please lower it if you're not using it!
I couldn't continue watching when you called that a double edge razor blade
low volume? like how low?
had me up till that second part of gluing with the centering.. I might just pay the $75 lol
Are you Ducky from Pretty in Pink?
You should shim the voice coil to ensure that it is even and will work properly
Excelente
I wish you would have filmed yourself gluing the inner lip / edge, it didn’t appear easy/ simple
Hey mate, what kind of glue you used?
Most foam suppliers give you some glue, but in my case it was just barely enough. My research indicated Aleene's Original Tacky Glue was preferred. It's cheap and available everywhere.
Nice informatiove video.
Just one irritating intro music. Pls use some other.
First off, that is a single edged razor blade. You would be bleeding profusely otherwise.
Yup, that was a slip-up. I meant double bevel.
As I'm here scraping my Bose 301 with a screwdriver (got 2 for 10 bucks
Midwest speaker just sent me 2 surrounds that look like they just came out of a blender. I'm not a happy Camper.
whats an 8th inch in millimeters? a comment for future viewers. perhaps tell people what it is in metric seen as the internet is global. im from aus
Good catch. Bill is all for living fully metric but is stuck in the U.S. Most of the other Tiny Little Workshop videos eschew imperial measurements, but for those times something does sneak through, Google is pretty helpful about converting measurements straight from the search bar.
@@TinyLittleWorkshop 1/8th" is 3 mm, 1" is 25.4mm
im also broke so got nothing but time
such a wrong way to do reforming. the correct method is always applyng shims
Who else here Does not own one of those speakers
I happened to have a cerwin vegas - so this was perfect for me
I got two big Ed !
I couldn’t handle any more adds, total waste of my time
$20 for the set? Man, was good before ol Biden got his hands on the country..
What an idiotic comment on a video like this. This video came out 7 years ago and the exact same kit he's using in this video is currently $22.95. He said in the video "$20 or so", it's not hard to believe he likely paid the same $22.95. Considering $22.95 seven years ago is equivalent to $29.47 today, you're actually spending 28% less on this kit than he paid when he made the video. A 7 year old video about speaker repair doesn't need to be political but, for some reason, here we are.
Always LAY DOWN the box when trying to remove the driver , simple , no ? Why do all these dummies try to do this with the box upright , just bewilders me . Yet here they are trying to be EXPERTS and showing others the DUMB way . wtf ?
I'm sure he had them up in the video because he's using a simple camera tripod and not a mount to aim down on a working surface. Thankfully most of us understand gravity well enough to know how to accomplish this simple task.
@@johns.7609 😂😂😂
Yeah, what John says. Gawd
Get a life buddy; video was great. Just can't please some idiots!!!!
Great video !