I agree with the others, that having them done by a professional is the way to go. Like many have mentioned, you can find someone who’ll do a perfect job, at very reasonable prices. The person I use worked for a speaker manufacture, and when they where sold off he retired. With the amount of work he’s doing now, his status has changed to semi-retired. Cost for replacing a surround is usually around $50.
What hasn’t been mentioned yet is the testing of the speaker once it's been repaired. I’m sure most of the pro’s include this as part of the job - I know the person I use does.
I've done many speakers from 4" to 12". There are kits available from Just Speakers or Orange County Speaker Works online, just to name a couple. Its very important to keep the cone centered around the voice coil, or it will rub if the surround is glued crooked. Some kits include different thickness shims, in order to keep things centered. That requires cutting away the dust cap, centering the cone with shims, gluing the new surround, and replacing and gluing the ,(usually provided), new dustcap that came with the kit. Use isopropyl alcohol and q-tips to clean the old glue from the frame. Just Speakers,(not affiliated with them), provides full instructions.
If the air gap has ferrofluid in it, the fluid will help to keep the voice coil centered. If you need to replace the ferrofluid, please, for all that is holy in this world, use audio grade fluid. A reputable speaker repair service will know and understand how to use ff in a driver. Ask what type of fluid they use. If they say EFH1 or something they got off Amazon, DO NOT POWER UP THE DRIVER AND DEMAND YOUR MONEY BACK. This is not audio grade fluid and will ruin your drivers. I have no experience with Dunlavey speakers, but I would suggest Ferrotec APG L11 as a good substitute for what was in there. Good luck with your repairs! - Vanessa
Very easy to do: This video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpMYZq-qQNo shows an EASY way to get the voice coil centered. You don't need to use any shims and you will not need to remove the dust cap. This method uses a PC or a phone and a free app to produce a 50 Hz signal that you can use to be sure the voice coil is not scraping or rubbing as you are gluing the surround down to the speaker frame. I have done this several times and it works great. Most of the time the paper cone seems to almost center itself. You have to choose the correct type of glue. For many cones ( paper) Aleene's Original Tacky Glue works well. this is easy to find an inexpensive. But you say that you have a plastic cone, and if this is polypropylene then that is much more difficult to glue to. See this reference: http://techtalk.parts-express.com/forum/tech-talk-forum/43449-glue-to-polypropoline The Aleene's tacky glue worked on this for me when I tried it on a plastic cone, but it took a VERY LONG time to get the surround to stay tacked down and I had to constantly be pressing down on parts of it that would lift up. If you search you may find a glue that works better on plastic, or go to one of the suppliers of surrounds and speaker repair kits and ask what glue they sell or recommend for plastic cones.
Hi Agree . Bill Legall at Millersound ... I have used him since 1995 . For DQ-10 , Mcintosh Xr-5 , B&O , AR ... heck more than I want to remember ..... Great guy .
I literally just our Wilson Watt Puppy 5.1 speaker driver cones foam surrounds replaced and used Bill Legall of Millersound. Bill did an EXCEPTIONAL job.
Cost was $50 per larger bass driver and $45 for the smaller midrange driver.
His craftsmanship and work are priceless!
You can remove and mail the driver to him (I was close and drove to drop them off and pick them up). If one driver has an issue, it's likely the others are soon to follow - I had Bill do all of our cone drivers in our speakers and recommend you do the same.
Thanks for the +s' and the kudos, but MC held the nail...
I just drove it home. ;)
In my unfortunate example, it was one out of four prototypes. I had expected 'issues', and wasn't disappointed. But it was a stupid error on my part, and hasn't been repeated since.
Since Speaker Repair doesn't list Dunlavys, call 1st. But do, whoever you go with eventually, follow SRs' suggestion: Remove the driver from the cabinet, and ship it 'raw'. They'll charge you for both removal and remount, a simple screwdriver routine. And shipping a cabinet is just heavier and more $'s for packing and weight.
This you can DIY; PM me for the routine I've used before. I'll even send you a drawing of the how-to in a jpg or pdf... I 'do' that sort of thing daily. I've shipped a pair of JBL woofers cross-country, had them reboxed in mine, and returned in perfect shape after a recone and surround swap.
I think I will send the driver to a professional for repair since I'm not sure I can even get a replacement speaker for the Dunlavys should I screw the pooch on this repair attempt.
The next logical question: Who should I send it to?
avsjerry finally nailed it. You have to use spacers inside the voice coil to center it in the gap which means you have to remove the dust cap in the center of the cone. You can not depend on the spider to keep the cone centered as it will rack rubbing in the gap at the back of the coil. What you use will depend on the size of the gap. You want them long enough to protrude far beyond the cone so you can pull them out easily when the glue is absolutely dry. I am not sure what the best glue to use is but Gorilla glue and Crazy glue are bad choices, too brittle. I would use the rubber cement that comes with bicycle tire patch kits. It remains pliable which is what you want. I would contact Dayton (Parts Express) and ask what they use. They can probably supply you with everything.
Remember to put spacers around the voice coil to keep it centered! Any decent diy kit will include them....if not, 3 or 4 pieces of 'stiff paper spaced eq in the gap will do.....
This assumes a complete recone & surround repair, which removes the center dust cap.
Just trying to reglue the surround to the cone will be an exercise what leads to a Fail. It requires pushing the cone down into contact with the surround evenly while the spider pushes back against you.
As one who replaces the Entire cone/surround assemblies with entirely different ones of a major design, I would not try to do so without spacers @ the voice coil gap.
If you've no experience with this routine, I would seek professionals to do this for you.
As one who has heard the sound of the voice coil coming in contact with the magnet gap....you've been warned.
If the qualities of your driver means Anything to you, I'd pass on DIY.
I 'do' this routine....with all the intentions and concerns of brain surgery with pliers, and still thinking of Dr. Frankenstein with his subject.
Sober, late at night, no interruptions, no rush....and no shortcuts.
If my exhortations mean nothing to you....good f'n luck, J
Do not use Gorilla Glue. It's permanent. If the surround ever goes, which it shouldn't being rubber, you will have to replace cone and surround, because there will be no getting them apart. Just buy a proper kit with shims and everything else you need. It's not too hard, but it's deff. not worth the risk of f'ing it up. Use a lazy Susan if you have one.
I removed the solder and blown voice coil/diaphragm from my Mezzo Utopia's tweeter and resoldered in place a new voice coil/diaphragm. It wasn't easy but I did it and it sounds perfect.
I'm not sure it's something that should be attempted. Even the slightest deviation off axis or a minute uneven tension could be enough to compromise the sound.
+1 millercarbon. It’s not that tough. Keep it centered as best you can and you’ll be fine. I did this to my old jbl l300 and they’re still golden after 10 yrs.. Watch a YouTube vid on it.
It is not that difficult but you will need a good surround adhesive and some patience and some knowledge and experience otherwise you could make a mess of the surround and the cone.
Did the surround tear at all? Or just a clean separation? The key to a good repair is prep. You won’t be able to simply glue it back on with any adhesive with the old adhesive still on the rubber or spider. For the best results that will last, remove the old adhesive, then reattach. If the surround tore at all, it’s pretty much done. It can be repaired but IMO it’s not worth it and it would be best to either send it in for a re-cone or get a new driver if you can.
My concern was I've read something years ago that said if you don't get
the glue just right the piston action of the cone would be compromised.
Voice coil. The voice coil is centered in the voice coil gap, a very narrow gap with tight clearance between the magnet and pole piece. The voice coil is held in position by the spider, the accordion looking thing you can see if you look at a driver up close. Voice coil, spider and cone all come together here.
The surround is way out at the wide end of the cone. So it has leverage and yes if you screw it up bad enough it can push the voice coil out of alignment and if it scrapes in the gap this is very bad indeed. But this will not happen unless you really screw up and glue the surround so everything is all cockeyed and off center. So just be careful and then, no worries.
No need for the kit if the rubber surround is intact and still pliable! Gorilla Glue will work fine and make a strong bond! I used it to repair the surrounds of a pair of the Smaller Advents.
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