2425 fixable?

[maxwedge]

Well I got another ebay adventure for my self! I picked up this 2370/2425 combo for $112 and the guy say's it works. It shows up and guess what...the diaphragm is open. So I take it apart and it looks like trash inside. Think it's worth fixing? The magnet looks shifted and the gap dosn't look even. The diaphragm didn't come out very easy.

The horn is nice though.:banghead:

[maxwedge]

Inside

[maxwedge]

Back side

[angel mercado]

man whoever had that horn before must have been deaf to say it worked ill ask my friend he owns a speaker repair place and see what he thinks :eek:

[maxwedge]

Thanks Angel, I just looked in the gap with a magnifying glass and it looks like the rust is in there also. Any one know how these come apart further? I may try and take it apart for fun if I decide to trash it. :eek:

[Earl K]

Hi MaxWedge

Yep, that's pretty severe water damage you're looking at . I had a driver get water into it while being dropped shipped across Canada. I didn't discover the problem until rusting was pretty advanced. You should be able to salvage the motor portion ( which includes that top plate & gap ) but you may need a new diaphragm .

What I did was; after removing the diaphragm ( which wasn't reusable ) I sprayed all those metal surfaces of the top plate ( and gap ) with WD40 to arrest the rusting. I let the driver sit that way "soaking" for a couple of days.

When I rediscovered my patience, I used wet & dry sand-paper "the green emery stuff" of various fine grits to remove the rust. Those Blue Shop towels worked nicely to spongeup the mess. This worked well and I was able to burnish that top plate back to looking half decent.

The gap responded nicely to the same treatment though I used only my finest grit Wet & Dry inside there. Obviously cleaning up inside the the gap is of paramount importance. I repeated this procedure over a couple of weeks because it's all pretty tedious and patience is a virtue in this type of endevour . In between cleanings I left a very light coat of WD40 on the metal surfaces.
Eventually, when I figured the gap was clean enough ( viewed through a magnifying glass ) I installed and aligned a new diaphragm . This driver is now as good as any of my other 2426(s) .

regards <> Earl K

[maxwedge]

Hi Earl,
Thanks for the info, so may be I'll try and save it. How do I go about lineing up the gap? And the diaphragm should drop right in if it's correct, right? I suppose I need to find what size the gap should be and use a nonmagnetic gadge to adjust it. It looks to me that it adjusts by moving the magnet, is that correct?

Hey thanks again you guys,
Scott
PS
I may try a cheep Cannon sound diaphragm (been spending too much $ lately :eek:)) . I'll let you guys know how it sounds if I go there.

[Earl K]

Hi Max

Clean the whole assembly first. You should find that you don't have a gap problem. The gap size should be @ .031". If you hunt around at automotive supply houses you ought to be able to get yourself a round (or 6-8 sided) brass ( because it's non-magnetic), spark-plug gapper that will do the job.

These top & bottom plates and pole pieces are glued to the magnet. You won't be able to repair an assymetrical gap by dissassembling/reassembling the motor structure.

regards <> Earl K :)

[subwoof]

Ahh - the beer effect...I've seen it many times...:cheers:

Worked good huh? Here's the usual scenario: Loyal band fan leans over the stage monitor and says YOUGUYSAREGREAT and his beer tips over into the horn....

Later that night they pack it up, it sits in truck a few days, is set up at next gig and it takes a little screaming to blow out the dried crud.....assuming it didn't freeze the diaphram.

Another gig, another truck ride and later - another beer.

The rust accumulates, The diaphram freezes in place and the horn starts to sound like crap. So the band says "sell it on ebay" !!

And so begins the web of deception...

Get a plastic cover from a nut can and cut out a few shims to get the major stuff out of the gap.

Do NOT do NOT use WD 40 until the end of the process because you WILL need tape adhesion to get the dust out.

Get a **BRASS** refinishing "toothbrush" to get the major scale off and blow it out with an airgun. Use the shims for the in-gap crap THEN use stiff electrical tape to clean out the fine stuff.

Then you can wipe the top plate with WD40 and if you MASH a Qtip with a hammer, you can flatten it enough to wipe in the gap.

Eitherway it's a PITA so look on ebay for empty drivers...:)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=47092&item=2372209490

sub

[Hofmannhp]

Hi Earl, Hi Scott,Hi all,

Scott.! before you trash them ....send it to me...

:biting:

I thought about a posibility to renew this drivers.
The main thing is to keep the gap clean from the steel particles from the needed sanding procedure.
You will never be able to clean the gap when those parts are between 20000 Gauss.
My mind goes to this way:
Fill the gap with silicone (Bostik) or sealant. You can put it later out very easy to the front side. To get not a too good connection, spray the gap with WD40 before siliconing.
then sanding of all parts around the gap. Use Gaffa Tape to clean the surface from all particles. Wet sanding with oil (YES) will be best for binding most of the particles.
The Backcovers may be cleaned with sandblasting.

Try it....or send it to me :) and please don't hit me if it doesn't work.


HP

[maxwedge]

Hi guys, I already sprayed it with wd40...before I saw subwoof's post. Yes, I didn't think about the metal but there is rust in the gap already....I can see it with a magnifying glass. So I'm going to have to get in there anyway at one point but I agree I need to seal that gap befor sanding.

I tell you though this isn't really 1st on my list as I'm working hard on my sub boxs, so they may sit for awhile.

Whats with that foam in the rear cap, it sure dosn't look original and should some foam be there?

[subwoof]

the foam rots just like the surrounds on the cones....sticky crap when it goes....

I have a pile of 2425's that have no diaphrams if you decide to bail on it...:)

remember that there is an underhang **inside** the gap - if a stray POS decides to move into the gap, you've just killed a 125.00 diaphram...:(

sub

[maxwedge]

The seller refunded me $20 so that makes the deal ok for me..I did get a nice horn. When I get some free time I'll decide if I want to fix it.

Thanks for your replys
:)
Scott