JBL Decade L26 - Stuck Woofers and No Sound in Tweeters

[hellomoto]

Hi!

This is my first post here! My name is Antoine, I'm 17 and live in France! I just got my first pair of JBL speakers, and I've got some problem. I hope these problems were not already discussed, but my knowledge of the specific language of audio is very small, and may have use wrong terms in my research, so if it's the case, please excuse me in advance!

The first problem is that the Woofers are stuck in the case, and I really can't figure out how to remove them from the case. I need to change the surrounds. It's really hardly stuck, I tried to pull from the back, using the holes of the tweeters, with no success. I was thinking about removing the whole back of the speaker with a saw, but I hope I won't have to go that far...

My second problem is that I can't get any sound out of the tweeters in the two speakers, but when "scratching" the tabs of the tweeters with a 1.5V battery, there's a noise coming from them. I suspect a problem is the crossover, but I think I need to remove the woofers to remove them, back to the first problem...

Thanks for your help, and in advance, sorry if these questions were already asked!

Antoine

[louped garouv]

Hi!

This is my first post here! My name is Antoine, I'm 17 and live in France! I just got my first pair of JBL speakers, and I've got some problem. I hope these problems were not already discussed, but my knowledge of the specific language of audio is very small, and may have use wrong terms in my research, so if it's the case, please excuse me in advance!

The first problem is that the Woofers are stuck in the case, and I really can't figure out how to remove them from the case. I need to change the surrounds. It's really hardly stuck, I tried to pull from the back, using the holes of the tweeters, with no success. I was thinking about removing the whole back of the speaker with a saw, but I hope I won't have to go that far...

My second problem is that I can't get any sound out of the tweeters in the two speakers, but when "scratching" the tabs of the tweeters with a 1.5V battery, there's a noise coming from them. I suspect a problem is the crossover, but I think I need to remove the woofers to remove them, back to the first problem...

Thanks for your help, and in advance, sorry if these questions were already asked!

Antoine


hello Antoine...

I've seen a few references to using a thin "putty knife" to pry the woofers off...

something like this:
http://www.ngkmetals.com/image/store/productImages/K-25-PuttyKnife.jpg

the basic idea is that you slip it behind the frame, and carefully pry it off...
maybe using more than one putty knife...

you may be able to search the forum for more details on this procedure.
(at the very least, i would wait until more folks gave their opinions....)

good luck!





*Edit* sorry for the bad advice, i did not realize that the woofers are recessed in your cabinet.
(see post #4 below for clarification...)

[rdgrimes]

Careful application of a heat gun (hair dryer) might help as well.

[macaroonie]

No to the knife , the driver are recessed so no access there or you will damage the cabinet.
Try the heat gun , but better still try using a solvent like acetone or MEK. If you can put that in the gap between the frame of the bass driver and the cabinet it will seep into the rear mounting surface that is stuck. Hopefully it will disolve the adhesion.

49655

[clmrt]

Gravity + momentum

Place a block of wood on the floor, and tip the speaker over so that the case strikes the wood - the woofer will pop out after a few drops.

Let it drop, hit it hard.

[rdgrimes]

Solvents will also dissolve the MDF. :eek:

I didn't realize those are recessed. Put them in a cold garage for a few hours then bring inside and apply heat to the aluminum frame. Then use the dropping technique and they should pop out. Hopefully without also taking any big chunks of MDF along for the ride.

[SEAWOLF97]

Gravity + momentum

Place a block of wood on the floor, and tip the speaker over so that the case strikes the wood - the woofer will pop out after a few drops.

Let it drop, hit it hard.

I've done it this way too , but subbing a rolled up towel for the block of wood...easier on the finish.

[hellomoto]

Hello!

Thanks for your method, the dropping worked perfectly.

I think the crossover board is stuck inside the case, but I'm not going to remove it right now. I tested the tweeters, by connecting directly my amp to it, and streaming in them a small sound, but there is no response of the tweeters, even if they make a small noise with a 1.5V cell, a crackling. Does that mean they're dead?

Thanks,

Antoine

[clmrt]

Hard to draw a conclusion from that. I would completely remove them (carefully, the wires attach to these tweeters in a very delicate and fragile way) and test them.

[hellomoto]

Hello,

Thanks for your answer. That's what I did, I then connected the speaker wires directly to them, and I can't have any sound. Is there any other test I can try?

Thanks,
Antoine

[clmrt]

It's possible the leads have already broken. If the voice coil leads are exposed on the surface of the driver, try connecting there. The leads are underneath the foam ring. The most common failure of this driver is a break of the voice coil lead at the termination point. If the driver operates when connecting directly to the voice coil lead, you can attempt to repair them by resoldering the delicate lead to the input connector.

I had a set that physically broke at the input terminal. The red-orange fixing cement that holds the terminal in place broke, leaving the connector hanging by the voice coil wire.

Be aware that peeling the foam ring off the driver is enough to destroy the leads, so proceed carefully.

[hellomoto]

Hello,

Thanks for your help! I tried your method, unfortunately with no success, the coils look good, and I still can't get any sound out of them.

Thanks!

Antoine



EDIT: I also can't measure any resitance with my Ohm-meter, so I guess they're burnt.