"Burnt out" 806

I have finally got a chance to open up my Heathkit AS101/Altec Valencias up and see what makes them tick. Unfortunately what makes them tick is all wrong. It quickly became obvious that all I was getting was the bass driver and not the compression driver. So I opened up the compression driver and low and behold the very fine leads that connect the diaphragms to the drivers binding posts were burnt through. Whether this happened before I got them or as soon as I tried to fire them up is impossible to know. I am completely rebuilding the crossover anyway so if the old crossover was the culprit it really doesn't matter. What matters is fixing the drivers. Is is possible to just solder a fine piece of good quality hook up wire in the place of the tiny leads? I am an OK solder monkey but certainly nothing special. Can I do this myself or do I have to send the drivers out to get this done? The diaphragms themselves look completely pristine, so I suspect there is no damage to them at this point.

Dan
Ontario, Canada

This is a common problem with older Altecs. Yes, you can use a good, flexible segment of hook-up wire. It'll work fine, and has been done many times by many folks.

Regards,
Gordon.

I tried to solder on a new piece of hook up wire but didn't have much luck so I simply contacted GPA and got a new set of diaphragms. The GPA people said that they have never had much luck resoldering the leads in spite of all their experience so I don't feel too bad.

Dan

i used some de-soldering braid on a pair I had a while ago...

it was pretty tedious, and the dcr reading are all off now...

but they did "work"

best to just replace them probably

the "how to" is in this thread...
http://www.hostboard.com/cgi-bin/ult...&f=3729&t=2883