"washing" a L100 woofer ?...

[peteracing]

HI guys. I have the stupidest question for you... Did some
of you tried to "wash" a white Aquaplast woofer... Just bought
a pair of Century's and there is a few light brown stains on cones... Any ideas
before i try to spray-paint them flat white ?...
Thanks. peteracing

[Don C]

Yes, I have done this. You can easily double the ebay value this way.
Just use a damp sponge, it works well, there will be no damage as long as you don't soak it. Let it dry overnight before playing.

[QwertyAccess]

ahah!, i was wondering how some of them were so pure white

[hapy._.face]

Don!(?) You let the secret out!

FWIW: The same technique for most of the vintage drivers yeilds excellent results. Ever see how much crap (lint) can accumulate around those gummy surrounds? Yuk! Slow, careful wiping with a lightly moistened sponge will do the trick. Again, as Don says- let it dry overnight.

[boputnam]

I'd be careful with this.

On older woofers with white aquaplas on the face, I've noticed the "dabbed" areas are changed - the aquaplas is either soluble or changed by water.

Try a small area first, and look real closely in very good light.

[boputnam]

I just found this - as I suspected.

Aquaplas, as the name suggests is water-based plaster-like substance. It was sprayed onto the cone in a light-weight coating. Look at the aquaplas closely and you will see tiny clear grains/crystals on the woofer face. They are fragile and can be easily pried off.

Using water to clean could solubilize and remove some of the substance.

[peteracing]

Hummmmmmm... Thanks guys... The drivers(123a-1) are in excellent shape. Wax seals, no dents of anny kind and sound ok!. But are sooooo ugly
(yellowish)... I am veru tempted to try one the ugliest of the two to spray a very light coat of satin white on cone. Just enough to make it again...
It shouldn't add any weight and damping,and if i take the time to cover the dome and suspension, it should look new again (LE14 look...)
Anyways, would like your input on that and i will keep you posted on results!.

[johnaec]

Steve Gonzales here posted a lengthy thread on a procedure he uses to whiten up these cones - he's done it to all the LE14's in his L220's. A search shoud turn it up - it was a very detailed explanation of the procedure.

John

[Zilch]

An ivory off-white is more "correct," actually. The pure white ones are obvious repaints.

[Don't recall what color Steve used....]

[grumpy]

oh damn... anyone know how to remove tennis shoe polish? -grumpy

[Zilch]

Invite the wine and cigar club over for listening sessions.

[QwertyAccess]

I noticed on my LE10 it has shiny glasslike sparkles covered on its cone, might that be aquaplas? (im not washing it anyway but curious ) Also dunno if its just me but when i first saw this topic name i had a pretty funny image of soap all over an L100 haha.

[Steve Gonzales]

I used Zinnser brand " Bullseye 1-2-3 " primer. It is an off-white and has a very slight sheen, less than eggshell. i guess you could have it tinted to ivory at Home Depot if you wanted that. The best thing about this material is the stain blocking ability. A fine Purdy brand, 1", dual purpose brush , blow dryer and patience. Should make them look good for years. I can't imagine it adding more than a gram or less mass, I dare say well within acceptable tolerences. I had some LE14H's rebuilt with Rick Cobb supplied spiders and foams and wanted my speakers to look good too. It worked for me. The flash exaggerates the white, it is not as stark in natural light.

[johnaec]

Here's a pic of an LE14A I just got back from a refoam/whitening job. The person who did it is Zilch's JBL guy - Dan Olson, at Audivex in Berkeley, CA, 510-527-1391.

The total charge for two speakers was $130, but that's because he did the whitening in addition to the refoam. He apparently uses a latex based finish, tinted to match the original. And while you can't judge by the pic, the color is *exactly* identical to the original color on the back of the cone.

I'd previously tried the "sponge" washing method, which had exactly no effect at all for me.

John

[Steve Gonzales]

Looks real good. A person could take an old cone and eye match off a stock color chart at Sherwin Williams, Home Depot, etc and then have the tint person fine tune the mix using the back of a cone to test. Thanks for posting the results and contact info.