Ok now I'M lansing heritage-worthy... still can't believe it

[BMWCCA]

The cone does look to have a slight tilt to one side. I'm not sure if this is a deal-breaker or not.

Of course it's a deal-breaker. You'd better sell them to me for what you paid for them immediately. I'll gas up the truck.

Seriously, if you're considering paying for a re-cone anyway, and you've already ordered your Rick Cobb kits, you have nothing to lose by doing the re-surround yourself. Spider is probably crooked from sitting in the same spot with bad surrounds for a while. Go anti-gravity and rotate the 2245 180º after installing the surrounds and see what you get.

[brad347]

yeah, I'll give it a shot.

I was wondering if anybody here had any special voodoo tricks for situations like this.

I'l certainly try the "rotate it 180 degrees" trick.

I did the 'aaa battery' test with the speaker laying on its back, and it needed "help" on one side to excurse all the way.

To me, that doesn't look promising, but this is my first rodeo with this kinda stuff, so what do I know.

Any idea about what a recone with a correct factory kit should cost with this, just in case?

[grumpy]

...special voodoo tricks for situations like this.

recone it. Oogah Boogah.

~$300 last I checked.

[brad347]

Yeah. Rough. $300 would back-burner this project for a minute.

I'm going to try the re-surround and see how I come out. Nothing to lose trying.

It's possible that the foam hadn't been completely detached for long. We'll see.

[brad347]

OK, I got all the surround off the second 2245H, and I have to say I'm somewhat more optimistic. It seems to behave exactly the same as the other one which had 90% of its surround intact when I pulled it.

Visual inspection doesn't show anything wrong, except a slight tilt of the cone on both drivers with no surround in place. Spider looks the same on both-- it dips in slightly with the speaker on its back, and out slightly with the speaker on its face.

New surrounds should get here tomorrow or the next day, and I'll begin that step to see what I can do. Thanks again for all the help.

[grumpy]

It'll be a good/worthwhile learning experience... if nothing else, that the folks
that do this for a living do -earn- their money.

I keep looking at your avatar and expecting that the purplish-blue "light" in the top is a
flash reflection, but wonder how cool would it be to rig an old cat-eye tube up to glow
with increasing sound amplitude behind an acrylic 077 lens

[brad347]

It'll be a good/worthwhile learning experience... if nothing else, that the folks
that do this for a living do -earn- their money.

Yep! I like learning experiences. I'd love to try my hand at a recone, but it will have to be on something besides a JBL of course, unless I wanted to use an aftermarket kit which I don't.

[boputnam]

Of course it's a deal-breaker. You'd better sell them to me for what you paid for them immediately. I'll gas up the truck.

Seriously, if you're considering paying for a re-cone anyway, and you've already ordered your Rick Cobb kits, you have nothing to lose by doing the re-surround yourself. Spider is probably crooked from sitting in the same spot with bad surrounds for a while. Go anti-gravity and rotate the 2245 180º after installing the surrounds and see what you get.

+1. Nobody looses an eye, so this is a permitted exercise.

recone it. Oogah Boogah.

That is the only proper solution.

Visual inspection doesn't show anything wrong...

...and tells you nothing meaningful.

(there's) a slight tilt of the cone on both drivers with no surround in place. Spider looks the same on both-- it dips in slightly with the speaker on its back, and out slightly with the speaker on its face.

I suspect they have both been mounted in the same position with no rotation for almost a generation. The fatigue to the spider is non-repairable (you could rotate them 180º as was suggested, but you'd have to wait a generation for them to resettle. That sucks... ) You will need a recone. Period.

I'd love to try my hand at a recone, but it will have to be on something besides a JBL of course, unless I wanted to use an aftermarket kit which I don't.

Yeah, probably not gonna happen. Kits used to be nearly impossible for us civilians to get - with the restructuring changes at JBL corporate, they will be scarcer still.

[perchdog]

FWIW,
I am in the reconing camp myself. Yeah it costs a bit of money but you are also dealing with a super nice set of speaks. No doubt time does take its toll on most equipment, why not let the pro's handle it and get these up to best possible working condition right off the bat.
Personally I think of it this way, just pretend the money is coming from the pot which you would pull from trying to upgrade to level far below where you at now.
cheers

[shaansloan]

5 benjamins! plus 75 bucks to rent the truck, and gas.

Gadzooks Batman! That was the bargain of the century! Congrats on those lovely blue face beauties.... Many years of enjoyment headed your way! great score Brad!

[shaansloan]

The refoaming of the 2245Hs has started!

Glad I got the encouragement on this forum to try this. I have no idea if the removal of the old surround or the installation of the new one is the "hard" part, but I'm optimistic.

Be sure to use your test tone CD when drying the glue....if you ordered from Rick Cobb, he usually sends them in the pack...you wont be sorry for the trouble.... Shaan

[boputnam]

Be sure to use your test tone CD when drying the glue....

+1

[brad347]

Received Rick Cobb's kit today.

Man, what a nice package. I can see why you guys recommend him so highly. The product is top-notch.

The foam looks, feels, smells, and tastes more 'correct' to me than the foam on the 122a pair I had done by the authorized JBL service center in my area.

I read the instructions twice and then dove in. I kept a pile of Q-tips and a dish of warm water nearby, got a AAA battery with clip leads taped to each end, and got to work.

The battery worked great for lifting the cone to give me plenty of room to apply the glue with a Q-tip. I used my instincts on how much glue to apply, and it turned out just about right, I think-- enough that a thin bead of glue just barely squished out in most areas, and not in a few, when I pressed the foam and cone together.

I let the glue 'tack up' for a minute or so, and then I centered the cone to the best of my ability above the surround, and disconnected the battery. The cone 'plopped' down in approximately the right spot, then I finessed the surround into position to center it best I could by eye.

I then proceeded to apply pressure behind the cone with two fingers, pushing down in a "star" pattern like tightening the lug nuts on the wheel of a car. When I had covered pretty much the perimeter of the driver and had it good and stuck together, I re-connected the battery to raise the cone again. Then I used my thumb and forefinger to go all the way around the cone, pressing the surround and cone together around the circumfrence.

Then I disconnected the battery again, and flipped the driver over onto its face.

Then I took an LED pen light and went around the back of the cone, inspecting to make sure there were no gaps. Found one little place that didn't look quite as tight as the rest, and mashed it down good.

Then I turned the driver face-up again and set it aside to cure.

Then I did the other!

Went fairly fast and painlessly. Each one took about one side of the LP issue of the Zombies "Odessey (sic) and Oracle" worth of time to do to this point.

They're now sitting aside to cure for a bit. Glue is already starting to dry clear as I type this.

Think I might go to the drugstore to pick up a syringe, as it might be nice to carefully put a little bead of glue all the way around the gap between the roll and the cone for good measure. Rick Cobb's instructions recommended that as a final step.

Here's where they stand right now:

[brad347]

Eschewed the syringe, and instead opened the second bottle from Rick's kit to where the opening was only very small-- I punctured the tip with the smallest jeweler's screwdriver I had.

This allowed me a great deal of control, and I got nice looking beads around both surrounds to seal everything up real good.

First one:



and then the other!




When that glue dries clear, that should look real nice.
Time to take a break for lunch and let this set up for awhile.

[brad347]

Waited for my bead of glue to dry nice and clear, and then I proceeded to fire up the 30 Hz test CD and glue the surrounds to the frames.

All's well so far, without a hint of trouble from either driver. Knock on wood, but the drivers centered themselves without a hint of rub so far. Not finicky or picky at all-- I literally felt like I could not have misaligned them if I tried.

I've got them up running at a modest level with the 30 Hz tone, drying. After 10 minutes I went back and pressed the surround down one more time (again working in a 'star' pattern like tightening lug nuts on a car) on each driver. I may repeat this process again soon.

I'll go in the room with them every 5 minutes or so and check their progress.

Here are some pics of them right now.





So far, looking good!

After they're dry with no rubs, on go the gaskets and back in the cabs they go. Fingers crossed!