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Thread: JBL L20t3 woofer surround

  1. #31
    Member Cozmo's Avatar
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    Real estate is at a premium both on the crossover board and inside the cabinet. But it all fit.
    I also cleaned up any corrosion on the connectors, added dielectric grease to prevent future corrosion and added some open cell foam around the speaker frames just for fun.
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  2. #32
    Senior Member DanMan's Avatar
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    The 'sticky icky icky'

    Hi Cozmo, et al. -->

    Just snooping about the dog den on this one a bit...

    Also curious on your L20T(3) "sticky icky" surround issue; I've also had a few similar-condition surrounds on just regular L20T's. Did you ever find out 'why/what' was the cause of this phenomenon, and perhaps removal solution? It does seem particular to this model/driver/surround and is not the usual oddity you'd expect, nor find natively or otherwise, applied on a surround.

    It seems to somewhat melt/deteriorate the surround material into a foreboding goo that deteriorates the surround-to-basket adhesive compound into a perpetually disgusting tar-like slime. Really strange! Luckily I've only found it existing on speakers I purchased with intent to part-out for backup components in other speakers; but still, would be really nice to know more about it as well for salvaging out the woofers if needed too, am super curious to its composition & background history.

  3. #33
    Senior Member DanMan's Avatar
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    sticky L20T woofer 115H-1

    Here are pics of all my 115H-1 that succumbed to the same "sticky" phenomenon you encountered. I can't see any evidence that something was 'applied' to the surround, i.e. looks like just deterioration/melt (they all arrived this way). Maybe the Texas heat?? Never seen anything like this on any other surround but the 115H-1.

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  4. #34
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    Looks like some Armor-All was applied at one time.

    Are they all from the same supplier ?


  5. #35
    Senior Member DanMan's Avatar
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    I have 6 L20T's, and 5 extra 115H-1 woofers; they are all from different suppliers.

    About 1/2 of the woofers have this sticky/glossy surround issue and 1/2 are fine. The 'gross' factor can't be understated ... once you touch it, the material is transferred to the finger. I tried washing my hands with first regular liquid soap (no effect), then Dial (no effect), then Fast Orange with pumice (no effect) and finally the Goof-Off removes about 98% from my fingers.

    I have a pair of L20T built into the bathroom cabinet next to the bathtub (for 15 years now) ... figured the 'plastic' type woofer cone (or what's the name of this cone material?) would hold up best there, and indeed those surrounds (and overall condition of both speakers) are just fine.

    I gave my dad 3 near-perfect L20T's maybe 20 years ago, they were kept in his HVAC'ed theater room with grilles on. He just returned them to me; 1 is perfect, 2 have sticky surrounds (but the sticky-shiny part looks like when you spray paint glossy on something too fast - it's in a random sparkly pattern) almost like it's seeping outta the surround on its own accord. So weird.

    One of the 115H-1 is seized, and overall suitable for destructive testing - (don't hate) - so I just now applied some Armor All to the surround. Instead of smooth, that part of the surround now has grip like a rubber bicycle tire, but it's neither sticky shiny or slimy, yet. Will see what it's like 10 years from now ....

  6. #36
    Senior Member DanMan's Avatar
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    Hmm... maybe good news...

    Maybe good news, and currently having an alternate theory about this . . .

    Well, now that the 'Armor-All' has settled into the surround, the woofer is no longer seized! Hahahaha, I WISH!!

    But I went further w/testing for you Cozmo:
    1. I tried the 'Goof-Off' on part of a surround: with slight pressure it does remove the gook, but within ~1 second the Q-tip turns pitch black from absorbing the surround material.
    2. I tried some 'Purell' on a Q-tip, and it seems to remove only the gook, and much more easily than the Goof-Off. No adverse impact seen from me doing this; although I'd worry about the long-term implications of any liquid contacting a woofer.
    3. My less-impacted surrounds, while still glossy, are just barely sticky, such that the gook does NOT AT ALL transfer to my fingers.
    4. No matter how sticky mine are, it has never seemed to impact the sound, nor the flexibility/function of the surround. (Unless you're getting glare lol or aesthetically bothered by it, maybe just keep the grills on (this will also prevent dust sticking to them).

    My theory is based on my worst-condition woofer. I've also owned it ~15 years. With slight upwards pressure on the cone, the surround starts to separate from the basket. Hard to see it here (because the gasket comes up too obstructing the view) but when the surround comes off the basket, the adhesive is still 'gluey' and stretches like a spider web.

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    Theory: Since the surround is lacking the texture/absorptivity of a typical foam surround, maybe the surround adhesive doesn't dry correctly/fully between the rubber surround & metal basket, and hence stays a little 'wet'? Maybe standard woofer frequency/vibration causes some glue molecules to separate (or aerosols itself) and reattaches in a fine mist spray back to the front of the surround? Hmm, probably 'aerosolizing glue' is too far a stretch, maybe it just vibrates/migrates back onto front of surround through improper drying. Or maybe there was a bad batch of glue at the factory for a stretch, and/or did they change the type of glue?

    I'm sooo curious about this issue. Hope I wasn't being too tacky about this sticky situation!

    <Update: the Purell removes the stickiness from my fingers instantaneously, while the Goof-Off requires much harder/longer pressure>

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