How to Repair and Refoam a Speaker Surround
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- čas přidán 7. 04. 2017
- Today we’ll be refoaming a Cerwin Vega 122W4 12-inch woofer from an R123 cabinet that was made in 1977. Follow along from start to finish as we remove, clean, glue, and reinstall. When we’re done, this driver should be good as new and ready to rock for many more years.
6:40 is where the removal of the old foam begins
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Bill presents in this video. He can be found at renderanything - Věda a technologie
There are several videos on CZcams for DIYing the speaker surround replacement. So far I think yours is probably the most informative and easiest way to get er done. Thanks.
This is the best video I've seen for replacing the foam. Big thumbs up for the test tone tip; it makes so much sense! Very well explained and easy to follow you all the way through. This helped me repair some RE 30's my brother just recently gave me. They'll be sure to rock for years to come! Thanks again
One of the best vids for replacing foam. I especially like that you've included the tone generator step.
The best videos for replacing surrounds on subs period. I'm still in awe about using a tone frequency to center the coil. I have 2 12 jl w0 that just needed surrounds and I really didnt want to remove the dust caps since they are original and I can't find anymore
I want to thank you for posting this repair. I have a fairly growing collection of speakers each with different issues. I am doing my first foam repair while watching your video. Thanks again friend for taking the time. By the way you kind a look like ducky from 16 candles.
Hey Billy Guess what? You are a genius Hands Down the best most Informative video on how to Refoam a Speaker!!👍👍
Sir… you earned your sub right there. You fixed my sub 😂 I haven’t even begun to fix them all yet but thanks to your video I am not even remotely concerned. And ordered my red foam and gonna repair it. I got nothing to lose with these. They are worth it they are ok speakers peavey and loudest I can afford haha
Outstanding video. Thank you for the time to show this. Extremely understandable and great humor. This helped so much. Best video out there.
Excellent presentation, very useful. Thank you for posting this 👍🏻🙏
Excellent video - helped me repair my Advent Laureate speakers. By the way, loved you in Two and a Half Men...
Now there's a comparison that I haven't heard in a while. Used to happen fairly frequently back when the show was on the air.😁
Jon is back on air but has a new hair style.
iv got a set of car speakers about 15 years old i had them in highschool ...well the other day i gave the nabor a ride to town his dog jumped in the back and busted both speakers....looks like your idea will work ...its just i had them soo long and they always sound great till now with the cracking ... thanks for making this video guys i think i can save mine too
This is one of those videos you don’t watch until you NEED to and man, this is possibly the best guide out there. Follow up question though - if it was a midrange driver or something like an 8 inch woofer, how would we know what frequency to use?
Thanks - I reformed a pair of Altecs 50 years ago. Now I have old Macs on my bench.
Did my JBLs. Undermounted the surround, as they originally were. Coil very close tolerance, could not easily slip in a playing card shim. Shimmed one, skipped it in the other. No difference. Both sound better than ever. $25 investment was way worth it.
i need to refoam my infinity ref 51 mk2 bass woofers. This video will definitely help to restore them fully in original quality. Thank you!
Good information. i have trim pieces made to hold down the surround. Does a good job.
Really helpful, and leaving the dust cap in place, often the old C-V caps had a nice logo on them. One less step, one less chance for a mistake like nicking a wire. Just picked up a garage sale set of C-Vs for my first refoam job.
Good idea I never saw before. Running a 30 hz tone to center the voice coil. Yeah them mice also enjoy chewing wire and the surround.
Lot of practical tips. Thanks.
You the man!! I'm glad I don't have to cut my dust cap now.
A lot more detail information from other vids, thanks for taking the extra time going back at times .
Thank you, this video was fantastic
When i glued my two surrounds in I thought I was going to run out of the glue provided so I researched quite some time on line.
Turns out the consensus of opinions said the glue to use was Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue. Which is good because you can buy it everywhere.
I had just enough to finish my two surrounds but I bought some anyway to be sure I had enough to finish.
Can confirm. I've used that exact brand of tacky glue with good results.
I just happen to be revisiting this video about a year after I saw it the first time. I was searching for a glue to reattach a surround to a 6.5 inch Cerwin Vega component speaker. The surround on this particular speaker was made of rubber. I tried the Aleene's Original Tacky Glue to adhere it back to the frame. The glue did not hold very well. I'm assuming it was because the surround was of the rubber type and not foam. Just wanted to recommend you don't use on rubber surrounds. I ended up using a typical hot glue gun, using the glue sparingly but covering the mating surfaces.
I will try this on my klipsch woofer, thanks!
Thanks! great video. Its given me courage!
Hi Bill nice video. Can you use the same electromagnetic cone centering technique on a midrange; and if so, what freq. would the tone be to center cone for re-foaming? Thanks, bc
This is the best way ever to center a voice coil
Thanks for the great and informative video
You need to spread the glue evenly because there is almost no (continuous) pressure to spread it. Use a piece of paper/plastic (or anything flat) to spread the glue on the whole surface. If you don't do this there is a chance some glue connections are weak and get loose over time because of vibrations.
Great video !
Awesome video.
Excellent. Thanks so much.
Great video, I've followed your instructions to replace the foam on the CV 417R woofer. Can you please tell me what is that cosmetic thing that covers the screw holes you installed in the end called, and where can I buy it? Thank you.
i love the sine wave power amp centering trick
Update your vid to drop references to "double-edged razor blade". Unless your fingers are made of steel, you will use a single-edge razor blade or hobby knife.
great lil vid man, thanks.. about to tackle a 10" kenwood and glue to the face rather than the back like it came. boom boom...
awesome video, best that I have seen 👍
has anyone told you, you look like alan from 2 1/2 men
Yes! I used to get that one quite a lot when I worked more directly with the public.
@@TinyLittleWorkshop 🤣
Silly question, but how do i know the size i need for my new foam surround? What do i measure?
i thanks he very informative video ! I'm needing to do 4 10" woofers and 2 mids...where did you get your tone from to make sure the voice coil is centered ?
I Googled around and downloaded some test tones online then put them on an old iPod. I've done a few other speakers since then, and for them I downloaded a sine wave app to my wife's old android phone that lets you choose any frequency.
"Never Cut Toward Your Thumb, Always Cut Toward Your Chum"
had me up till that second part of gluing with the centering.. I might just pay the $75 lol
I couldn't continue watching when you called that a double edge razor blade
Great video. But always replace the non polarized electrolytic Capacitors while you are in there. They grow weak as well.
Thanks for the informative video. I am trying to work myself up to re-foaming my 12" Cerwin Vega subwoofer. Local repair shop wanted $160.00 to re-foam, so I figured I could give it a try for the approximate $26.00. I have watched a few other CZcams videos on the subject, and they suggest centering the coil just by manually pushing it in and out, and stopping when it does not rub. I don't have the equipment or desire to use the tone generator method that you recommend. Is the "manual" method suitable?
Thanks for your honest opinion.
I've not tried centering one manually, so I can't say.
I ordered the foam kit to repair my cerwin vegas and I used the manual method as instructed in the Simply Speakers video. It worked fine for me. Actually when I got the new foam installed, it pretty much centered itself. Hope this helps.
@@tsims73 Agreed, once I put the foam on the cones they were pretty much centered already. I did the test tone to center the speaker anyway and it was pretty much spot on. This was a good method for me. CV RE-30's
Excellent tutorial many thanks unfortunately I’ve inadvertently ordered my replacement surrounds from China 😂 Duh
Apparently now the adhesive to use is phone screen glue it’s black liquid silicone type and facilitates ease of future replacement too
So this process will work with some CVegas R-38s?
Where do I buy the new foam
[5:00] What would be the result of installing the neg. wire on the pos. speaker terminal and vice versa?
I have Al old 12" kicker with rotten foam.... Where do I find a new kit and proper glue... I gotta get my bumps in order LoL 😆 thanks 😊
Excelente
Great. So i need to buy something to make a test tone?
Hello and greetings from Italy. sorry for my English. I liked your video, and, today, I changed one FOAM of my speacker (ESB 7/06). The worst part of that work was centered the ring, now seems work . Very hard to do, probably because is the very first time. What king of glue you used ? I soo two king: one is called vinavil and is water based, and the other one is bostick. I used the second one, but, the problem, was to correct the thing. as soon I have posed the pieces the glue stick and block very rapidely. BDW, now one is done. As the second going broke I change. Have good time, Stefan, Iltaly
Most people advise using Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue. Everyone sells it and it's cheap.
@@pay9011 never heard of it. What sort of glue is it?
does anyone here have contacts for places that create hifi decals ? I have a Kenwood Shelf Hifi that the rubberised surface has perished and is sticky, after cleaning the labels and details will be gone and i would like to have a replacement set prior to starting.
Isn't the speaker already centered by itself? A friend of mine didn't do all that "CENTERING" and the speakers sound great!!!!!
Same here but I did the tone generator method anyway just to check. My speakers needed no centering, the spider held it firmly in place. My opinion is that replacing undamaged dust caps is a waste and pretty much a shim/cap selling scam.
The cone can be off center if the spyder is not stiff. So your results may not be as good without some cone centering process. Also your skills may not center the foam when glueing and cause a problem.
Contact cement has very specific properties that do not match the adhesive being used. With contact cement you put it on both pieces and let it dry for a while before putt the two together, and you really can't adjust much after that... they join on CONTACT. This application needs to be able to be adjusted, so it would be a terrible situation for contact cement.
The razor blade is a SINGLE edge blade. You REALLY don't want to use a DOUBLE edged razor blade by hand!!!
Just let me slip on my chain mail gloves and we'll be ready to go. 😊
You are correct. I was thinking of double bevel, but out came the words double edge.
Lol
Nice video by the way
From where did you buy
how anyone does this without getting glue all over the place and ruining it is beyond me. Either its not enough and it wont stick or is too mich and squeezes out all over. besides its almost impossible to get the glue under the surround once the other side is glued because it just does not pull up. also noticed everyone showing this with big speakers but nobody shows it with 6 inch speakers for a reason.
Can I use the cerwinwega surround rubber on an optimus brand speaker ?
You should use the correct type of surround for the speaker you will be repairing. Rubber surrounds can be stiffer than foam, which can change how the cone moves, which can have negative effects on the response and sound.
The overall content of your presentation is good. I've been watching quite a few CZcams videos on foam surround replacements. The only thing that bothers me since I've been around shop equipment all of my 73 years of living is the blade on your table saw is raised all the way up. My father cut his little finger off on a table saw cause the blade was up and spinning down. Please lower it if you're not using it!
What if the foam is on the backside of the paper??
Why not replace surrounds with rubber or is the drive foam also
The originals were designed to use foam surrounds. Other materials could be a different stiffness, which would change the way the driver responds. The companies that make these replacement surrounds usually stick with whatever the driver was originally designed with.
How many ounces of glue should I need to do 2-10" subs?
i think around 2 kilo
@@dukeaudio1737 tree fiddy kilo
i doubt the voice coil was properly centered in this video. the most critical part of refoam process.
What makes you say that? I (and thousands upon thousands of others) have used this method for decades. I'm currently using the exact speakers that I refoamed in this video, daily in my living room, and have been for quite a while. Still no voice coil rub to be found. Nor in any of the other dozen or so woofers that I've refoamed and centered this way.
Actually it is a precise way of centering a coil. By introducing current..lower end frequencies, the bobbin will electromagnetically force itself to become center between the outer and inner pole of the magnet structure. Great results could also be obtained by using low voltage..amperage though the procedures are slightly different in centering then illustrated in this video.
When shimming, extra steps are required and "this does happen" fine tunning the cone by checking rubbing points will require re-centering of outer foam.
Both methods will achieve great results, myself, I prefer electromagnetic centering.
Why do some instructions say to remove the dust cap?
That is another technique where you don't use a tone to center the voice coil. Instead, you remove the dust cap, stick shims in the voice coil gap, and then glue down the surround. Either one should work. I just prefer the low frequency tone method because I have to cut and glue less.
@@TinyLittleWorkshop No need to fully remove the dust cap, cut it 70 to 90% around being careful not to cut or damage the wires, pull it back a bit to insert your shins. when done, glue it back BINGO
Nice video by the by
I wish there was more detail about how to hook up the low frequency tone. I don't really think a phone by itself can drive that speaker, so how is it hooked up to the amp while out of the housing? I don't have long wires on my driver, nor do I know how to hook them up. Some weird thing with alligator clips? Bleh, so much work. I bought some replacement foam, and I might be able to deal with the mess of cleaning the old foam off (and gluing down the new foam rings), but then even more obstacles with the voice coil make this just about beyond my skill level. :( Maybe I'll just wing it and hope its lined up.
I wouldn't wing the alignment and hope. That's a recipe for failure and/or frustration.
You are right that a smart device's headphone jack doesn't have enough power to be hooked up directly to the woofer and drive it at reasonable levels. The iPod / phone / whatever is hooked up to the stereo inputs of an amplifier with a 1/8" (3.5mm) to RCA adapter cable. I buy them from thrift stores for $0.25 to $1.00 a piece. Retailers like Monoprice have good ones for cheap too. The speaker wire is running from the outputs of the amplifier directly to the lugs on the woofer. I just kinda folded the ends of the wire over so the bare copper would make decent contact with the spade lugs. Like I said in the video though, if I had some wire with alligator clips on the ends, it would have been more secure. I was more interested in convenience during the making of the video.
You're a really cool dude to reply to my whiny comment with some seriously helpful tips & explanations. I think I will give this a go and with a bit more confidence now. Much appreciated brother!
@@mrhobs how did your speakers turn out?
@@mercurialmagictrees Wow, missed this in my notifications, but happen to come back to this video just now, because... wait for it... I'm STILL WORKING ON IT! Hahaha! :(
Well, needless to say, I set it aside and because of numerous excuses and life distractions, BUT I have since set up an office with a work table on one side, and now have one of the drivers cleaned up (pretty tedious job) and ready to go. I've also already fiddled around with getting it hooked up to an AVR and Frankenstein-ing some wires (and some alligator clips I acquired by chance over a year ago) to play some music through my phone/portable CD player. I'm about to attempt to glue it in place, but... it really just does not seem possible to do with any precision. I'm just going to end up globbing on some glue and seeing if it works. :/
Also I just noticed that in the video the inside foam edge goes on top. On mine I have to glue the inside edge of the foam underneath the driver cone edge. Makes it a little more of a pain.
EDIT: Also, what's the deal with other videos insisting you cut on the dust cap and shim the coil? I mean... shouldn't you be able to align it without cutting it out and re-glueing it back together? I can't mess with that...
Welp, about an hour or less later, I've got it glued down! (After all this time, finally did one! :P Had to sit there for like 5 minutes psyching myself up to start glueing, haha.) Hopefully it sounds alright when I test it tomorrow night, but if not, that'll be my excuse to start shopping for better speakers. ;)
Are you Ducky from Pretty in Pink?
Midwest speaker just sent me 2 surrounds that look like they just came out of a blender. I'm not a happy Camper.
low volume? like how low?
You should shim the voice coil to ensure that it is even and will work properly
Hey mate, what kind of glue you used?
Most foam suppliers give you some glue, but in my case it was just barely enough. My research indicated Aleene's Original Tacky Glue was preferred. It's cheap and available everywhere.
As I'm here scraping my Bose 301 with a screwdriver (got 2 for 10 bucks
Nice informatiove video.
Just one irritating intro music. Pls use some other.
First off, that is a single edged razor blade. You would be bleeding profusely otherwise.
Yup, that was a slip-up. I meant double bevel.
im also broke so got nothing but time
whats an 8th inch in millimeters? a comment for future viewers. perhaps tell people what it is in metric seen as the internet is global. im from aus
Good catch. Bill is all for living fully metric but is stuck in the U.S. Most of the other Tiny Little Workshop videos eschew imperial measurements, but for those times something does sneak through, Google is pretty helpful about converting measurements straight from the search bar.
@@TinyLittleWorkshop 1/8th" is 3 mm, 1" is 25.4mm
such a wrong way to do reforming. the correct method is always applyng shims
Who else here Does not own one of those speakers
I happened to have a cerwin vegas - so this was perfect for me
I got two big Ed !
Always LAY DOWN the box when trying to remove the driver , simple , no ? Why do all these dummies try to do this with the box upright , just bewilders me . Yet here they are trying to be EXPERTS and showing others the DUMB way . wtf ?
I'm sure he had them up in the video because he's using a simple camera tripod and not a mount to aim down on a working surface. Thankfully most of us understand gravity well enough to know how to accomplish this simple task.
@@johns.7609 😂😂😂
Yeah, what John says. Gawd
Get a life buddy; video was great. Just can't please some idiots!!!!