Repairing Butyl rubber surround
 

Hey, anyone got ideas on fixing a tear on my new speakers? the rubber surround was ripped by the panel that sits on top in the rear of the car. I was thinking of using some rubber cement??

either that or like some sort of substance like caulk, which is kinda flexible.

only questions that remain if i use these ideas are 1) will it hold under the extreme vibrations?? and 2) will it damage the speaker??

thx for help guys

Liquid nails from Walmart will do the trick. As for caulk, it depends on what kind. It has to be both flexible and adhere to the surround. I didn't have a tear in my subs a while back, but the surround actually seperated from the woofer itself. I used L.N., but is was so far gone that the voice coil would rub every time the bass would hit. I ended up retiring the subs and got new ones. If your's is a tear or nothing major, it should work just fine. I would allow plenty of time for it to dry (like a day or so). Good luck! :)

MisterT

ty for the info man, yea it's just a tear in the rubber. the speakers are 6.5"s, just imagine a cut that a boxcutter would make leading from the cone to the frame.

but what are liquid nails??

Liquid nails is clear caulk that comes in a squeeze tube and is very durable and adheres very well. In your case, regular caulk could do just as well since it is a small tear. As long as it doesn't harden. It won't affect the integrity of your driver. You can see on crutchfield's site about small tears in the rubber surround under FAQ's about speakers. I would allow a full 24 hours to let it get good and dry before playing them after application.

MisterT

sweet thx again for your help

It seems to me that liquid nails would harden and not be pliable. I would go with the rubber cement, but use something to patch with, like a small piece of celaphane, or plastic wrap. Apply small amount to speaker, where the tear is and also to the saran wrap and let semi dry and then stick the two pieces together. Carefully trim away any piece of the saran that isn't glued on the surround surface with small scissors, like moustache scissors.

If you are really concerned, look in your yellow pages under speakers or audio and see if someone does speaker repairs in your area. Not auto speakers, but free standing home speakers that I bought in Japan when I was in high school lost their surrounds through deterioration by way of photodegration. They actually turned to dust. I found a guy in Knoxville who repairs speakers and took them to him. Although he didn't have an exact match, he was able to "rebuild" my surrounds by using JBL Pro speaker surrounds with some compound that resembled rubber cement....any way, my $.02. Anyway if there is a guy who rebuilds speakers he may give you some of his repair liquid for such a small job.

Another thought is to do a search on Google and see what you come up with for speaker repair. Good luck

Edited: Actually did a search and came up with numerous sites. If you screw up the speaker surround, don't fret...there is help...so, don't trash the whole speaker and buy another...check this out. http://www.partsexpress.com/Tech/260-915.html

The liquid nails held up without hardening like tile caulking or something. The woofers were so far gone that there was nothing else I could do. When the Liquid Nails adhered, the cone was rubbing against the voice coil (because I was off enough that it did that), there was nothing I could do from then on and had to depart from my beloved SoundStream SPL12s. :rolleyes: So I came here for advice and went with Elemental subs. They are almost as loud as SoundStream and cost half as much. :D

MisterT

That's too bad you couldn't save your woofers....but then again, it appears that you were able to upgrade to some nice speakers! Rock On!

Yeah, but they were up in age. I think they were purchased around 96 or 97. Subs aren't made to last all that long especially the way I was listening to them. I used to crank them to shock people with the bass response. I worked at a shop where i got them at employee accomodation. I demo'ed it a lot. When taken out of my SUV upon getting the sedan, it sat for 2 years collecting dust. That probably didn't help much going from shelf to being pushed very hard. It's like thawing out meat and refreezing it.

MisterT