Hello All,
I was wondering if any one has experience with rubber surround treatment. I have a pair of ADS speakers with 6 inch woofers. They work fine and sound pretty good, but they are getting long in the tooth and the rubber surrounds seem a little “dry” . I’m contemplating trying to “moisturize” the surrounds to perhaps re-supple-ize them and extend their life. Lubricants that seemed appropriate are 1) mineral oil 2) vegetable oil or 3) Vaseline.
I know if it ain’t broken don't fix it, but it seems a little preventative maintenance might be in order.
Any thoughts, advice or experience?
Thanks.
Bob
I was wondering if any one has experience with rubber surround treatment. I have a pair of ADS speakers with 6 inch woofers. They work fine and sound pretty good, but they are getting long in the tooth and the rubber surrounds seem a little “dry” . I’m contemplating trying to “moisturize” the surrounds to perhaps re-supple-ize them and extend their life. Lubricants that seemed appropriate are 1) mineral oil 2) vegetable oil or 3) Vaseline.
I know if it ain’t broken don't fix it, but it seems a little preventative maintenance might be in order.
Any thoughts, advice or experience?
Thanks.
Bob
Never tried to do anything similar, but isn't glycerin supposed
to make things smoother? If it's good enough to be put into a
toothpaste, I guess it can't hurt a surround either.
to make things smoother? If it's good enough to be put into a
toothpaste, I guess it can't hurt a surround either.
I've worked in speaker repair shop for a few years. Glycerin is Ok and silicone spray for dash boards afterwards to keep it safe.
Now, we did use it on surrounds that was not mounted on the membrane. You should be very careful if your speakers have paper membranes. If it is some type of plastic then it is even less of a problem.
Do it with a piece of cotton wool. Put some glycerin on it and apply a thin layer on the rubber surround. Wipe off the excess glycerine using a new piece of cotton and that would be it.
Now, we did use it on surrounds that was not mounted on the membrane. You should be very careful if your speakers have paper membranes. If it is some type of plastic then it is even less of a problem.
Do it with a piece of cotton wool. Put some glycerin on it and apply a thin layer on the rubber surround. Wipe off the excess glycerine using a new piece of cotton and that would be it.
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That's a very good point. Silicone aerosols have a hydrocarbon (propane?) solvent propellant these ozone-layer conscious days, rather than a fluorocarbon, and it's hard to be sure the solvent won't damage the speaker or wreck the adhesives. 🙁
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I sprayed a tissue here, and waited for most of the solvent to evaporate before applying. Looks very nice IMO.
None of the surrounds that i worked on were damaged this way. If something happens to the speaker/surround because of solvent in silicone dash board spray that means that it could not be avoided.
The amount of solvent neaded to deatach the surround from chassis is much larger and it must be aplied for longer period of time to penetrate the rubber and go through the old glue. Way longer than a minute or two that takes for solvent from silicone spray to evaporate.
When you can not get the surround out of the speaker, silicone oil might be a good solution for precise aplication but i never used it before for surround treatment so i can't really say.
And yes, you should be using eco friendly aerosols whenever you can 🙂
Reliability is just one of the reasons i'm using speakers with cloth surrounds rather than polyurethane or rubber surrounds.
The amount of solvent neaded to deatach the surround from chassis is much larger and it must be aplied for longer period of time to penetrate the rubber and go through the old glue. Way longer than a minute or two that takes for solvent from silicone spray to evaporate.
When you can not get the surround out of the speaker, silicone oil might be a good solution for precise aplication but i never used it before for surround treatment so i can't really say.
And yes, you should be using eco friendly aerosols whenever you can 🙂
Reliability is just one of the reasons i'm using speakers with cloth surrounds rather than polyurethane or rubber surrounds.
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I wouldn't 🙂 Best to find something else to fixate on 🙂
ArmourAll, as ubiquitous example of a Sillycone 'make it look better' product has been shown to Damage the rubber of tires on application.
Seems there is a subtle but adverse reaction... Promoting cracking and oxidation.
Tire manufacturers can/do reduce warranty coverage when the swill is used.
IF you absolutely Must / can't help yourself; Use a vegetable oil which in itself will be a gooey stiffening mess eventually.
ArmourAll, as ubiquitous example of a Sillycone 'make it look better' product has been shown to Damage the rubber of tires on application.
Seems there is a subtle but adverse reaction... Promoting cracking and oxidation.
Tire manufacturers can/do reduce warranty coverage when the swill is used.
IF you absolutely Must / can't help yourself; Use a vegetable oil which in itself will be a gooey stiffening mess eventually.
Oxygen and UV light cause rubber damage. Synthetic butyl rubber oxidizes much slower than natural latex rubber. Usually only a thin white dust will form on exposed butyl. If it's dried out and cracking, it's probably latex.
The latex protein has been oxidized, and nothing can restore the damage already done. If it's cracking then it's too far gone, it is too hard and will change Qms.
303 Aerospace Protectant will prevent further oxidation. Apply it to the inside and outside surfaces of the rubber surround.
http://www.goldeagle.com/product/303-aerospace-protectant
Butyl can tolerate silicone. Latex cannot.
The latex protein has been oxidized, and nothing can restore the damage already done. If it's cracking then it's too far gone, it is too hard and will change Qms.
303 Aerospace Protectant will prevent further oxidation. Apply it to the inside and outside surfaces of the rubber surround.
http://www.goldeagle.com/product/303-aerospace-protectant
Butyl can tolerate silicone. Latex cannot.
I had once read that automatic transmission fluid works since it contains conditioners intended to keep the rubber seals in transmissions supple. So I tried it and did measure a distinct drop in free air resonance on the speakers (between 10-30 years old) I used it on. YMMV.
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