Sub-woofer repair completed -a few tips
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From: New York state
Sub-woofer repair completed -a few tips
I rebuilt my Alpine sub-woofer by replacing the foam surround that had disintegrated. I ordered a new foam surround from Speaker Works.com for a very reasonable $7.95 + shipping. The surround comes with the glue and detailed generic instructions for the installation so I won't do a step-by-step but I do have some tips on how I ended up doing the the installation.
Getting to the sub-woofer is hardest part of the job if you have not removed the parcel shelf before. I have done this once before so this part went quickly. I didn't need to remove the seat back, I just tilted it face down onto blankets on the floor. This avoids removing the seat belts and then I laid more blankets on top of the seatback so I could kneel on it.
Tips on installing the new surround:
-Use a razor blade to scrape the foam and glue off of the speaker basket (1st photo)
-Use only your fingers to roll the surround material of off the back of the speaker cone while gently prying the cone up with a thin plastic blade.
-Finish off by wiping the back off the speaker clean with rubbing alcohol (2nd photo)
-I had planned to glue the new surround to the back of the cone just as the original foam was but I couldn’t get the foam fit tight and stay glued to the back
-So I then tried gluing the foam to the front of the speaker and this worked fine. The foam laid flat on the front edge of the cone without needing to place any weights to hold it down
-Gluing the surround to the front of the cone did leave the outer ring of the foam raised ¼” above the speaker basket. I applied the glue to the basket and to foam and then put the top cover (plastic ring with speaker cloth) back on top to press the foam down
-I quickly removed the top cover and cleaned off the excess glue 3x so the cover would not adhere to the foam and then clamped the top cover on all around until the glue was fully dry (3rd photo)
- With the top cover clamped in place I reached thru the web of the basket from underneath to and moved the speaker cone back and forth to make sure the cone was not rubbing against the voice coil. This is important to do before the glue dries or the speaker will be distorted
-After 2 hours I unclamped and removed the top to check the new foam. (4th photo) All seemed good so I put a small amount of black silicone on the side of the top cover where it meets the speaker basket to prevent vibration and then tested the speaker back in the car. Clean bass - distortion gone
-Finally I put everything back together and left it overnight to fully dry
I hope this is helpful to anyone planning this repair – way cheaper than buying a new speaker
Getting to the sub-woofer is hardest part of the job if you have not removed the parcel shelf before. I have done this once before so this part went quickly. I didn't need to remove the seat back, I just tilted it face down onto blankets on the floor. This avoids removing the seat belts and then I laid more blankets on top of the seatback so I could kneel on it.
Tips on installing the new surround:
-Use a razor blade to scrape the foam and glue off of the speaker basket (1st photo)
-Use only your fingers to roll the surround material of off the back of the speaker cone while gently prying the cone up with a thin plastic blade.
-Finish off by wiping the back off the speaker clean with rubbing alcohol (2nd photo)
-I had planned to glue the new surround to the back of the cone just as the original foam was but I couldn’t get the foam fit tight and stay glued to the back
-So I then tried gluing the foam to the front of the speaker and this worked fine. The foam laid flat on the front edge of the cone without needing to place any weights to hold it down
-Gluing the surround to the front of the cone did leave the outer ring of the foam raised ¼” above the speaker basket. I applied the glue to the basket and to foam and then put the top cover (plastic ring with speaker cloth) back on top to press the foam down
-I quickly removed the top cover and cleaned off the excess glue 3x so the cover would not adhere to the foam and then clamped the top cover on all around until the glue was fully dry (3rd photo)
- With the top cover clamped in place I reached thru the web of the basket from underneath to and moved the speaker cone back and forth to make sure the cone was not rubbing against the voice coil. This is important to do before the glue dries or the speaker will be distorted
-After 2 hours I unclamped and removed the top to check the new foam. (4th photo) All seemed good so I put a small amount of black silicone on the side of the top cover where it meets the speaker basket to prevent vibration and then tested the speaker back in the car. Clean bass - distortion gone
-Finally I put everything back together and left it overnight to fully dry
I hope this is helpful to anyone planning this repair – way cheaper than buying a new speaker
Last edited by rocklandjag; Oct 19, 2014 at 10:50 AM.
Will this work with the Premium Sound System?
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