I can’t emphasize how important it is to clean and protect the connector pins with DeOxit. There is a thin gold film on both the male and female connectors. Even once connected, the normal vibration will wear thru that gold and oxidation will start. Applying DeOxit won’t restore the gold plate, but it will clean and protect from further oxidation. I chased this problem for weeks and returned a perfectly good cable and adapter when the problem was the contacts in the 30 pin connector in the center console pocket.

 

I have no idea about the value, but capacitors take out the low frequency from the input to the tweeter. Same way a coil takes the high frequency out of the input for woofers.

 

I got the DeOxit in the other day and I will clean the pins on the connector today. Should the problem persist, replacement center console IPOD USB connector modules are cheap and I will replace if cleaning does not work. I'm having trouble accessing the cable that is under the connector, so I may have to take apart the center console to get to the cable.

 

I don't think repairing the tweeter makes sense since I believe the lead that goes into the capacitor is what is missing from the tweeter, and I don't know another way to use the existing capacitor.

We all know the tweeters are rubbish, so I may order an aftermarket set made of silk or other nonmetallic material and put in the pillars. I would need to replace both. As for crossover, I can look to see what value capacitor is on similar jags and match, or I could even get a real two way crossover network for more effective maintenance of signals.

 

Using Acetone to get rid of the hot glue, I got the blue capacitor out of its seat on the non-working tweeter. There are no markings to note the value of it. It is a film capacitor which is a little better than an electrolytic. There is no break in the circuit, however, so either the capacitor went bad, or the tweeter itself. I really expected there to be a break in the connection.

 

I also cleaned the 30 pin connector with Deox It. We'll see if that handles the drop out issue.

 

I took the easiest way out on the tweeter issue. I found an exact replacement off the bay for $35 guaranteed good. I think that will work the easiest. Now to see if the Deox It cures the drop outs.

 

It took over two weeks to get a replacement tweeter in. It works. Also, since cleaning with Deoxit I've had no more channel drops. Thanks for all the help! However, I have a more important issue I have to handle right now with the car. I will start a new thread as it is engine related.

 

Ok, the intermittent drop outs have returned. I replaced the USB/Ipod connector with a replacement piece from ebay. I'm still getting the dropped channel only on ipod, USB with mp3 plays fine. At this point I'm thinking either the cable that runs from the ipod/usb dock to the ACM or the ACM. Does a replacement ACM have to be configured in SDD?

 

Turns out I found the cable that hooks up the Ipod/USB connector to the ACM (AUU) on ebay for just $29! That should be here soon.

 

I am thinking about going with the Mr. 12 Volt Solution for Carplay. I know that the fiber optic cable is bypassed that connects from the ACM. Is the ACM used at all or is it completely bypassed with this solution?

 

No

The ACM does not have a fiber optic connection.
Since the ACM and Mr12Volt connect differently to the system, in theory they should be able to coexist, although there’s probably no reason to do that.

 

Aren't those Alpine speakers?

 

Sorry, I misidentified the cable. There is a cable that plugs into the ACM that in the instructions to install the Mr.12 Volt is disconnected. A light is emitted from the cable and a piece of light-carrying cable is put in it's place to bypass this light emitting circuit, rather than have it plugged into the ACM.

If I go that route, then I wouldn't need to replace a possibly faulty ACM where one of the channels drops from the ipod part of the circuit.

Thanks for your help!

 

No, the tweeters I showed above are for the B&W system and are aluminum. The Alpine tweeters are a fabric dome.

 

Moved to its own thread