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Reconing glues-what I've found out so far


mustang guy

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OK, now that Bob Crites and Speakerfritz woke me up, I went off in search of some dirt on what glues to use on speaker reconing. The answer depends on what part of the recone kit you are talking about.

Voicecoil to Spider/cone:

toughened (rubberized) cyanoacrylate gel like:
  • Mercury M3500FX - $13/oz
  • Loctite Super Glue ULTRA Gel Control - $5/oz
  • Loctite 380 Black Max - stupid expensive Industrial and black version of above...

Notes: This is super glue gel that has been toughened with rubber to make it less brittle.

You can purchase an accelerator, or simply lightly mist this glue with water to get it to set up.

Quic mix Epoxy like:
  • Loctite 5 Minute Instant Mix
  • Any gel epoxy

Notes: Though the 5 minute epoxy seems the best, some people out there think the epoxy doesn't have enough time to soak into the cone/coil before it starts to set up. Those people use 20 minute or better. My personal fear of longer drying times would be that it could seep past the coil and into the former slot. Now that would be bad...

Cone to surround

toughened (rubberized) cyanoacrylate gel like:

  • Mercury M3500FX - $13/oz
  • Loctite Super Glue ULTRA Gel Control - $5/oz
  • Loctite 380 Black Max - expensive Industrial black version of above...

Notes: This is super glue gel that has been toughened with rubber to make it less brittle.

You can purchase an accelerator, or simply lightly mist this glue with water to get it to set up.

Frame to spider/surround/gasket also dust cap to cone:

  • Black Rubber Cement Speaker Repair Glue BC-1 from Parts Express
  • Speaker Repair Adhesive MI-3035 - from Simply Speakers
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good info...

on the square magnet k-33 I always wanted to find a way to remove the two magnet bolts, lift the magnet off, and replace just the coil.......it would avoid the spider and cone issues

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All my information on glues for reconing is from back in 2004. One main question I asked is "what did the old timer's use" I have got woofers made in the 60s and 70s all with still perfect glue joints. I doubt that what they used back then was particularly high tech or expensive, but it was obviously good. Never could get an answer to that question. Of course there is the chance that what they used then is not even legal now.

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All my information on glues for reconing is from back in 2004. One main question I asked is "what did the old timer's use" I have got woofers made in the 60s and 70s all with still perfect glue joints. I doubt that what they used back then was particularly high tech or expensive, but it was obviously good. Never could get an answer to that question. Of course there is the chance that what they used then is not even legal now.

I believe the 380 may have been preferred due to it's black color, and that Eminence would tend to use industrial products. As the superglue is really only necessary in places that cannot be seen, I see no reason the lower cost clear product wouldn't work. My only concern in reconing these speakers is positioning the voice coil to the spider. At rest, the bottom of the voicecoil should be above the former, so that it can be pushed downward the distance of more than half the xmax I think. I will do some research to find out exactly how that is best done, and report back in this thread.

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I found an error in the above information. The Loctite Super Glue ULTRA Gel Control is $5 for 4 grams! It takes 7 bottles to make an ounce, or $35 per ounce. That is roughly the same price as the Loctite 380!

I am actually going to use some and report back how much it takes to do the voicecoil to cone and spider, the cone to surround on a 15" driver. I will report back as to my findings. I am going to guess 2-3 bottles.

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I used 380 to re-seal the chambers on my K-55-M drivers. My findings were just the same as Bob's. Works great, but the resulting white, powdery deposit left behind after it cures, is kind of a pain to work around. A quick wipe with acetone is required to remove the residue.

It makes me contemplate that although it was a recommendation from Eminence, they can't possibly use it in production due to the amount of touch-up required afterwards....unless perhaps using an accelerator greatly reduces the formation of the deposit. [*-)]

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The Loctite 380 was recommended by Eminence, but is not what they use. I don't think Eminence even knows what they use. When you are big enough, Loctite will make up something that works perfectly for what you do and at a good price. At least that is what Loctite told me when I called them back in 2004.

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I found an error in the above information. The Loctite Super Glue ULTRA Gel Control is $5 for 4 grams! It takes 7 bottles to make an ounce, or $35 per ounce. That is roughly the same price as the Loctite 380!

I am actually going to use some and report back how much it takes to do the voicecoil to cone and spider. I will report back as to my findings. I am going to guess 2-3 bottles.

Three 4 gram bottles of the ultra gel was enough to do 2 speakers, so 6 grams per speaker, or $7.50. Keep in mind, this does not include the glue for the surround to the frame, and the gasket to the frame.

The Ultra does not leave a white residue, and looks black on the cone and clear on the spider. I will post some pics tomorrow.

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Update: I've done 3 of the speakers so far, and the voice coil is rubbing on one. That means I will be needing one more recone kit.

What I did wrong was using shims that were .01 inch thick. On the next cone, I used card stock that was about .0135, which was much tighter. As these voice coils are so high up in the slot in these kits, having tight shims is paramount.

I have used both the epoxy and the super glue, and what I have found is that the Epoxy is much more forgiving. When aligning the spider to the frame, the superglue sets up rapidly. The Epoxy lets you spin the spider, and also the voicecoil. Also, the clear superglue does leave a slight amount of white powdery substance behind, I have found.

For that reason, I intend on using the quickmix Epoxy instead of superglue.

The parts-express speaker glue works very well. It is contact cement, and I use a small paint brush to apply it. It takes 1 minute to get tacky, and 10 minutes to set up, so you have to act kinda fast. I glue down the cone, apply more glue over the cone edges, and stick the gasket. I then press it all down by inverting another speaker on top.

I have been taking pics along the way, and I will post them when I get the 4th one done. These things look and sound great (except the rubbing one at high volumes).

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  • 10 years later...

contact adhesive experiment

 

I've went to the garage to do 2 recones and realised i've ran out of the propper jbl adhesive so I've decided to find alternatives.

So far I'm experimenting with contact adhesive, the one you use to repair shoes, etc.

It looks and smels like the real deal from JBL so I'm guessing it could work.

I'll let you guys know how it went .

 

 

 

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