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Chorus I Crossover Recap


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Have Chorus I's...decided to recap. The crossovers are a two leveled configuration. The + / - posts are soldered to the bottom board (easy to deal with.)

 

Has anyone recapped the existing crossovers of a Chorus 1 and if so have any pics of your solutions?

 

Or should I save my time (time = $) and buy new crossovers?1485683105_ChorusICrossover2.jpeg.010496842bfbf0956881827e1aa7bbe4.jpeg1538922452_ChorusIcrossover1.jpeg.e608fe39ea2cc10d4953c4e015e54009.jpeg

 

Edited by Frank Booth
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If you are handy with soldering it is easy peasy. Cut the leads to the existing caps and tie into those. On the electrolytic you can get to the bottom side without removing anything and work it loose with your soldering iron and one side at a time it will be easily removed. I go back in with a small drill bit and drill a hole using the circuit board hole as a guide and you can stick the new leads through that and solder them in. NO I would not use anther dinky electrolytic because that big poly Audyn adds much more and wakes the bass right up. I did this to the last two I had and regret not doing this from day one on all the Vintage crossovers I have rebuilt. NO it is not a problem to fit in that hole because of the big 68uf cap. The problem is the underside of the circuit board the solder joints catch on the wood and it means you might have to work at it to get them out and in.

 On that big poly I have velcro attached to the board and cap so that wire on the top will not abrade through the side and also have a strip of the hook side of velcro betweet the side of the cap and that ferrite core on the top board so the coil can't abrade or press through and damage the cap. Do not snug that cable tie down as tight as you can but just enough to keep it from wobbling around. The velcro does the rest.

 I like the Chorus I better than the rest of the vintage speakers for the sound you get and with front ports you can play them anywhere. Last set I got was pretty lifeless until recapped and what a difference. Cheapest thing to do for noticeable improvement and Sonicaps and that Audyn have worked fine for me and are available in the exact values you need.

DSC_0004.JPG

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I replaced my crossovers with Crites in my Chorus 1's and it made a huge difference. It was like there was a blanket covering the speakers before the change and now they sound fantastic. I was just going to do the caps but decided to replace them completely. I am very happy with the result. 

Edited by TopCat
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  • 6 months later...

Can someone help me with this. I'm waiting on my new crossover replacement kit to arrive. I just took out the crossover from one of my speakers in preparation. How can I remove the old dry glue they used on top of the plastic snap in screws that hold the two levels together? I don't want to break off the tops of the screws in the process. Also, is there a trick to inserting the crossover back into the speaker enclosure? I tried practicing just now and could not get it back in. Thank you in advance. 

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Care and patience. The autoformer if hanging off of the main circuit board goes in first and now the wrangling gently to put the board in. If it came out of there, must be a way to get it to go back, I said to self. Enjoy your time. Good Fortune...

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13 hours ago, Lexx510 said:

Can someone help me with this. I'm waiting on my new crossover replacement kit to arrive. I just took out the crossover from one of my speakers in preparation. How can I remove the old dry glue they used on top of the plastic snap in screws that hold the two levels together? I don't want to break off the tops of the screws in the process. Also, is there a trick to inserting the crossover back into the speaker enclosure? I tried practicing just now and could not get it back in. Thank you in advance. 

Look you don't need to take that apart just clip the existing cap leads as close as you can to the capacitor end and solder your new caps in to those. On the 68uf cap I just zip tie a big ol poly cap o the top of the upper pc board, with some protection on the bottom of the cap, mainly the loop side of velcro, You do not need to take that old crossover apart. Yes getting them in and out can be tight but you will figure that out.

 

  I have a picture of one of my recaps jobs above did you not see that?

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On 4/14/2019 at 4:25 PM, Dave A said:
On 4/7/2019 at 1:38 PM, Deang said:

You didn't cut the excess from the zip tie so I'm giving you an A-  🙂

OK where is that hang my head in shame icon?

 

It's always fun to reach in the back of an equipment rack with around a hundred cables coming in and slicing your arm on all the cut off zip ties. You know... where the contractor left about an inch on the ties sticking out.

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3 hours ago, Lexx510 said:

Dave A, I did see the photo you posted. It's difficult to see how you attached the caps in the photo. I'm supposed to receive the cap kit today. Thanks for the tip!

Right and next time I do one I will post a picture of the old cap removal and wire hookup on the new one before soldering.

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20 minutes ago, Marvel said:

 

It's always fun to reach in the back of an equipment rack with around a hundred cables coming in and slicing your arm on all the cut off zip ties. You know... where the contractor left about an inch on the ties sticking out.

See Dean it was a safety measure and I did not want any tech's to get lacerated on sharp cable tie thingies.

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6 hours ago, Lexx510 said:

Dave, I have a question. Sine you said you clip the leads on the old caps as close as possible - do you just leave the old leads in place? If so how do you attach the new caps? Do you clip the leads off the new caps? Solder the new and old leads together? 

Leave the old leads in place and as much of them as you can. Then take the new cap and by eyeball cut one ends lead and put a 180 degree bend in it with enough past the bend to bend it tightly over the one lead sticking up. Then do the same at the other end and the trick here is to keep the trimmed and bent new cap leads short enough that you can snug it down into the spot where the old hot melt glue was. It makes kind of a cradle for the new cap to sit in. You are soldering close to the capacitor so you want to get on and off quickly to keep heat input low. If you are new to soldering practice first before you do this. If you can wait a week or two I have been thinking about making a video on  doing this and posting it on my old CAD design channel on Youtube.

  Word of caution on removing old caps. Do so as gently as you can. Some of those are really stuck on there and you do not want to damage the PC board,

 Poly caps have no polarity.

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3 hours ago, Dave A said:

 

Leave the old leads in place and as much of them as you can. Then take the new cap and by eyeball cut one ends lead and put a 180 degree bend in it with enough past the bend to bend it tightly over the one lead sticking up. Then do the same at the other end and the trick here is to keep the trimmed and bent new cap leads short enough that you can snug it down into the spot where the old hot melt glue was. It makes kind of a cradle for the new cap to sit in. You are soldering close to the capacitor so you want to get on and off quickly to keep heat input low. If you are new to soldering practice first before you do this. If you can wait a week or two I have been thinking about making a video on  doing this and posting it on my old CAD design channel on Youtube.

  Word of caution on removing old caps. Do so as gently as you can. Some of those are really stuck on there and you do not want to damage the PC board,

 Poly caps have no polarity.

 

Thank you. So just to confirm - I will be soldering the old and the new leads together, correct? This does not interfere with the connection in any way? And the 100v cap that comes with the Bob Crite kit (I know you used a different Audyn cap in your photo)  is also a poly cap, right? 

 

I'm decent when it comes to soldering just have limited experience working on pc boards. I've done minor replacement part repairs on vintage receivers under someone's direction. I am def. taking my time on this and being careful not to damage any parts. Thank you very much for your help.

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