Deang Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Now when in the early 80s when Klipsch went to the little rectangular black caps, they may have taken a step back in how long those things last. My theory on that one is damage caused by excessive heat from soldering 10AWG wire to them. Good theory, but the worst ones I have found came out of the AL series crossovers that did not use the 10 AWG wire. Here is one I took out of a 1987 type AL crossover last week. Bob Must just be because it came out of an AL:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWSmith Posted February 3, 2007 Author Share Posted February 3, 2007 Paul, thats a great idea actually with the cap change out, one speaker at a time! I have contacted BEC and we are talking about the cap purchase - what a great helping group here []! Ben, I live in Western MA. I would be happy to plan on a visit sometime, feel free to email me anytime and we can make an arrangement. Whats happening here is, getting the place setup. This is a large raised ranch with 11 rooms 3 full baths. There is a priority as to the finishing work and the formal living and dining are being painted and floors being done at this time. Unfortunetly, the K'Horns will be in what is the MAIN music room on the lower level. There are FOUR organs there. A large Conn theater organ (with ALL the pipe speakers, two Leslies) A Hammond E-100 with two Leslies, a MINT Hammond C3 with matching PR-40 tone cabinet and the Allen concert organ with SEVEN channels, a large 2 manual with 54 stops/drawknobs - a monster console that actually came WITH the K'Horns! . I am parting with my beloved C3 project (needs a cap job too!) to make way for the K'Horn setup. The room is large enough to make this 2 channel setup happen and NOT be impeaded by all the organs and their related equipment. Problem here is, it all takes time and that room is just on hold right now. Been in this 'new' home for about 8 months and its coming slow. There is another room on the lower level which will be the dedicated theatre/critical listening. My partner and I are already working on lighting and materials for this which will emulate an old victorian space. Pillars, full curtains and ceiling treatments/lighting etc. All the equipment from my prevous location/theatre is in storage, it was all setup with the latest 6.1 gear and SACD which is just wonderful. However, I am going to try my hardest to get the music room AND the theatre projects underway this spring/summer. Sorry to go on and on. As mentioned, the K'Horns are out in the garage - stored. Really need to clean them up and then get some photos for you all. The grills were a white color and I am wondering what I could use to get some of the`yellowing' out of them. Wonder if some OXY Clean on a damp cloth would work? I have some special wax made in the UK that we use at the organ shop which is used on the casework etc, this will really richen up the wood which has been neglected for many years. All for now. Warm regards, Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEC Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Bob, What's wrong with the square capacitors? Those look like the ones in my E-2 heresy networks...[] I don't know why the square black caps are so bad except that they are probably very cheap caps. I don't know the construction of them, but if you take into account the thick plastic case and imagine how large the cap itself could be, has to be tiny. I just know that a good percentage of them are really bad. The cap I posted the picture of above is a 2 uF that reads 658 pF. Its ESR is so high it is unmeasureable. On a new good cap, the ESR would read around a few hundredths of an ohm. Bob Crites Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 I still think they're being damaged by the heat from a soldering gun, there really isn't any other explanation. I don't think they used a sink to draw off the heat, and then hit the connection with a dirty tip on a 140 watt gun (forever) waiting for the solder to flow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEC Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 I still think they're being damaged by the heat from a soldering gun, there really isn't any other explanation. I don't think they used a sink to draw off the heat, and then hit the connection with a dirty tip on a 140 watt gun (forever) waiting for the solder to flow. Dean, There is at least some evidence of that. I find many with the terminals loose. The ones with the loose terminals probably got that way from excessive heat during the soldering process. I would think that would also result in the cap not being sealed up any more and perhaps moisture and contaminants could get in. But the worst one I have seen also had tight terminals. I need to cut one of those open to see what's inside. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Do you have Lisa's tweeters yet? I'm really curious about what you find. I can't believe they soldered that fire hose stuff to those poor tweeters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEC Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Dean, Yeah, we fixed the tweeters and sent them back yesterday. One had been hot enough from the de-soldering that I had to replace the plastic housing. The other one had been hot enough to loosen the connector, but I was able to heat that one again and allow the plastic to reform around the terminal. It needed a new housing too, but those are getting scarce and I try to save one any time I can. Her caps are all "good" as far as bad caps go. That means capacitance good and ESR under 0.5 ohms. Here is what her AK-3s look like now. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meagain Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Wow Bob - That lose tweeter connector was loose when we got it. I thought there was another squiggly one. Perhaps either it came from the factory loose or the previous owners did all that soldering and those were a replacement tweeter set? IDK - but it was loose before we touched them with the iron. IDK about the one that came out prior to the desolder attempt. The others came out really easy with the sameish method. Hmm..... Anyway, it's so nice to see that terminal strip! Gary!!! Please please take pictures of what's going on there. I'm sure most would be interested in your organ restoration, wood refinishing, etc. Not to mention working on the house and all the cool accoutremonts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWSmith Posted February 3, 2007 Author Share Posted February 3, 2007 Hello Meagain! Thanks for the interest in some of my weird and wild projects (well, outside of the domestic house decorating stuff[] not so weird... Add to that a keyboard studio (all setup now) and ALL that analog and digital music stuff, it gets pretty interesting noise wise! I was going to use the K'Horns as monitors for this equipment, but I changed my mind as they do take up a bit of space and it would be TOO abusive to use them in this way. I'm sure before long, I would be `popping' the tweeter and squaker without too much trouble. So, I beat up on a Cambridge Audio 2.1 system and it works well enough. I'm trying to think of a way to get GOOD photos of these '68 K'Horns. I would have to carefully spin them around (as the backs are facing the walking by traffic to protect the nice wood fronts) and then hang a nice black backdrop on a large metal shelving system we got in there just behind them. Hmmmmmm, it may work! Keep bugging me and I'll DO IT[] More later.. ..............Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWSmith Posted February 3, 2007 Author Share Posted February 3, 2007 OH, almost forgot to mention.... I have purchased my new caps from Bob C. Thanks to you all for pointing me in that direction! Can't wait to get started on that little project. Maybe a white noise sweep to check out the differences between one upgraded and one original, hmmmmm. My Moog Voyager could provide that [] ....Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meagain Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Cool! I think it's a silly question to ask (my gut says).... but the khorns are in a heated garage - right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWSmith Posted February 3, 2007 Author Share Posted February 3, 2007 Meagain, Sorry, but no, they are not in a heated garage, but, whats nice is, the garage is part of the house, so it is NOT as cold as the naked outdoors! I have about 50 LAVA lamps out there in storage also, and I am not too worried about them in the cold, as well as some other electronic components that there is just NO room in the house for them as of yet. We are closing in on getting this placed fixed up FAST! Word just came down that my partner's mom just sold her place TODAY, so, furnishings of hers will come here and we MUST have things shaped up and ready by the end of the month!! Can you say- we just got kicked in the arse BIG TIME to get this place in shape before her arrival and stay for a month in March? This is a GOOD thing, as it means that much quicker to get the Klipcshorns up and running sooner then later as I thought [] Write to you again soon. ..........Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted February 3, 2007 Share Posted February 3, 2007 Hey if you need a place to park the C3 I can think of a place... I could get Sal Azz to finish it... Sounds like a great situation for you once it all gets settled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWSmith Posted February 3, 2007 Author Share Posted February 3, 2007 Ben.. I worked out a deal with a buddy of mine that I GAVE an A-100 to when I still lived in a rented space. I took on the C3 from a friend that owned a piano organ store in place of the A... Anyway, this buddy of mine has been saying "Some day, I will own your C3!, so just keep taking good care of if for me." I would just laugh and shrug that off. Well, that was until the thought of putting together a space for good 'ol 2 channel audio came into the picture. The Klipschorns were beckening from there storage spot out in the garage, and I don't think they will let me down once the new caps are in place [].. Ok, the deal is, he takes the C3 and PR-40 cab. Installs the cap kit (with my help) which I bought a few years ago, buys me a brand new XK-3 and I throw in my XK-2 for him to take as well.. I get the space, I get the new Hammond for gigs and he gets the organ he always wanted ) What do you think ? Stay in touch [] ............Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWSmith Posted February 4, 2007 Author Share Posted February 4, 2007 Ben, for the hang of it, I just pasted Sal Azz into the search engine! WOW! Looks like a great tech for the Hammonds! My cap kit was bought from Goff directly from Dave at the store. I also upgraded a Leslie 145 with their super HORN driver and a upgraded tube and capacitor for the amp. I will poke around on the site a bit more. Kind of relates to this thread doesn't it ? Well, sort of ............caps, tubes, horns OH MY [] . ...Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted February 4, 2007 Share Posted February 4, 2007 Gary, Sounds like a good deal for both of you. Sal is the guru and a really nice guy to boot. We're lucky to have him here in Buffalo. I don't have a Hammond, but have played around with them on occasion at informal jams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWSmith Posted February 4, 2007 Author Share Posted February 4, 2007 Hey Ben. I took a look at the `HamFest' photos... Looks like all that were there had a great time [] ! Enjoy the rest of the day. .....Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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