Spider repair - a question of approach (need some reconers wisdom!)

[Jimbob Jones]

Hi all,

One of the cones in my TE 2103x started farting recently. Couldn't see any damage on the face, but upon removing the driver, it's clear that about half of the spider has separated from the surround. The joint between the spider & cone/voice coil is still good.

These are the original drivers, and I would really like to rescue if possible. I've got some gorilla glue for the repair, which I hear is best for this sort of thing.

My question is this: is it best to squeeze glue in to the existing split and do a patch job, or try to pop the spider off all the way around, and completely redo the glue joint? I can't see any damage to the actual cone or spider, so I'm hoping I don't need to think about reconing at this point?

Pics:

Edit: Typos

 

[Bander]

First, are we seeing the delaminated spider edge?:

If so, I'd just repair it with the correct cement, such as this:

"Parts Express Speaker Repair Glue 1 oz. Bottle" from www.parts-express.com!

And, you'll need some way to clamp it. Maybe a shaped strip of coat hanger, or a section of a round container, like oatmeal or a coffee can might be the right radius. Clamping will be the challenge.

 

[Jimbob Jones]

Hi,

Your annotations are correct; that is the basket, and the edge of the spider pulled up so you can see it.

So it'll be ok to just glue the gap, without a significant risk of the rest of it delaminating at a later date? (that is, a higher risk than any other part of the speaker falling apart due to age)

 

[agedhorse]

You can try to glue it, but it will likely continue to fail.

The challenge is alignment, the combination of the spider, the surround and the VC/spider joint triangulate to maintain alignment an the VC moves. The initial alignment involves shims, and needs to be quite precise.

No clamping is necessary, just a small ring weight on the cone will do.

I think a proper recone will be much more reliable.