Water in 802-8g housing...

**oface1** · August 7th, 2010, 04:11 PM

What to do ? I just sold a pair of model 15's, and the gentleman who bought them took them home after listening to them for over an hour at my house. He hooked them up at his place and was hearing issues out of one of the drivers.

He dissembled one of the horns, and removed the diaphragm and noticed water coming out....these speakers were stored in my house, but I think one of my toddlers was the culprit...

I feel bad for this happening to him, and was wondering what the fix/solution might be.

Thanks guys, I want to get this info back to him as soon as I can.

-chris

**Cal Weldon** · August 7th, 2010, 05:56 PM

Hair dryer and then antistatic spray?

**Steve Schell** · August 7th, 2010, 06:20 PM

I'd say that the driver needs to immediately be removed from the horn. Depending on what was spilled down the horn, the horn and driver throats may have milk, orange juice or ?? residue clinging to them. There may be some crud clogging the throat screen.

Inside the driver there may be rust developing. The quicker everything can be completely dried out the better. If he doesn't have a hair dryer he should at least set the opened driver in the sun. He cannot pull the top plate without losing the magnetic charge, but he could hold the driver at every angle while blowing compressed air into the voice coil gap.

The diaphragm may have suffered damage, or he (you) might get lucky. At a very minimum the driver should be left open for a day or two and the gap cleaned carefully before reassembly.

I have a number of rusted up compression drivers in my shed, but these sat with water in them for weeks or months. Not sure how much damage is done by a short exposure.

**Panomaniac** · August 7th, 2010, 08:52 PM

Clean it, wash it and look for rust. Shootz, my cell phone went thru the washer and dryer and still works.

As to what you should offer the poor chap for his trouble, that's another matter.

**Cal Weldon** · August 7th, 2010, 10:28 PM

If it were mine this is what I'd do:

Check the diaphragm to make sure it's OK. Use a magnifying glass.

Then hit the magnet structure with hairdryer while holding it up side down to ensure proper drainage. Turn upright, fill the gap with WD 40 spray and let it sit for a couple minutes (hopefully it will stay in the gap but no big deal if it doesn't). Use 600 grit emery to remove any gunk or surface rust while the WD is still in the gap, being gentle not to overdo it. Turn the driver upside down again to allow to drain and use more WD 40 to rinse it while still upside down. Then use a hairdryer again to flush the last of the WD out and dry it completely. Wet a soft cloth with WD and wipe the diaphragm coil. Reinstall diaphragm. If the WD drains down into the magnet area you may have to tease it out by shaking the whole structure and letting it stand overnight.

Others may be able to add to this as far as the good and bad points. Good luck.

**oface1** · August 8th, 2010, 09:01 AM

Hey guys,

Just got off the phone with him, he got them fixed/dried.

He removed the diaphragms, and clean them out, and took off the phase plug, and set them in a oven at very low temp for 2 cycles of about 3 hours each.

He said the liquid was clear, and he cleaned everything and hooked them up this morning and they play great.

This was his first jump into Altec land, and he really likes what he hears.

So, thanks again for all of y'alls suggestions and help, and I am glad he got he speakers working great and did not just say screw it , altec sucks based on this one little issues. Looks like we will have another fan/member joining the board....

Take care all and thanks again!!

-chris

**Altec Best** · August 7th, 2010, 06:01 PM

First thing would to be dry out the driver as best as possible.Is the diaghram damaged.Do you have pics.How much water was in there.And then you explain to ones toddler that you don't do that to Daddy's stuff.

It's hard to know what to do without knowing the extent of damage if any.But first thing would be to remove as much water as he can.After drying check the driver again to see if it still plays the same.If still bad he may need a new diaghram.I don't know without the driver in hand.Could be the gap is filled with water and would need to be removed completely

Diaghram would have to be removed if gap filled with water.A blast of compressed air all the way around the gap to remove excess water and then dry out re-install diaghram,cap,and then you should be good to go.