coocoomike

I'm not responsible for any damage you do to yourself, car, others, cat, dog, yada. sorry for not providing pictures, I wasn't thinking ahead of time.

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/19528/bose.jpg">

The problem that has plagued the rear Bose shelf speakers also manifests itself in the front speakers as well: the seperation of the dustcaps from the cone. This creates a very annoying buzzing, warbling sound, that can be heard at all volumes, but is especially apparent at low volumes and in cold weather. Symptoms can be found <a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/a4/msgs/2320565.phtml">here</a>.

The problem comes from the type of glue that Bose uses to fix these dust caps on. Yes, there is a great amount of glue on the front caps, but the glue is very susceptible to temperature changes. The glue seems to just hold the dust cap in place rather than actually gluing the cap down to the cone. After numerous heat cycles, the glue looses it's shape and the dust caps are no longer "sealed" to the cone.

On a scale from 1-10, 10 being the hardest, I'd say this fix was a 1. Hardest part would be taking the door panel off.

To fix this problem:

1. Follow the instructions found <a href="https://www.audiworld.com/tech/int13.shtml">here</a> to remove the door panels. Leave the speaker connections intact.

2. Once the door panel is removed, remove the lower speaker by unscrewing three screws. Turn on the radio and listen for the buzzing. Gently push down on the dustcap and see if the buzzing stops. If it does, the speaker may still be salvageable.

3. Disconnect the speaker and test the voicecoil. Press down <b>gently</b> directly in the center of the dustcap with enough force to move the cone up and down slightly. The movement should be quiet and smooth. If you hear scratching sounds and rough movement, the speaker is probably toast. You can also ohm out the speakers, you should get ~2 ohms

4. If all is still good, heat up the glue so that it can be reformed. I used a small halogen lightbulb, but I'm sure a blowdryer or regular incandescent light will be sufficient. <i>Be careful, the glue will heat up rather quickly. I placed it under the bulb for about ~30 seconds and the glue started to smoke.</i>

5. After the glue is heated up, it should becomse quite malleable. Use a flat object to shape the glue against the rim of the dustcap. The dust cap of my speaker seperated between the two wires on the cone. Work somewhat quickly, since after the glue cools, it will be hard again. You want to try and shoot for a nice even and flat ring around the dust cap.

6. Test out the new speaker, and if all is good, work backwards and reinstall everything. If it still is broken, the speaker most likely will have to be replaced.

This fix has worked for me so far, but I'm not sure how long it will last as it seems that over time, the glue will once again loose its shape. It may be possible to completely remove the default Bose glue and use something better to seal the dustcap on.

I've been quite happy with the results so far, and after fixing all of my speakers, can listen once again to music in peace.

RKA

not sure it there is anything special about this glue, but you can contact any speaker repair or supply shop and they should be able to point you in the right direction. Or in the age of the world wide web, just do a little googling. I'm sure you'd find a speaker builders website somewhere that would reference speaker procedures.

coocoomike

will have to try that next time any one of these speakers fail.

product ref
http://www.speakerrepair.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&amp;Product_Code=XL49&amp ;Category_Code=AIII+SP

ModifiedA4

great post...so many of my speakers are buzzing i dont know which ones exactly are bad, lol!

ill have to reglue them...perhaps this summer.

coocoomike

by molding the glue, it fixes the problem for a couple of days, but always seems to return days later. i have yet to actually try and re-glue the two surfaces together.