Ripped woofers and wood glue repairs

Lisa Lane-Collins

Lisa Lane-Collins

Sophomore
Dec 9, 2012
270
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16
Adelaide, Australia
The woofers in my SX300s have started to rip around the edges where the cone attaches to the metal frame (making them sound rattley). As a stop gap I used woodglue to hold them together expecting them to self destruct over the next few shows. Surprisingly, after a month of being used as fold back and a couple of shows as foh they still sound fine. Wondering if other people have done the woodglue stop gap solution and how long did it hold for?
 
I used this approach on some older 2-way EAW boxes about 10 years back, and they are still holding up fine AFAIK (with admittedly light use since then). I'd consider the repair permanent, although this assumes that the repair was due to damage and not deterioration of the cone/surround.
 
If the glue you've used dries rigid, I wouldn't expect it to hold for long. The surround fabric needs to flex. Near the edge is probably where it flexes the most, (which explains why it tore there to begin with). Clearly, the time has come to replace those old clunkers, especially if you are charging people to do sound jobs.
 
I actually use some of those speakers for some stuff. They are old but clunker is not a term I would use to describe them. They are lightweight cabinets that sound pretty decent.
Maybe a chance to get into reconing if you have not done that.
 
In those cases I'm a fan of using fabric from an old thin shirt (ideally silk) with rubber cement. The rubber cement stays flexible, and the fabric holds the repair together. But these days I really only do that on things where you can't get a recone/replacement, like in my old Wurlitzer electric piano.
 
I remember performing at a show and watching the sound company repairing the surrounds on some subs, as we pulled up to the stage, with plastic grocery bags, glue and a paint brush. It look like applying fiberglass with glue as epoxy and the bags as fiberglass matting. It worked, I guess, for at least for the duration of the show.
 
I've had great luck using elmer's glue and tissue paper to repair small, or even large tears in speaker cones. Elmer's glue seems to remain flexible enough to work even at the edge of the cone. Rubber cement is more flexible, but not as strong, so the tear tends to grow on you. Use just enough glue to get a bond and you're good to go.
 
Scott Helmke said:
In those cases I'm a fan of using fabric from an old thin shirt (ideally silk) with rubber cement. The rubber cement stays flexible, and the fabric holds the repair together.
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I, too, prefer rubber cement to Elmer's glue for speaker cone repairs. Thin fabric helps, but smaller tears can be accomplished with rubber cement alone.
 
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