Help with removing drivers

falcoron

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I have been listening to my new ( to me ) Audionote AN- e kit speakers I bought a while back, I'm really enjoying them with the Musicarch 300 b amp it's so beautifully musical, I can (and do ) listen for much much longer than I ever have before.

anyway these have Baltic birch ply cabs but just painted black, I want to keep so am going to re veneer them with nice American black walnut, the drivers will have been sealed in with blu tac, this is what the instructions tell you to do on the kit pages. I have removed the screws but the driver won't budge with gentle persuasion, doesn't matter if I mark the cabs as I can fill before veneering. Don't want to damage the driver or tweeter surrounds, any ideas tricks advice please?

 

HoopsOnToast

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Is it possibly to remove the Speaker terminals and get in from the back? Then push it out?

Alternatively with the screws out, and driver face down onto a duvet or pillow, give them a good whack from behind.

Sometimes I find you can gentley prise the driver away by using a small flat head screwdriver and levering it between the frame mounting holes and the baffle/hole behind, although be careful.

 
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Funkpig

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If you can get a screwdriver behind the fixing flange, use a thin piece of metal or a steel rule to lever against. This will protect the face of the speaker and give you something firm to lever against.

 

falcoron

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Is it possibly to remove the Speaker terminals and get in from the back? Then push it out?Alternatively with the screws out, and driver face down onto a duvet or pillow, give them a good whack from behind.

Sometimes I find you can gentley prise the driver away by using a small flat head screwdriver and levering it between the frame mounting holes and the baffle/hole behind, although be careful.
Can't get grim behind, and a good slap would need to be a sledge hammer these are well in, I got the tweeter out I did mark the wood a little but I can fix that before veneer it's very small. That blu tac does grip though!

- - - Updated - - -

If you can get a screwdriver behind the fixing flange, use a thin piece of metal or a steel rule to lever against. This will protect the face of the speaker and give you something firm to lever against.
i can get a very small one in I will give it a go with a steel rule, good idea thanks.

 

JezR

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Corkscrew in where the screws/bolts come out. Gently pull with the tip just under the edge, but don't screw it in.

 

hearingisbelieving

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Corkscrew in where the screws/bolts come out. Gently pull with the tip just under the edge, but don't screw it in.
I do this but with one of the screws that holds it in as it is the right size for the hole. Failing that, an appropriate size philips head screwdriver will give more leverage.

Be careful though, dont go mad on just one screw hole - apply gentle pressure to each one working in a clockwise direction - repeat until loose.

 

falcoron

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Really well stuck in! Tweeter is out ok with a little fucking and bastarding but out.

the main driver won't budge so I'll try the corkscrew but I'm not confident, never thought blu tac would be so secure

 

nat8808

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Yeah, use the bolt holes as the place for leverage. Using the bolts, loose but inserted as far as they will without engaging with the thread, and then applying pressure on it's side inwards towards the middle of the driver will often slowly lift up that side of the driver. It is just a case of sustained pulling power and patience. Would mild heat (near a radiator?) soften the blutac and help?

Perhaps even just leaving them upside down, raised off the floor a bit for a few days (with something soft for the driver to fall on) and gravity and elves will have a go at it for you.

 

rocky raccoon

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A development of Nat's idea - It's just a thought but you might tap a couple of the holes in the basket with a tap (making a thread) slightly larger than the diameter of the existing hole and then screw in a couple of appropriate threaded screws (not so far that they go into the wood behind the basket). That would give you more purchase. Give the holes a gentle vacuum once tapped (you're working close to magnets).

Then you could pull the basket out. Two screws would reduce the risk of distorting the basket when you pull. Ideally the tap would not be more than 0.5 mm larger than the existing holes in the basket. With the original screws back in place, you'd never know.

 

AmDismal

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What power tools do you have available? I'm sure we can come up with something creative :^

 

RobHolt

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Is it possibly to remove the Speaker terminals and get in from the back? Then push it out?Alternatively with the screws out, and driver face down onto a duvet or pillow, give them a good whack from behind.

Sometimes I find you can gentley prise the driver away by using a small flat head screwdriver and levering it between the frame mounting holes and the baffle/hole behind, although be careful.
Good advice. In through the back and push. Can you get a hand in the tweeter hole and push from there?

When you put them back, don't use blutak, get some proper foam gaskets.

If the cabinets are to be re-veneered then I wouldn't worry about a few wood chips which can be filled epoxy and sanded.

 

Who Cares?

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Because you're going to be veneering and can fill any faults before doing so, how about using a sharp wood chisel to make, say, four "slots" every 90% around the edge of the frame down to the point where you can then insert a lever under the frame and then lever gentlly working around at 180% points.

The slots can then be filled using epoxy wood and sanded down to level.

 

pure sound

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The corkscrew will do it. If you don't engage it enough it will come out again, if you do, the driver will come away. Always worked with Snells which had similar mastic sealant.

Sent from my GT-P3110 using Tapatalk 2

 

Humpty was pushed

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Run a metal wire around the perimeter, and work it under the edge, then "tourniquet" it so the wire cuts the seal. (I have not tried this)

 

AmDismal

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If you have a chainsaw, put it on the "delicate" setting, and carefully cut around the edges of the driver.

 
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JezR

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Good advice. In through the back and push. Can you get a hand in the tweeter hole and push from there?When you put them back, don't use blutak, get some proper foam gaskets.

If the cabinets are to be re-veneered then I wouldn't worry about a few wood chips which can be filled epoxy and sanded.
Can't be done as the crossover/speaker terminal board is screwed in from the inside of the cabinet.

 

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