QLS-1 Restoration Project
- Thread starter banffskiing
- Start date
banffskiing
Active Member
Sure
I am out of town for the next couple of weeks but should be back around Beginning of Aug. When I return, I am planning on taking pictures of each step performed in the repair. Would have posted them eairler but wanted to make sure that everthing worked out well so as not to post a bunch of misinformation. The wire I purchased came from Daburn www.daburn.com/2671.html I don't remember the name of the company for the liquid tape, but a quick google search should provide the answers. Bad thing about the wire is that the smallest qty they will sell is 100 ft. I think it cost me $140.00 including shipping to get it to my house but at least I have 10X lifetime supply. One interesting thing I noticed, I compared the sound of one of my repaired domes to one that had the hard orange resin, and I think the repaired unit sounded better and had a slightly higher output. Just a theory, but i believe that the 36awg wire does not inhibit the domes movement as much as the orange resin. I doubt if they even made such fine wire that was insulated at the time the quantums were built.
11/28/06
Here is another sorce much cheaper than what I paided.
http://www.planetengineers.com/default.asp?cat=Wire+PVC
Good Luck
Banff
I am out of town for the next couple of weeks but should be back around Beginning of Aug. When I return, I am planning on taking pictures of each step performed in the repair. Would have posted them eairler but wanted to make sure that everthing worked out well so as not to post a bunch of misinformation. The wire I purchased came from Daburn www.daburn.com/2671.html I don't remember the name of the company for the liquid tape, but a quick google search should provide the answers. Bad thing about the wire is that the smallest qty they will sell is 100 ft. I think it cost me $140.00 including shipping to get it to my house but at least I have 10X lifetime supply. One interesting thing I noticed, I compared the sound of one of my repaired domes to one that had the hard orange resin, and I think the repaired unit sounded better and had a slightly higher output. Just a theory, but i believe that the 36awg wire does not inhibit the domes movement as much as the orange resin. I doubt if they even made such fine wire that was insulated at the time the quantums were built.
11/28/06
Here is another sorce much cheaper than what I paided.
http://www.planetengineers.com/default.asp?cat=Wire+PVC
Good Luck
Banff
curtpenn
Member
I have similar issues
I acquired a pair of Q2's last summer which needed some work. I've accumulated a number of domed mids on eBay over the past few years. Some work, some don't. Some have different covers on the back just as you describe. I'd like to find a good set of instructions on how to repair these. I think I've destroyed one of mine trying to figure this out on my own.
Regards,
Curtis
I acquired a pair of Q2's last summer which needed some work. I've accumulated a number of domed mids on eBay over the past few years. Some work, some don't. Some have different covers on the back just as you describe. I'd like to find a good set of instructions on how to repair these. I think I've destroyed one of mine trying to figure this out on my own.
Regards,
Curtis
banffskiing said:
banffskiing
Active Member
To all:
Hey sorry for the delay In my Qls restoration project. Have been out of town alot and have had many other projects that needed to get finished up. I should be able to get back to them this week. Quantum 3, did you ever get any of the 36awg wire?
Banff
Hey sorry for the delay In my Qls restoration project. Have been out of town alot and have had many other projects that needed to get finished up. I should be able to get back to them this week. Quantum 3, did you ever get any of the 36awg wire?
Banff
banffskiing
Active Member
Dome repair instructions
Midrange Dome Repair Procedure
This technique seems to work well as long as there is at least 3 to 4mm of the orange coated lead coming out from the dome
Tools Required
Xacto Knife
15 to 25watt soldering iron
36Awg wire
Sewing Needle
High quality silver solder
Solder paste
Liquid tape
Good pair of wire cutters
300 grit sandpaper
Ohm meter
Dremmel tool (optional)
Dremmel tool with cut off wheels (optional) for cleaning out channel that leads to terminal.
STEPS
1. If the lead is broken off close to the black plate plastic flat plate and not the fabric dome, This method seems to work very well.
2. Using wire cutters, cut original lead about half way between end of channel and dome.
3. Using dremmel tool, with cutting wheel or tiny grinding bit, remove all of the old orange resin from the from the channel.
4. Use grinding bit, remove all of the orange resin around the area where the wire passes though to the terminal.
Removing the orange resin from the tinsel wire
This next part is probably the toughest part of the whole process and requires a gentle touch otherwise, you break the tinsel wire and have to start over. Problem is that when you start over, you are even closer to the fabric dome. Anyway when these mids were first made the orange resin was not hard and brittle as it is today. It has hardened over the past 25 years and is probably the main reason that there are so many quantum series speakers with broken leads.
5. Using a soldering iron with a large flat tip, apply heat on the bottom side of the orange resin about 3mm in from where the wire was cut in step 2.
6. While you are applying heat to the bottom side, gently use the xacto knife on the top side to pull the last 3mm of orange resin away from the tinsel lead. Be patient, it will take about 20 seconds of heat and the orange resin will become very soft. At this point, you should be able to easily removed it with the knife. After this step you should be left with about 2 to 3mm of exposed wire. The wire will be almost black from the melted resin and will not accept solder.
7. In this step we will clean up the exposed wire so that solder will flow around it. Put the xacto knife on the bottom side of the exposed wire for support. Using the 300 grit sand paper, lightly sand the wire in one direction (away from the dome). In a few strokes you will begin to see shiny copper. Repeat this process for the bottom side of the wire. It will be easier to flip the dome over so that you are sanding from your blind side.
8. We are now ready to apply the new 36awg to the exposed tinsel. Cut a piece of 36awg about 65mm. Strip one end back about 10mm and the other about 5mm Take the end that is striped back 10mm and wrap it around the end of a needle. (See Diagram) This will give you a nice coil that you can slide over the end of the exposed tinsel wire. This will allow you to solder the wire without having to hold it in place.
9. Now that you have the coil slid onto the exposed wire, apply a small amount of soldering paste to the junction. Very gently apply heat to the bottom side of the junction while applying the silver solder to the junction. Note: You must have a very clean tip with freshly applied silver solder.
10. Next apply the liquid tape to the junction and allow it to cure for about 15min before doing anything else. I usually apply the liquid tape all the way to the dome and about 3mm onto the new 36awg wire.
11. From the 5mm striped ends, measure the resistance though the coil to be sure that you have a good solder connection. It should measure less than 8 ohms.
12. Now all that is left is to solder the other end to the terminal and push the 36 awg wire into the channel and fill the channel with liquid tape. BE SURE to allow an arc so that the 36awg wire is not stretched to tight where the new junction has been made.
Midrange Dome Repair Procedure
This technique seems to work well as long as there is at least 3 to 4mm of the orange coated lead coming out from the dome
Tools Required
Xacto Knife
15 to 25watt soldering iron
36Awg wire
Sewing Needle
High quality silver solder
Solder paste
Liquid tape
Good pair of wire cutters
300 grit sandpaper
Ohm meter
Dremmel tool (optional)
Dremmel tool with cut off wheels (optional) for cleaning out channel that leads to terminal.
STEPS
1. If the lead is broken off close to the black plate plastic flat plate and not the fabric dome, This method seems to work very well.
2. Using wire cutters, cut original lead about half way between end of channel and dome.
3. Using dremmel tool, with cutting wheel or tiny grinding bit, remove all of the old orange resin from the from the channel.
4. Use grinding bit, remove all of the orange resin around the area where the wire passes though to the terminal.
Removing the orange resin from the tinsel wire
This next part is probably the toughest part of the whole process and requires a gentle touch otherwise, you break the tinsel wire and have to start over. Problem is that when you start over, you are even closer to the fabric dome. Anyway when these mids were first made the orange resin was not hard and brittle as it is today. It has hardened over the past 25 years and is probably the main reason that there are so many quantum series speakers with broken leads.
5. Using a soldering iron with a large flat tip, apply heat on the bottom side of the orange resin about 3mm in from where the wire was cut in step 2.
6. While you are applying heat to the bottom side, gently use the xacto knife on the top side to pull the last 3mm of orange resin away from the tinsel lead. Be patient, it will take about 20 seconds of heat and the orange resin will become very soft. At this point, you should be able to easily removed it with the knife. After this step you should be left with about 2 to 3mm of exposed wire. The wire will be almost black from the melted resin and will not accept solder.
7. In this step we will clean up the exposed wire so that solder will flow around it. Put the xacto knife on the bottom side of the exposed wire for support. Using the 300 grit sand paper, lightly sand the wire in one direction (away from the dome). In a few strokes you will begin to see shiny copper. Repeat this process for the bottom side of the wire. It will be easier to flip the dome over so that you are sanding from your blind side.
8. We are now ready to apply the new 36awg to the exposed tinsel. Cut a piece of 36awg about 65mm. Strip one end back about 10mm and the other about 5mm Take the end that is striped back 10mm and wrap it around the end of a needle. (See Diagram) This will give you a nice coil that you can slide over the end of the exposed tinsel wire. This will allow you to solder the wire without having to hold it in place.
9. Now that you have the coil slid onto the exposed wire, apply a small amount of soldering paste to the junction. Very gently apply heat to the bottom side of the junction while applying the silver solder to the junction. Note: You must have a very clean tip with freshly applied silver solder.
10. Next apply the liquid tape to the junction and allow it to cure for about 15min before doing anything else. I usually apply the liquid tape all the way to the dome and about 3mm onto the new 36awg wire.
11. From the 5mm striped ends, measure the resistance though the coil to be sure that you have a good solder connection. It should measure less than 8 ohms.
12. Now all that is left is to solder the other end to the terminal and push the 36 awg wire into the channel and fill the channel with liquid tape. BE SURE to allow an arc so that the 36awg wire is not stretched to tight where the new junction has been made.
Attachments
Thanks for the info!
I have 5 non-working ones, I need 2 of to complete my Q5's , this will help when I get some time. Thanks for posting. :thmbsp: I know a couple of them are broken at the dome. I can see the challange there. Hope I have at least 2 that are broke near the channel.
I have 5 non-working ones, I need 2 of to complete my Q5's , this will help when I get some time. Thanks for posting. :thmbsp: I know a couple of them are broken at the dome. I can see the challange there. Hope I have at least 2 that are broke near the channel.
banffskiing
Active Member
To All:
Never thought it would take as long as it has to restore these monsters but I am getting closer. I now have 11 good mids, 20 good emits and I am currently re-doing the crossovers. I am making a circuit board for all of the crossover components . It's pretty exspensive to replace all of the caps but I think the new one's will be of better quality. Also it should look alot cleaner with all of the components on a board instead of the rats nest that they started with. Can't find electrolytics of that size anywhere so I had to put 200uf and 220uf in parallel to get the woofer caps for the crossover. I post a few pictures once I have the boards finished. Hoping some time around Christmas I will be finished completly.
Banff
Never thought it would take as long as it has to restore these monsters but I am getting closer. I now have 11 good mids, 20 good emits and I am currently re-doing the crossovers. I am making a circuit board for all of the crossover components . It's pretty exspensive to replace all of the caps but I think the new one's will be of better quality. Also it should look alot cleaner with all of the components on a board instead of the rats nest that they started with. Can't find electrolytics of that size anywhere so I had to put 200uf and 220uf in parallel to get the woofer caps for the crossover. I post a few pictures once I have the boards finished. Hoping some time around Christmas I will be finished completly.
Banff
banffskiing
Active Member
WOW
Picked up a mid today on ebay. Never thought I would find it.
Have only been waiting about 6 months. Finally I have all of the drivers.
Yeepee
Picked up a mid today on ebay. Never thought I would find it.Have only been waiting about 6 months. Finally I have all of the drivers.
Yeepee
Kencat
Super Member
banffskiing said:WOW
Have only been waiting about 6 months. Finally I have all of the drivers.
Yeepee
Yep, that dancin Banana says it all...It's like Xmas when you were a pup eh?
This is a hobby of patience, that's for sure.
There's another QLS resto on the go here on the forum....this is cool. We'll all get to hear some great reviews in a few months. Looking forward.
SleeperSupra
Super Member
Any updates?
I am looking to buy the pair on ePay right now...
I am looking to buy the pair on ePay right now...
SleeperSupra said:
I have a line on some myself or I'd be looking at them too. Look to be in pretty nice shape.
I hope somebody from AK gets these - the current high bidder looks (from his past transactions) to be somebody who sells drivers. I hate the thought of someone buying these just to part them out.
David
SleeperSupra
Super Member
What do you think about the Renaissance 80's?
I've never heard either the Renaissance 80s or 90s, but they have an extremely good reputation. People on the Infinity Classics newsgroup at Yahoo rave about them. I'd love to hear a pair but they don't seem to come up for sale very often.
The only question I have on the 80s currently on eBay is just how much damage the water actually did. Doesn't look like like much, based on the photos.
Man, sellers who refuse to ship really annoy me. All the classic Infinities seem to be on the coasts, leaving me out of luck.
David
The only question I have on the 80s currently on eBay is just how much damage the water actually did. Doesn't look like like much, based on the photos.
Man, sellers who refuse to ship really annoy me. All the classic Infinities seem to be on the coasts, leaving me out of luck.
David
banffskiing
Active Member
Just received all of my parts for rebuilding the crossover. Should be able to make the pcb boards this weekend and stuff all of the components in.
Did not have room on the board to mount the chokes so I had to incorporate quick connect terminals on the pcb to connect them. Picture shows the layout of the pcb.
Banff
Did not have room on the board to mount the chokes so I had to incorporate quick connect terminals on the pcb to connect them. Picture shows the layout of the pcb.
Banff
