cleaned polydome

kappa7krazy

Active Member
Here is the before and after pics of my cleaned polydome. Now I will see what happens over time with this cleaning process.
 

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After i clean them i coat them with a thin film of silicon oil or armor all
.
 
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As suggested by uvafan420 (Thanks!), I used meguiars vinyl and rubber cleaner. I started off using a small brush to apply the cleaner and wiped the extra off with a clean soft cloth.
 
OOoooooh, I already have some of that Meguire's stuff! :banana: I know I won't be able to resist experimenting, after seeing those pics... I hope there are no long-term negatives to using this on the Polydome material. It works great on rubber and vinyl in general, though, so I'm willing to risk the experiment. Thanks for sharing what you used, guys! :thmbsp:
 
WoW
What a transformation ! Nice Job ! As everyone else i am very interested in doing this .
Does it require that you disassemble the driver and clean both sides of the dome ? Or is this done with polydome in speaker { Just on outside } ?
I would think that this would not only make them look brand new but might well be a life increaser . I would share a conscern that chemicals in cleaner might do damage but looking at your picture they look brand new . I take it you have replaced the original polydomes in your krazy 7s { can see the mesh under dome ..}
NICE !
 
Sorry .. Stupid of me .. Obviously you have done the job w polydome removed .
I havent done any repairs myself except replaced a pair of passive radiators in a pair of Inf es 200s many moons ago .
Question : Is this easy to do and , What are the risks for a non speaker repair person . Can it be royally screwed up or is it no muss no fuss no risk kind of thing ? . Please describe the process .
Thanks !
 
I did take it completely apart and did inside as well as the outside. I am concerned about the chemicals as well, but I had to give it a shot. If this works out and shows no ill effects down the road, I will do the rest of my collection.
 
Its easy. Remove the dome from speaker and then the 4 allen screws around the dome and pull the magnet from the faceplate. Mine came apart easy but if this is the first time its been opened, you might have to work at it. Dont pull to hard, this is a 3" voice coil and once apart, if not careful, you could damage the vc. While I had it apart, I took a post it note folded in half and ran that in the voice coil gap to clean it.
Just go slow and it should be no problem.
Now, I must say that using this cleaner/conditioner goes against everything I was taught about applying "chemicals" to delicate materials. I have no idea about the long term effects but I am hoping for the best. Brian
 
Thanks Brian
I think Im going to leave them as is for now . Sounds like there is a bit of risk . I dont want to tempt murphys law .
Beautifull DOG ! Is that a Newfoundland ?
My brother lives somewhere near Salmon ID . I bet youll be glad to see spring arrive in that beautifull state ..
 
Yep thats our newfie, Marley. We our more than ready for spring!
I have taken pics and will continue to do so over time, so I can compare. If interested, I will do updates.
I know it may be hard to believe but I swear it "damped" the mids a bit. I have no measurements to prove this, just my opinion.
 
Yep thats our newfie, Marley. We our more than ready for spring!
I have taken pics and will continue to do so over time, so I can compare. If interested, I will do updates.
I know it may be hard to believe but I swear it "damped" the mids a bit. I have no measurements to prove this, just my opinion.

Hmm.... you would think the cleaner might leave a residue on it.

Did you try turning up the polydome and try to compensate? I wonder what is actually happening in this fix as well as the hairdryer trick.
 
I "assume" that some of the cleaner was left on the dome. I did leave the domes out (I actually did my pair of kappa 8's as well) over night and I still felt a little residue, so I wiped it until they felt dry, prior to re-assembly.
These 3 domes that I treated are in the LCR speakers of my home theater. My rear speakers have untreated domes and after the 3 cleaned domes were reinstalled up front I could tell a small difference in sound, front to back.
 
aboroth00, I forgot to add that I have not turned up the polydome to compensate yet. I want to give it some time before I start messing with the pots, just to make sure.
 
Look great. And you got the same results I did. I have had no ill effects and mine have been done about 6 months now. They are much more supple and feel like they did when I bought my first new pair of kappas many moons ago...

BTW, I think the risk of this chemical is nil btw. I feel leaving them to dry rot will do more harm than any cleaner designed for material like the domes would ever do. The dampening of the mid is maybe in your head? lol... My brother actually did measurements on mine, no change in my speaks. Wished I would have kept the info to show. I did dry mine afterward with a very soft cloth... And I used Qtips in the ridge instead of a post it as you.
 
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Hmm.... you would think the cleaner might leave a residue on it.

Did you try turning up the polydome and try to compensate? I wonder what is actually happening in this fix as well as the hairdryer trick.

The hair dryer is a temporary thing, whereas cleaning them is permanent (or until time makes them dirty again).
 
uvafan, I am glad to hear that yours havent changed. I am pretty sure that the change I heard is in my head, which is why I didnt try and compensate for it. I have learned sometimes it pays to just listen awhile before changing things.

The domes that were in my kappa 8's were alot worse than the one in the pics and they still came out fairly clear. I will see if I have some before pics of those to show how far gone they were. I could tell that the domes were softer after the treatment.
 
Think twice about the armor all

After i clean them i coat them with a thin film of armor all.

Just so you knoe armor all is a sealant, Not A conditioner, It has caused the vinyl dash of one of my cars to crack and peel. Unless they have changed the formula I wouldn't keep using it!!!
 
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