Soldered Woofer Connections

Talk_Louder

Talk_Louder

Member
I am in process of re-foaming my Kappa 7 woofers. As luck would have it, Infinity soldered the spade connectors to the speaker terminals. It looks to me like a real beech to de-solder these big azz connectors without four hands, a blowtorch and a six pack.

However, as I am an electrician, I have access to the correct size butt splices and heat shrink material. So... is there any reason I couldn't/ shouldn't snip the leads, do the re-foam thing, and butt splice the wires right back together?

If you say don't cut, I'll go buy the six pack and get the War Wagon to lend a hand.

Cheers,
Mark
 
I have never refoamed a speaker. I know the dust cap has to come off to shim the voice coil, but why would you want to do more than is required?
 
You can do alright with butt splicing with connectors, I would add a touch of dielectric silicone grease on the connectors to prevent corrosion from setting in.

While I do like a properly oldered connector- to many try to desolder them and end up "wicking" the braid wire or worse!

Good luck to ya!
DC
 
I recently had the same issue with soldered locking spades on a transformer plastic terminal strip. I was going to leave them be because I figured the temp required to melt it all would soften the mount, but I used long nose pliers and my soldering iron. The solder was molten and the spades slid off really easily.
Not as difficult as it looked. Depends on how well anchored the terminal plate is though on a speaker- don't want to pull it off.
 
Talk Louder: You must want to remove the speakers from the box...you did not specify that. You sure can butt splice in that case.
 
Sorry, I do indeed need to remove the speaker from the cabinet. Too hard to get good angles and purchase with it hanging out of the hole. Would also seem to be much easier to center the cone when it's all laying flat on a bench.

I will cut and properly splice the wires. I have made hundreds of butt splices in my profession, but they were always for power applications. The heat shrink will make a moisture/ air free cover, so oxidation won't be a factor until I'm dead.

And thanks for the advice. I REALLY didn't want the War Wagon involved with this. I love her dearly, but not so much around my gear. She has her place, and it ain't in that room... unless shes drunk and frisky. :D

And I'm still gonna buy the six pack.

Cheers
 
Hope she doesn't use the internet and/or know where you do your web surfing:D:yes:
 
Talk_Louder said:
Sorry, I do indeed need to remove the speaker from the cabinet. Too hard to get good angles and purchase with it hanging out of the hole. Would also seem to be much easier to center the cone when it's all laying flat on a bench.

I will cut and properly splice the wires. I have made hundreds of butt splices in my profession, but they were always for power applications. The heat shrink will make a moisture/ air free cover, so oxidation won't be a factor until I'm dead.

And thanks for the advice. I REALLY didn't want the War Wagon involved with this. I love her dearly, but not so much around my gear. She has her place, and it ain't in that room... unless shes drunk and frisky. :D

And I'm still gonna buy the six pack.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Six pack of what?.:D
 
Soldering stranded wires???...

I have seen many times on photos in this site and others showing the floppy stranded wires soldered solid. I cannot agree with this. Many years ago, long before stuff wasn't explained any longer, I was taught that these floppy stranded wires that connect the speaker connections to the voice coil must be left floppy and solder free.
There is a reason for them to be floppy and solder free. They must allow the voice coil movement that occurs when the speaker, through it's magnetic operation, moves. Any restriction of movement due to soldered non-floppy wires is detrimental to the operation of the speaker.
Enough said. Get it right.

Paul
 
pdm4606 said:
I have seen many times on photos in this site and others showing the floppy stranded wires soldered solid. I cannot agree with this. Many years ago, long before stuff wasn't explained any longer, I was taught that these floppy stranded wires that connect the speaker connections to the voice coil must be left floppy and solder free.
There is a reason for them to be floppy and solder free. They must allow the voice coil movement that occurs when the speaker, through it's magnetic operation, moves. Any restriction of movement due to soldered non-floppy wires is detrimental to the operation of the speaker.
Enough said. Get it right.

Paul
Click to expand...

What? Sorry, I don't know what you are talking about. I'm not anywhere near the voice coil. I am installing surrounds, and only want to remove the speaker from its enclosure.

We have been discussing the wiring from the crossover board to the speaker connection. Those wires have no movement whatsoever. Almost anything that carries current could be used. Stranded wire is preferable simply because it is easier to stuff back into the enclosure.

I must have missed your meaning in this thread. Please advise.
 
Talk_Louder said:
Sorry, I do indeed need to remove the speaker from the cabinet. Too hard to get good angles and purchase with it hanging out of the hole. Would also seem to be much easier to center the cone when it's all laying flat on a bench.

I will cut and properly splice the wires. I have made hundreds of butt splices in my profession, but they were always for power applications. The heat shrink will make a moisture/ air free cover, so oxidation won't be a factor until I'm dead.

And thanks for the advice. I REALLY didn't want the War Wagon involved with this. I love her dearly, but not so much around my gear. She has her place, and it ain't in that room... unless shes drunk and frisky. :D

And I'm still gonna buy the six pack.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Good job, it's only 7:15 and you got a laugh out of me.

Nip the wire near the spade connector and when you butt splice be sure the wires are overlapping and you're not using the butt splice barrel for the connection portion. It's probably not a deal breaker but also not ideal. I'm sure you know how to make a proper crimp.
 
240sx4u said:
Good job, it's only 7:15 and you got a laugh out of me.

Nip the wire near the spade connector and when you butt splice be sure the wires are overlapping and you're not using the butt splice barrel for the connection portion. It's probably not a deal breaker but also not ideal. I'm sure you know how to make a proper crimp.
Click to expand...


Thanks 240. Very good advice. In everyday power applications the barrel does indeed carry some current. A typical butt connector has a stop built into it to prevent each wire from going in over half way. So I will essentially cut a connector in half, slide the strands in from both sides and create the overlap on purpose.

Cheers
 
Chuck those cruddy plastic butt connectors in the trash can where they belong and use a "western union splice", then solder it if you can.

Those connectors are just timesavers in my opinion.
 
Last edited:
The Western Union splice is not normally ideal for stranded wire (I was taught this splice early in my apprenticeship). It was designed for solid wire before the age of wire nuts, and I have torn miles of knob and tube wiring out of old houses with such splices. The splice was quite reliable in the day. It is used sparingly these days, and only for low voltage applications and primarily with solid conductors.

There are, however, several viable non mechanical splice techniques for fine stranded copper wire (Just Google 'stranded wire splice'). But I don't have the extra stripped length required to attempt them. So, a properly prepared and crimped connector will be superior for my stranded application.

I will never hear the difference.

Cheers,
Mark
 
I've just grown to despise the butt connectors over the years due to seeing them improperly used by many car stereo shops. Seen wire joints virtually disconnect by themselves when removing old aftermarket head units in the days before shops started using prefab harnesses. Found the western union worked very well on 18 guage stranded wire, just needed to be meticulous when wrapping it....you won't pull it apart.
 
I personally despise the little tube style butt splices. Use the little clear (bell/wirenut shaped) crimp connectors or actual wire nuts.
 
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