Disassembing Speakers for Restoration

Scimitar12

I have a stupid/newbie question. I have a pair of old (as in first edition) Monitor 7s that I want to basically take apart and at least redo the caps, do some mods on the 8 inch passives, and restore the cabinets and grills. Is there some guide I can use to steer me through the process of taking these apart? I have never attempted anything like this before and although I am sure I will screw things up it would be nice if I had some kind of tutorial to go by as a crutch. I would consider taking these somewhere to have done but I don't see anyone in the northern Virginia area that do these things.

PolkieMan

Do it yourself and take your time you will will have more pride and do a better job than someone that is just doing it for money except, VR3.
A digital camera comes in very handy for the dis-assembly. Once you take out the 8 inch passives you can see how the crossover is mounted and how you need to remove it. Just don't use power screw drivers I have seen the screws break off in the holes or strip out the holes. Btw one drop of oil works wonders when putting the screws back in

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?27495-Monitor-7-Rebuild-Progress

11tsteve

+1 on no power drivers or screw guns.

and be careful removing screws in the drivers. i recommend a very short handled screwdriver for this particular job. i have one with a shank only a couple of inches long.... because the first time i used a long handled screwdriver and lost focus for just a second, the tip slipped out of the screw head and went right through the rubber surround.
i don't bring this up to make you nervous... just stay focused on the task at hand when certain processes are being performed.

i also keep boxes, bubble wrap and such handy, and put drivers in labelled boxes so they can be stored out of the way during the process. in my world, nothing ever gets finished in one day, and i don't have a man room where i can just leave stuff laying out.:rolleyes:

F1nut

do some mods on the 8 inch passives

What are you thinking of doing to them?

Removing the drivers, etc. is simple with a Philips screwdriver. Make a drawing of what wire goes where for reference.

brgman

Don't forget the DynaMat Xtreme and JB Weld

PolkieMan

I agree on the short screw driver and make sure you get the right # size Phillips screw driver.
Like F1nut said make a drawing of your wiring to go along with the pictures.
I think you should update the capacitors and resistors.
Restore the enclosures while you are wait for your electronics order to arrive.

Scimitar12

Thanks for the great advice! You all have given me some great starting points. The two big things I want to do are re-do the crossovers and restore the cabinets. I have heard that applying DynaMat and JB Weld are good mods to do as well. I am more interested in using this as a major learning experience and trying to do it right.

westmassguy

11tsteve wrote: »

+1 on no power drivers or screw guns.

and be careful removing screws in the drivers. i recommend a very short handled screwdriver for this particular job. i have one with a shank only a couple of inches long.... because the first time i used a long handled screwdriver and lost focus for just a second, the tip slipped out of the screw head and went right through the rubber surround.
i don't bring this up to make you nervous... just stay focused on the task at hand when certain processes are being performed.

i also keep boxes, bubble wrap and such handy, and put drivers in labelled boxes so they can be stored out of the way during the process. in my world, nothing ever gets finished in one day, and i don't have a man room where i can just leave stuff laying out.:rolleyes:

+1 Always stay focused. Same as working inside a computer case. Get into the habit of using two hands on the screwdriver.

TennMan

I recommend installing hurricane nuts and Allen head screws as part of your speaker restoration. They are inexpensive. They allow you to secure the drivers tightly to the cabinet without worrying about stripping out the screw holes.

Scimitar12

I have another question on the crossovers. In addition to the caps I might need to put in new resistors. Is this correct? I have the schematic to the original 7s courtesy of this forum, and I have seen pictures of the crossovers from other forum members. I can identify the capacitors and the inductors, but I don't believe I can identify the resistor(s). I have seen the poly switch but I am not sure if that is a resistor or not. Can someone post a pic of the crossovers and identify the resistor(s)? And, do they need to be changed like the caps?

StuartB

I did these same thing you are talking about doing. I refreshed a pair of 5Bs. Here is my thread with pictures
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?134128-Help-in-refreshing-Monitor-5B-crossover&highlight=Monitor

It is really a simple process. I agree, take your time, take pictures and notes. You are most likely talking about two caps and one resistor. I also replaced the gaskets, installed hurricane nuts....etc.

It was a great learning experience. PM me if I can help you, and if you get in real trouble the members here will be a great resource....I really think it will be pretty hard to mess up.

Good luck and have fun

Scimitar12

Thanks StuartB. When I take apart the speakers I am eager to check out the tweeters. They should be old Peerless ones but what is there is something different, probably generic. It will be interesting to see what crossover components are there. I am concerned about not identifying the resisters. From the crossover pics posted on the forum I am not alel to identify those. When I take mine out I will post those pics to see if the Polk forum can help identify them.

StuartB

It was really clear on mine that they were 2.7 ohm. I also have a pair of the Danish Peerless tweeters that I would like to sell if you end up being interested in rebuilding with Peerless. I looked at my old thread and it looks like my pictures are gone. If you need any of them let me know....I won't clog up thisnthreadnwith old pictures.