Tweeter in Atrium 45 not working

G-force
G-force Posts: 82
edited April 2013 in Troubleshooting
I have had 5 pairs of atrium 45's running on and off at my place for the better part of 6 years now. Three of the pairs were outdoors undercover for most that time. I recently noticed one of the tweeters in one of them is no longer working. Before I try and open this thing up is there anything I may consider to fix the speaker? They have all performed great up until this tweeter stopped working. Thanks!
Post edited by G-force on
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    edited April 2013
    Hello G-force,
    The Atrium speaker is pretty modular and should be fairly easily fixed. One approach would be to contact Polk's CS guys and order a replacement tweeter. You can call them at 1-800-377-7655 or send them an email to polkcs@polkaudio.com. Mention you're a CP member for the reduced price and they'll coach you on taking the speaker apart.
    Regards, Ken
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  • G-force
    G-force Posts: 82
    edited April 2013
    I think I did contact them and if I remember correctly the price they quoted me for the replacement tweeter was close to what I could get a new replacement speaker for on the ebay market, so it did not make sense to go that route. I think I'll crack the speaker open and have a looksie. Hopefully it's just corosion or somethng on a terminal.

    Out of literally dozens of pairs of polks speakers of all types I've had over the years, this is the first issue I've ever had, and that is saying something because I use my stuff.
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  • G-force
    G-force Posts: 82
    edited April 2013
    edit
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  • G-force
    G-force Posts: 82
    edited April 2013
    So I opened up my Atrium45 to see if there was any visible reason the tweeter quit working, but nothing was jumping out at me. Everything looked clean, dry and corosion free with no sign of heat apparent on the circuit board.

    These are the results I got from testing the terminal connections:

    connect leads to exterior terminals on cabinet = sound comes only through mid driver
    connect leads to terminals directly on tweeter = sound comes only through tweeter
    (with a single lead on driver disconnected) and leads connected directly to tweeter = no sound

    Can anyone help me? Seems like there is an issue somewhere in the x-over but everything looks flawless.

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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    edited April 2013
    Hello,
    I'll contact Polk's CS guys and ask for a copy of the schematic, I don't think there is one here in CP. They won't be back until Monday.
    Ken
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,546
    edited April 2013
    Nothing obvious, so you'll have to test the caps and resistors.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • G-force
    G-force Posts: 82
    edited April 2013
    F1nut wrote: »
    Nothing obvious, so you'll have to test the caps and resistors.


    Can you school me on the best way to do this? I do have a multimeter. I've just never tested this sort of thing before, but I do love to learn a new skill and have great attention to detail.

    Thanks!
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,546
    edited April 2013
    Is your meter able to test uF?
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • G-force
    G-force Posts: 82
    edited April 2013
    F1nut wrote: »
    Is your meter able to test uF?

    Not sure it's kind of a cheapie. It's a Equus 3320.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,546
    edited April 2013
    Ok, it most likely doesn't have that capability, so testing the caps is out. You can test for continuity of the connections and the value of the resistors by using the ohms setting.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,658
    edited April 2013
    Hello,
    There are three components on the crossover that effect the tweeter. The first is a 2.7uF capacitor which is paralleled by a 0.22uF cap this group has a 2.0 ohm resistor in series. Just follow the point on the circuit board where the white wire is attached. Then look at the trace on the bottom of the board, that will connect to the 2.7uF cap, then follow the other "side" of this cap and you'll find the resistor (both resistors on the board are the same value). If you contact Polk's CS department, in all likelihood, they might be able to send you a couple of parts to try replacing components. Call them at 1-800-377-7655 or email at polkcs@polkaudio.com.
    Good luck, Ken
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