SDA SRS Rubber Surround Crud.

djibm

Hello to all,

I have 2 pair of SDA SRS. Love them!! The rubber surround on all my drivers are white and kinda of caked with a white residue. dust, but not dust. more like a mold. Anyone else experience this? Any solutions?

I have used high quality R/O water, wet a lint free cloth and dabbed a spot on the surround. It wiped right off and has not returned after a few days. Would this be acceptable to clean the surrounds? If so, can anyone recommend a rubber conditioner? My SDA SRS were built in 1983, still sound great with my pair of Altec Lansing 9444Bs. I'd like to keep it that way.

I have the 4 towers in my basement, climate controlled 35% humidity at 68F. I bought both pair from a Polk enthusiast in MI and they had the white crud then.

Thanks for any feedback. Go Polk..! You'll Never Leave...

westmassguy

Buy some microfiber cloths, and real Windex. Spray the Windex on the cloth, not the cones. Clean the surrounds and the cones in a circular motion, keeping everything wet. Keep turning the cloth until it comes up clean. Do not let the cones dry while doing this. They're naturally tacky, so the cloth will stick if they're allowed to dry during the process.
Do not use any kind of rubber conditioner. Clean them and leave them.

dkfreebird

I use the ORIGINAL windex with a clean cloth like recommended on here and it works great.

djibm

Windexing and leaving them alone, Captain. Thanks

dkfreebird

That's a bunch of drivers to clean. Have fun. Lol

djibm

Side note.. I've bought a bunch of "backup" 6503 and a lot of sl2000...

The black silicone that covers the tweet's coil has come loose on 2 tweets and a few drivers are showing the coil's silver eyes. Would you know what that is and if I can get some?

westmassguy

Sell the SL2000s, and get the replacement RDO-194-1s from Polk. your ears will thank you.

heiney9

Why sl2000's? The RD-0194 tweeter is a Polk made replacement that is light years better sounding than the sl2000 and fully compatible

Why not get those? Buying old, possibly worn out 30+ year old tweets is a waste of $$$, IMO. They fail, dry out, fall apart, come unglued, etc, etc.

F1nut

Sell the SL2000's and replace with the RD0194. You'll thank every time you listen.

The drivers, gloss black paint should do it.

djibm

Well I need 16-RD0194. Where can I buy 16 of them? May you bless me one final time today with a link?

txcoastal1

http://www.polkaudio.com/contact-us

Tech Support

1-800-377-POLK (7655) Option 1

Tell them you're a Club polk member for a discount


...there gotta love the edit

westmassguy

txcoastal1 wrote: »

http://www.polkaudio.com/contact-us

Customer Service (Online Orders, Online Returns)
24 hours a day, 7 days a week:
1-800-377-POLK (7655) Option 4

Tell them you're a Club polk member for a discount

Tech support is faster.

Tech/Product Support

9AM-5:30PM EST Mon-Fri

1-800-377-POLK (7655) Option 1

FAX: (410) 764-5470

polkcs@polkaudio.com

RandyCroissant

This forum rocks!! I need to clean my MWs and now I know how awesome....

dkfreebird

djibm wrote: »

Well I need 16-RD0194. Where can I buy 16 of them? May you bless me one final time today with a link?

I had to order 14 Rdo 198's for my 2 sets so I can feel your pain but they are SO worth it.

littlewoodboats

I am sure this has been asked and answered in the past. How do I know I am buying "original" windex? What is the difference between the types? Thanks

westmassguy

littlewoodboats

That makes it easy. Thanks Dave.

txcoastal1

Right by the black paint

westmassguy

txcoastal1 wrote: »

Right by the black paint

We don't have any up here.

djibm

Happy to report in.. the windex worked wonders. I cleaned 32- 6503's in about 2 hours. Tedious, but totally worth it. I will clean my 5jr's and SDAII another time.

About the black paint... Anybody have a few ounces for sale? For touch up only. Like I said, Some of the metal rings on the drivers are exposed and yellowish. I hope its not rust.

Also, on the sl2000 there are 2 beads of black silicone covering the coil. Does anyone know where I may acquire a tube? Until I buy the 16 replacement RDO-194-1.

Thank you for ALL your input on the topic.

pitdogg2

txcoastal1 wrote: »

Right by the black paint

What no way.......who's a thunk

Schurkey

djibm wrote: »

I have used high quality R/O water, wet a lint free cloth and dabbed a spot on the surround. It wiped right off and has not returned after a few days. Would this be acceptable to clean the surrounds?

I get that Windex Original (has ammonia and detergent in the water "base") has worked for you, and the job is already done.
http://www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com/us/en/brands/windex/windex-original-glass-cleaner

If this was me, and (pure) water worked effectively, I'd probably not have added the ammonia. A drop or three of detergent in the water may have improved the pure-water effectiveness--or not.

For the record: A bottle of ammonia and detergent mix--around here the popular brand is Parson's Sudsy Ammonia, but there are other brands regionally, and you could mix-up your own from detergent and ammonia--cost a fraction of what Windex costs, can be mixed strong or weak, and works wonders to remove cigarette smoke tar from anything cleanable.

djibm

Schurkey wrote: »

djibm wrote: »

I have used high quality R/O water, wet a lint free cloth and dabbed a spot on the surround. It wiped right off and has not returned after a few days. Would this be acceptable to clean the surrounds?

If this was me, and (pure) water worked effectively, I'd probably not have added the ammonia. A drop or three of detergent in the water may have improved the pure-water effectiveness--or not.

I aggree. Day one after the cleaning... A few of the surrounds look dry.
I feel like the windex was to much at full strength. The process of cleaning with windex is a great concept and seemed to work on most of my 32 drivers.

I cleaned my SDA II using R/O water this morning. So far, I see no more white looking crud. Windex worked.. R/O water worked as well..

In my opinion.. Dilute windex or stick with pure R/O water for cleaning butyl rubber surrounds. They were made in the 80's, so I expected to see some wear and decay. For the most part the surrounds look good. 5 funky out of 32 drivers isn't bad.

Maybe some of the white crud may have been oxidation and the windex revealed it after cleaning, but the spot I tested with R/O still looks black and shiney and it had the most crud..

Possible chemical reaction? Unknown. Butyl rubber is tough. After all, it's primary use is bicycle inner tubes.

All I can think of now would be purely aesthetics. 303 Aerospace Protectant. I have used this product for a few years and it puts a long lasting shine on anything rubber or vinyl without leaving residue. NASA PHD's at work.. I used it on my DBX speakers and they have a rubber surround. I'm not sure if its butyl rubber, but its rubber. This won't restore any damage in my opinion.. just for looks.

Since I have a bunch of extra 6503's I keep as backups, I will test my theory on one of those and report back in soon.

I know westmassguy said to clean them and leave them, Sorry, but I listen with my grills off and seeing white spots everywhere seems worse to me than having the whole surround look white with crud. I spoke with tech support and it looks like I can buy the MW6503 and MW6511. Turns out I own 4- SDA SRS 1.2, so that's a plus.

The tech said that the 6503 and 6511 are NOT on the discontinued list and may purchased... So I bought a couple and have a few on back order.

When I die, burn me, but give my Polks to a museum.
4-SDA SRS 1.2 / 4-SDA II / 2-5jr / 2-CRS and a partridge in a pear tree.

Schurkey

Having discovered for myself back in the '70s how horrible Armor-All is, and how it destroys what it claims to protect...you couldn't pay me to put "protectant" on my surrounds.

F1nut

Windex works perfectly and is time proven. Any white spots or whatnot were not caused by it.

Do NOT put any other product on the surrounds.

Your speakers were designed to sound best with the grills on.

The new replacement drivers look different.

Nightfall

Don't forget to trim the rubber around where the screws go through on the new drivers, else you tear your new surrounds.

djibm

Understood F1nut. I will leave things as they are and will try listening with the grills on.
I was not taking credit away from windex. I used it and 5 out of 32 show some age and look a bit ashy and have white spots. The rest look good. R/O is a "chem free" method and did work as mentioned.

I guess if the replacement drivers look different, they will sound different too. Guess I need 30 more to even thing out, lol. If offended anyone with my ignorance. It was not my intention.

F1nut

I'm curious as to what the white spots are. I've cleaned a LOT of MWxxxx drivers over the years and have never seen that. Can you describe that in greater detail or even better, post a photo?

The new drivers aren't as sticky, the voice coil leads are hidden and the dust cap is larger. They are spec'd the same, so sound wise they should sound the same.

I don't think you offended anyone, certainly not me.

westmassguy

I have also used Fantastic/409 as a pre-cleaner on especially filthy rubber surrounds on woofers and PRs. It removes the brown oxidation much easier. I then rinse it off with clean water and a microfiber cloth, then do the full Windex treatment.

djibm

Wow, westmassguy!! I would have never thought windex let alone 409 cleaner. Like I said, butyl rubber is tough. I am putting together a few pics. stay tuned...

motorhead43026

If your rubber has crud on it.......run away.