6503 Gunk - Anyway to clean it?

jtconnell

Now that I got my major problem fixed, it's time to start with the minor ones! Check out the following picture of one of the 6503 drivers on my SDA SRS (with cardboard doughnut no less!).

There is some kind of white garbage on the cone cap. I have no clue what it is although it seem I can brush it off with a stiff artist's brush. I'm somewhat hesitant to do it because I don't want to cause any damage. Now that my Xovers work properly, the speakers sound pretty good in my humble opinion. Any thoughts?

VR3

Armor All maybe????????

VR3

Dont think you want to put armoral on the dust cap though.....hmm, cone and surrounds wont be affected by. Just remember when your done...it'll be SHINEY!

jtconnell

Armor All? You've got to be kidding. Seriously? I've never heard of that!:eek:

VR3

umm yeah...you know the stuff that cleans leather in cars...lol! It dosn't do anything to the woofer. Just don't put it on the dust cap, thats what my dad told me.

VR3

Might I suggest the wipes, you can get em at Autozone. They are alot easier to use, and less chance of pressing down too hard on your woofer. The wipes can clean em easily.

jtconnell

I'll give it a shot. It can only help the rubber surrounds, that's for sure! Thanks!

VR3

Nah it can clean the surrounds, and the cone - just not the dust cap. Which you called the cone cap. By the way...im bout scared to ask what that white stuff is...

VR3

You know what that 'gunk' on the cone looks like? Mildew and paint...im not sure if armoral will clean dat. Worth a try, gl with it. Maybe someone on here can verify if you can use armoral on the dust cap or not.

jtconnell

I thought it was paint at first and my lovely wife suggested that I color over it with majic marker. After I returned from the hospital after getting my toenails uncurled, I'm starting to think she wasn't too far off base. At any rate, I decided to try and brush/vaccuum some of it off and it comes off too easy to be paint. It sure as hell ain't dust and I'm not doing the taste test! It might be mildew but I'm not getting bleach within 10 feet of the speakers! Worse comes to worse, I'll live with it.

So Armor-All doesn't affect the "stickiness" of the cones. I always wondered why they were so damn sticky anyway. It seems like a dust magnet to me. Thanks for the advice.

VR3

Well, I really have never needed to clean my woofers or anything. However my dad sold me a 13 year old M&K MX-90 subwoofer and it needed to be cleaned. He used armoral wipes for the woofer, he cleaned everything except the dust cap. I would think if the dust cap is rubber you could use it, but if its a paper type material...keep it away. Ohh yeah, make sure you wipe the driver down VERY softly with a dry rag, just dont press down hard... after you use the wipes...you dont want the woofs throwing amoral all over your grills now would ya?

By the way...cut the sig down some...russ will be all over ya!

jtconnell

No sweat. That's easily done. It's not like I've got great equipment anyway but at least it works for me.

VR3

Man u have the king of polk's...thats good to me...lol..nah you didnt have to kill the sig, just shorten it up...Russ dosnt like long sigs..

Wade Spradley

Hello,

I have the same problem with my Monitor 7's, a white ring around the central dust cap on the mid cone. Not sure myself either, but these had a load of dust sitting in the speaker cones when I demoed them at the pawn shop. Most of the dust vibed off, but the white rings were still they, did not affect the sound either. So I am assuming its either dust or mildew/mold.

Just my 2cents.

Tour2ma

If it's mildew I believe you would be safe cleaning with 1/4 strength hydrogen peroxide. Just mix 3 parts water with 1 part peroxide. Dampen a cloth with the mix, wipe on and wipe off after a minute or so. May have to repeat but it will kill the mold.

Good call on keeping the bleach away... the caustic that is also present would attack the rubber.

gidrah

My 10Bs have it too.

DarqueKnight

I would be afraid to use any type of liquid to clean the cardboard surrounds. I am thinking the liquid would be absorbed by the cardboard and swell and separate.

VR3

Cardboard surrounds???????????WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

DarqueKnight

Well, the surrounds are rubber, but the rubber surrounds are surrounded by cardboard "doughnuts".

VR3

oh, ok. I get it now, so around the surround is a piece of cardboard? What exactly does this do?

DarqueKnight

We haven't been able to figure out the reason for the cardboard doughnut. I'm guessing that it is there to protect the seam where the rubber surround is bonded to the metal driver frame.

Maybe these are an earlier version of the MW-6503 driver that needed some extra bracing at the surround/driver frame seam.:(

Tour2ma

Raife,
Agree on keeping water a way from the cardboard; the peroxide was meant for the cones and other rubberized surfaces.

Could it be that the cardboard is a "soft" excursion limter? Doesn't ring true, but only thing I can come up with...

DarqueKnight

I sent a copy of JT's 6503 driver picture to Ken Swauger in Polk Customer Service and asked for clarification.

F1nut

I wouldn't use Armor-All on my car and there's no effn way I put it on my speakers. Nothing but slick, oily, dust attracting slim.

HBombToo

Originally posted by F1nut
I wouldn't use Armor-All on my car and there's no effn way I put it on my speakers. Nothing but slick, oily, dust attracting slim.

I would have to agree with F1 here.... the only thing I put the slippery stuff on are my tires. I hate sliding around in my car seat and I can't imagine the benefit on a speaker.

HBomb

VR3

I like armorall! SHINEY!!!!!!!!!!

rskarvan

Oh... the white stuff..... (same as in Micah's socks <ick>).
Serioiusly though... what this is is the glue used to hold on the dustcap oxidizes with time and turns white.

THe solution is simple. Ammonia.
Windex works.

Just soak a q-tip in windex and lightly rub the white **** away.

I've done this to several of my old drivers and they clean right up. Not perfectly... but, I'd say they are 90% better looking after a windex treatment. I prefer the industrial strength windex for this task.

Where did I get this funky idea - you ask. A few years ago, I contacted Polk Service and they recommended this technique. Serious.

Armorall (or, any sort of similar silicone product) works well on both the surround rubber and even the driver surface (removes dust). Keeps them old drivers looking like new and doesn't affect the sound one-way-or-the-other. Maybe getting that heavy dust off the surround helps response (seriously doubt it though).

So, my advice... just like in "MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING".... USE WINDEX ! ! !

RON

F1nut

I beg to differ about Armor-All. It has been proven to actually remove the natural oils and elasticity of rubber/vinyl products and silicone is just plain old nasty crap. Leave your grills on and you shouldn't have to worry about dust.

VR3

F1, your the type of guy that lets his dashboard crack arnt u?;)

F1, the dude has mildew on his friggin driver. I think he wont mind putting a little armor-all on dat thing! It'll be really shiney afterwards too!

F1nut

Sid,

You're missing the whole point!!! The effn stuff will make your dashboard crack because it sucks all the natural oils out of it. I've never had a dash crack on me because I don't use it, so there;)
Another damn reason not to use it is that a shiny dash causes glare and that's not a good thing when you're driving. Mildew??? I think not. I believe Ron has it right, glue oxidition.

VR3

Im speaking of the brown crap on the cone. My Dad has used Armor-All on his dashboard for the past 13-14 years on his truck, looks brand new. Now what it does do, it makes it dependent on the armor-all. However when you clean your car weekly, this does not matter. It looks friggin awesome.