GC Infinity Speakers - Pre '99

Just did something that seems to work. Anyone else tried to repair their Infinity Gold door speakers with a thin bead of RTV?

After receiving a pair of speakers off eBay that were worse sounding and torn worse than those I had, I decided to take a stab at repairing the foam baffles with a fine bead of RTV. Didn't figure I had much to loose as long as I didn't create too much bind and overheat the amplifier.

I've done three of four doors now and am very pleased with the result. (The forth is still okay as are those on the soundbar at the rear.)

I pried off the faceplate plastic ring and ran a thin bead of RTV along the torn foam, making sure I didn't miss a spot or get too much. I added a few dabs of RTV at random intervals around the ring and pressed things back together. After an overnight dry, I put the speakers back in and as far as I can tell they work fine and sound as I imagine that did when near new.

Anyone else do this and create unintended consequences that I should be alert for?

Thanks in advance.

Bob Liberty MO

Reply to
RCSnyder
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I have a 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the Infinity speakers, one of which is "rattling." So I will try your fix, and let you know. A long time ago I used to fix large woofers, but what is RTV?

Reply to
Billzz

Reply to
L.W.( ßill ) Hughes III

RTV silicon. Sometimes sold as adhesive and others times as sealer. Really shouldn't make a great deal of difference in this case how it's labeled. I used Permatex' clear variety and paid about $3 at Wal-Mart.

Reply to
RCSnyder

RCSnyder did pass the time by typing:

it "should" work. I say should because if the failure was mechanical in nature (like bending a paper clip too many times) then the surrounding material is still in good shape. But if the failure was due to deterioration (heat) like headliner sag, then it's like gluing sand to sand.

I look forward to hearing the results after a few weeks/months of operation.

Reply to
DougW

DougW proclaimed:

The OP said these were foam baffles, which may be a confusion in terms.

If the foam that is damaged is part of the speaker suspension, best bet is to pick up a "foam rot" repair kit from any of the audio geek local or online sellers. There are kits for specific speakers [generally home audio] and kits that can be used on pretty much any speaker of similar size and foam surround characteristics. The foam rot never gets better, so unless the damage was purely due to mechanical causes, the RTV will be temporary. You can also get small amounts of adhesives specifically intended for attaching foam surrounds, rips in the cone itself, etc. which often also come with paper and cloth repair patches. If the problem is just the foam gasket that pads the speaker in the mounting, pretty much anything works, including sticky foam tape.

Reply to
Lon

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