[dkc7]

Im not an electronics expert, but I always test speakers using a home amp. It only takes a few seconds to see if a speaker works. havent blown an amp yet🤞Perhaps someone in the know can comment.
sometimes crazy is what it takes.
hope you get it sorted before winter kicks in full time.

 

[TheTodd]

hope you get it sorted before winter kicks in full time.

Me too!
Well, last night didn’t get cold enough so we wait some more. Some nasty arctic blast is supposed to be coming for the weekend so I should have plenty of time to figure this out. Saturday’s high is supposed to be 19 so if all else fails I’ll do it all Saturday.

I think I may have had an Ah-Ha moment though. When I swapped out the amp I kept the plugs attached to the wires… swapped JUST the amp. I think it’s possible that something may be amiss with one of the plugs/wires. I’m going to wait, though, as I only want to change one thing at a time.

I think I can now safely say the DSP is fine also because when I switched RCAs I swapped them at the amps only so if I’m thinking correctly, if it was an issue with the R MB output channel it would’ve switched to the L when I swapped cables. So at this point I’m thinking it’s either the driver, the speaker wire from the amp to the driver or the previously mentioned plug/connection. I’m starting to REALLY lean towards that speaker plug at the amp now but I’ll wait to see what happens with the drivers until I mess with that.

 

[TheTodd]

Ok. I think I’m getting somewhere. It got down to 18 last night so we’re in business. Came out this morning, fired the ol girl up and… NO midbass… None… Neither side. I very gently touched the drivers side (formerly pass side) and it came to life, then cut back out. Touched it again, back to life, then cut out again. I then tried the pass side… nothing. About 10 mins into my drive the crackles started from the drivers side. About 5 mins later I hit a decent bump and the pass side came to life. I greatly suspect a loose connection at the amp for the pass side. After about 25mins or so both sides were working fine.

After getting to work I pulled the drivers side speaker and did some deeper investigating. I happened to notice a wee bit of rust on one of the vent holes on the magnet. So I took my air gun out and very gently blew some air in the vents. That’s when I noticed some moisture laying on the dust cap.

So I dried it out and repeated until I was confident there was no more moisture in there. So now I’ll wait to see if that makes a difference. My rationale is that the little moisture that was in there was freezing and preventing the coil from moving until it heated up enough that it melted and then freed itself. So now we’ll wait some more and see if that fixed it.

And before anyone asks… yes, I mounted the speaker with the rain guard on top.

 

[Freakquency]

Ok. I think I’m getting somewhere. It got down to 18 last night so we’re in business. Came out this morning, fired the ol girl up and… NO midbass… None… Neither side. I very gently touched the drivers side (formerly pass side) and it came to life, then cut back out. Touched it again, back to life, then cut out again. I then tried the pass side… nothing. About 10 mins into my drive the crackles started from the drivers side. About 5 mins later I hit a decent bump and the pass side came to life. I greatly suspect a loose connection at the amp for the pass side. After about 25mins or so both sides were working fine.

After getting to work I pulled the drivers side speaker and did some deeper investigating. I happened to notice a wee bit of rust on one of the vent holes on the magnet. So I took my air gun out and very gently blew some air in the vents. That’s when I noticed some moisture laying on the dust cap. View attachment 358790

View attachment 358791

So I dried it out and repeated until I was confident there was no more moisture in there. So now I’ll wait to see if that makes a difference. My rationale is that the little moisture that was in there was freezing and preventing the coil from moving until it heated up enough that it melted and then freed itself. So now we’ll wait some more and see if that fixed it.

And before anyone asks… yes, I mounted the speaker with the rain guard on top.

Be prepared for this to turn into an SI slander thread for no reason.

Glad you made some strides in figuring out what's up

 

[TheTodd]

Be prepared for this to turn into an SI slander thread for no reason.

Glad you made some strides in figuring out what's up

Don’t worry I won’t let it happen. I want to make it clear that I don’t believe this is an SI product fault. I know YOU know that but I will put that out there. If it starts I’ll shut that sh!t down.

If this doesn’t fix it I will happily get a new one, whether by warranty replacement or if not I’ll buy a new one. 🤔 Maybe I’ll pick up some TM8s. Either way I’ll stand behind the quality & performance of these products.

 

[Freakquency]

Don’t worry I won’t let it happen. I want to make it clear that I don’t believe this is an SI product fault. I know YOU know that but I will put that out there. If it starts I’ll shut that sh!t down.

If this doesn’t fix it I will happily get a new one, whether by warranty replacement or if not I’ll buy a new one. 🤔 Maybe I’ll pick up some TM8s. Either way I’ll stand behind the quality & performance of these products.

Agreed.

 

[dkc7]

Funny, the other day I was thinking condensation. interesting that nicks 24” sub can go through a car wash but your tm65 is collecting water somehow. i have been using those foam baffles on my old cars with leaky windows. Even had them on the a6 when i had the 6.5 seas.
glad you are making progress.

 

[TheTodd]

Funny, the other day I was thinking condensation. interesting that nicks 24” sub can go through a car wash but your tm65 is collecting water somehow. i have been using those foam baffles on my old cars with leaky windows. Even had them on the a6 when i had the 6.5 seas.
glad you are making progress.

I find it interesting as well. The small vent hole showing rust is on the bottom too so maybe there was a small amount that held there due to tension and then got sucked into the coil gap…?

My next purchase is going to be a pair of those foam 6x9 baffles for some extra protection/peace of mind. I’ll cut the back out as well as a small piece at the bottom but those things are MUCH deeper than the speakers so there should be very little chance of it happening again.

I reinstalled the speaker at 7:30 this morning and temps are only just now getting to 30 so gave a quick test about 1/2hr ago and everything played fine. The true test will be overnight though. 🤞🏻

 

[dkc7]

Why 6x9
i would not cut any holes that way moist air in your door wont collect on cold metal speakers. Im still thinking condensation vs. Water

 

[Stycker]

I was not expecting that. Good catch. Maybe those drain holes on the door bottom need cleaned out so they can drain better. I feel for you having to work in the cold.

 

[TheTodd]

Why 6x9
i would not cut any holes that way moist air in your door wont collect on cold metal speakers. Im still thinking condensation vs. Water

Factory size was a 6x9. Without holes will severely limit output. It was meant to be an an IB situation not a super small enclosure. The fitment of the TM in the speaker adapter is already tight, I think that adding the foam baffle will make it tough to get the speaker back in.

I was not expecting that. Good catch. Maybe those drain holes on the door bottom need cleaned out so they can drain better. I feel for you having to work in the cold.

Already checked the drain holes in the door. They are clear and there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that water backed up in the door. 🤷🏻‍♂️ As far as the cold… so far I’ve been doing most of the work inside at work. It helps to work at an auto dealership. However, I’m off until Dec 27th so from here out I’ll be outside. NOT looking forward to that.

 

[JI808]

I still say it’s a component in the system chain.

In my years in the military I NEVER saw a speaker not work due to heat/cold. Desert, mountains, didn’t matter. It was always a an electrical component - either a semiconductor device or capacitor.

Speakers are nothing more than an inductor in a magnetic field. As long as there’s current flowing to the inductor, the speaker is going to work.

 

[TheTodd]

I get what you’re saying and I’m not doubting you one bit. However, if my theory/assumption of water sitting on the coil then freezing (enough to hinder movement) is correct wouldn’t it be possible? Or would the potential force of the coil movement break it free? For the record the noise DID switch sides with the speaker. I’m going to keep at it until I find the real problem.

 

[JI808]

I get what you’re saying and I’m not doubting you one bit. However, if my theory/assumption of water sitting on the coil then freezing (enough to hinder movement) is correct wouldn’t it be possible? Or would the potential force of the coil movement break it free? For the record the noise DID switch sides with the speaker. I’m going to keep at it until I find the real problem.

I thought you said neither one of them played.

 

[TheTodd]

Neither did. I’m hedging my bets on a loose connection for the passenger side and I tightened those just a few minutes ago. While the wires didn’t pull out, the set screws did tighten what I’d call considerably. Plus it came to life once I hit that bump. No crackles. It was off then, bump, on.

Also, because the crackling followed to the driver’s side I figure that was isolated to the speaker itself. So with that I’m just theorizing on whether the small amount of water I found in the speaker could’ve been the root of the speaker working fine when above freezing but crackling below.

It’s an odd symptom and I’m determined to figure it out, and I will, but I’m wondering if my theory holds water… pun intended.

 

[BP1Fanatic]

At least you can get into your car. I've had to basically look like I'm breaking into my car the past 2 mornings. The doors were frozen shut. This morning, the driver side door lock would not unlock. I had to open that door from the passenger side. When I get home from work, I'm going to WD40 the door locks and grease up the weather stripping.

 

[ItsonlyaHONDA]

And here I am complaining about having to wear pants cuz its too cold to wear basketball shorts.... geeez....

 

[nadams5755]

rule out the speakers vs signal chain: pull the speakers, power them by a different amplifier on bench when it's cold again.

 

[dkc7]

Non of u guys have anything to complain about. A silly b!!ch decided she didnt need to yield at a traffic circle yesterday.

because of acc probably a write off. Still sounds good though!
Merry Christmas

 

[dkc7]

Sorry Todd, I shouldnt have highjacked your thread. Hope u figure out your issue. If you have any spare hoods or headlights kicking around let me know