TROUBLESHOOTING
&
TROUBLESHOOTING
&
MODS
AMPS
SPEAKERS
LENS
GENERAL
This is the corner which I hope you will fill in. It may also include a FAQ list
where you may be able to post questions to others and to Rick. If anybody has
the answer, we'll try to post it here (see also the Chat Room when it becomes
active).
This is a quick list of known problems reported by users:
Acoustic lens foam cover - gradual foam disintegration - reported by a number of users (all models).
Power amp - tubes, caps, resistors, "trannies" - reported by a number of users (model 2, 2sw-x).
Acoustic lens channels walls - "partially dissolved to powder" in the words of one user (model 3).
Tambour wooden skin - came loose from cabinet - one instance reported (model 3)
Crack(s) in cylindrical base - one instance reported (model 3).
Transducers - some failure rate - reported by a number of users (Models V and VI - circuit board electrodes).
Parts replacement.
Selling new and s/h equipment.
Some remedies:
The foam can be replaced by Rick with a brand new one, a better and acoustically more transparent than the original. Some DIY possible, i.e. covering the front aperture with an elastic (black?) very thin fabric stretched over a thin wooden frame. I know of several users who don't bother with the missing foam grille and play the speakers as is. This leaves the transducers quite exposed to dust accumulation which is later difficult to clean.
Amp failure is better left to
Rick. He will recondition those to factory specs.
Warning! - the amps contain
very high voltage, if you don't know what you're doing leave it
alone.
It is literally unheard of. The user who described it to me also described the "dustification" of the front foam grille, so maybe he meant that. If however, the material of which the lens is made of did disintegrate, the speaker must be returned to factory for a refit.
The tambour skin is glued round the cylindrical cabinet. If intact, but had just peeled off, it can be glued back round it. If not, a similar skin (cloth-based, with wooden strips to any finish) can be found in general DIY shops. Sheet dimensions should be roughly 6' wide (wooden strips horizontal) and the width equal to the cabinet circumference, minus the aperture width. (cabinet diameter (model 3) = c.22" x 3.14). Buy a slightly wider sheet for safety. Make sure you start and end cutting the sheet with a full, intact, wooden strip, so that two such strips are immediately adjacent to the lens aperture.
Crack in cylindrical base - this is woodwork. You either know what to do or you don't. Rick does. Take care when you lay the speaker horizontally. Gently is the word. The original base is made of particle board - a strong, 3/4" sandwich board would be better and stronger.
I'm afraid this is a back-to-factory job again. There's nothing you can do on your own here, unless you are an electrostatic speaker builder or repairer. Even so, it is very unlikely that you'll know/find the precise tension required to stretch the mylar. Rick does.
Parts - and equivalents - for the amps are around, from new (equivalent) tubes to caps and resistors. This is where you come in and share your knowledge. Again, same warning - if you don't know what you're doing, don't do it.
If you sell speakers and the buyer is able to come around to pick them up - you're lucky. Else, a custom made crate is required, I'm afraid. Rick builds such wooden crates (nuke-proof, I can tell you), but you can do it too, if you know your timber from your socks. Don't forget to wrap each speaker with generous amount of moisture-proof nylon - big black rubbish bags would do, and a lot of them. You would pack Models 2/2sw in individual crates, later models could be packed in pairs into one crates. Buffer each Model 3/5/6 well with foam (packing type), so they don't knock each other and nothing knocks them in transit. Place them facing each other, on their side (Model 3) - transducers travel better vertically. Place Models 2/2sw facing up and prop them underneath directly - and only - under the bulkheads (four props in total), else the wooden back may cave in. Anyway, why would you want to sell a pair of Bevs...?
And finally...
The golden rule of DIY troubleshooting:
-
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
- If you don't know what you're doing, better leave it to those who do, else you
might end up like this
FAQ
How? Why? When?
Where?
This is the place to address your queries on everything relating to the Bevs, to
theory, and to speakers in general.