PistonHead

I've been having issues with my front speakers for the last couple weeks and it turns out that the mid bass drivers in the doors actually froze solid.

That is a first for me. I've had a lot of different speakers over the years and never once ran into this problem!

I am running an Eclipse SC8365 - 6.5", 3 way component set with the tweeter / mid combo in the A-pillars and the woofer in the door. This is the first time I've had an aluminum cone driver and I was wondering if that might have something to do with it?

I'd never even heard of it until I did a search on here and saw others with similar issues in the past. Sure surprised the heck out of me!

I'm considering cutting one of those foam speaker baffles in half and adding it to the back of the speaker. Using it on the top half of the speaker should eliminate any water that might actually be dripping onto the speaker and shouldn't affect the speakers performance. I really don't think water dripping onto the speaker is the actual problem though. It really just looks like condensation has formed on the speaker and then froze it solid.

I've driven with the heat on for over an hour and it did not warm things up enough to thaw them out. At the time I thought I had blown them, but once I got the car in the garage and started to trouble shoot things they started working again. Put the car back outside and a few hours later they quit again. Pulled the doors apart and sure enough, the cones where solid as a rock.

Anyone have any ideas that might help the situation?

Thanks,
Brad

jalat

iTrader: (6)

seems like there is some sort of air leak into the door cause condensation which froze the mid.

DeadlySones

iTrader: (4)

Sure does seem strange... my kicker resolution mids have never had a problem and their cone is aluminum... I suspect Jalat might be right. Something is causing them to condensate. Mine are cold in the morning, but I've never noticed frost on them, lol.

GL man.

t money

iTrader: (5)

my hertz components are aluminum and i've never had a problem in winter

PistonHead

The frost was on the back side of the speaker and on the inside of the door as well.

My doors have a lot of deadening / sound absorbing applied to them. Not sure if this is causing a big difference in the temperature of the front of the speaker compared to the rear or not.

I've got B-Quiet on the inside and outside panels.

Followed by a layer of Ensolite closed cell foam on both as well, so the doors are very well sealed from the inside of the car at least. Obviously the seal at the window edge and the drip holes in the bottom of the door do remain open though.


The end result looks like this.



By the time I get the interior panel on, which has deadening and more ensolite as well, it leaves very little chance of heat really getting in to warm up the interior of the door.

The aluminum cone might warm up a little with the interior, but the magnet and basket would likely take a very long time.

Not really sure if this is the problem at all. Never ran into it before?

Thanks,
Brad

wasted911

iTrader: (2)

my hertz MLKs will have the surround freeze up (no condensation)

gbartt

Were they installed by a shop? If so, have you gone back?

PistonHead

I installed them myself, so there's no shop to turn to.

I've brought them inside the house and tried to warm them / dry them out as best I could. Plus I ordered a set of the foam baffles to install behind the speakers.

Hopefully that will keep them from freezing in the future.

I'm a little concerned that the baffles will hurt the bass output of them, but I'll give it a try and see how it goes.

Thanks,
Brad

gbartt

Is there a chance that the frames got twisted/bent while being fitted and/or the cold is causing them to twist thus binding them?

PistonHead

Hmmmm .. seems like a very long shot to me. They are cast baskets and they are mounted to a fairly solid flat surface.

When I un-bolted them from the car the cones remained locked solid. After I brought them in the house for a few minutes the cones freed up and would move. I put one back outside in the cold and it froze up again. Since then I have had the speakers in the house and have left them on the register for a while. Hopefully any water or condensation that was on them has been dried and I am going to try them in the car again.

Of course the weather has warmed up here, so I'll have to wait until it gets cold again to see if things are better.

Thanks,
Brad