However, when your speaker blows out, and the music dies down right in the middle of the party, that sure sucks the fun out of the whole ceremony. Blown speakers are not only a cause of frustration due to the lack of entertainment, but they also cause stress, especially if you have recently spent a large sum of money on that particular set of speakers.
How To Fix A Blown Speaker
As easy as it is to discard a blown speaker, it also takes quite a toll on the pocket as you need to spend more money on a new one. However, throwing the damaged one out is not the only option for you. There are a few ways through which you can fix your damaged speakers. In this article, we have listed all the tips through which you can identify and fix a blown speaker.
How To Tell If The Speaker Is Blown
There are stages of a speaker blowing out. In some cases, no sound comes from your speaker even after a hundred tries. While in many other cases, the speaker set makes an audible noise instead of playing music, or sometimes there is noise playing along with the music.
However, just because your speaker is creating a small noise or playing any music does not always mean that it has blown. In many situations, it is just a connection problem or any other minor issue. There are a couple of ways you can find out whether your speaker has actually blown or it is just giving you a tough time.
Static Noise
The first way to identify a blown speaker is to find out if it creates distorted static noises instead of playing music clearly. Try to connect your speaker to your phone or any other device that plays music and check if there is any distortion between the music. Please avoid using the radio for this step, as radios tend to make static noise of their own, which will not be helpful. If there is distortion even at low volume, then there is a high chance that your speaker has blown.
Popping Sound
This is a second way to determine whether your speaker is actually blown or it’s just your bad luck. If your speaker makes a popping sound instead of playing your soothing music, then know that the time to get a new set of speakers has come as the one you have is blown.
Check The Parts On The Inside
Another way to check whether your speakers have given up on you is by inspecting the interior of a speaker. Firstly, remove the grill, and check the cone. If you are looking at a ripped cone or a crumbling foam that surrounds the cone, then it is time for you to invest in a new model.
Connect Another Set
If using the previous methods did not help you identify the problem, this is the last method that will surely tell you. Connect your phone to another set of speakers, and if the replacement works just fine and your own set doesn’t, that is a clear-cut sign that you need to buy new speakers as your old ones are dead.
Fixing the Speaker
Now that you are sure that your speakers have blown, it is time for you to replace them and get yourself a new model. However, if you do not want to spend a large sum on a new set of speakers, then there are a few ways with which you can bring your old model back to life. You just need to check parts of the speakers and either repair them or replace them.
Fix The Cone
Whether it is your car speakers or the speakers attached to your computer, first find out which side creates the problem. Check both left and right speakers, and once you have identified the problematic one, then proceed with that one. If the cone or the foam surrounding the cone has ripped, then there are ways for you to fix it without spending a handsome sum of money.
Remove the grill of the speaker and observe the cone. If it is ripped or has a small hole, then there is still hope for your device. Take out strong tape or glue to mend the torn area. Avoid using needles and thread to fix the torn part; that will just worsen your problem.
Check The Voice Coils
If the cone and the foam part of your speaker are not punctured and ripped, then the second thing that may have blown your speakers is the voice coils. Check the voice coils and see if they are damaged or melted. If the coils have any gap in them or are melted, there is no hope of reviving them. You will need to get your hands on replacement voice coils.
You can find replacements from the manufacturers of the speakers or any other electronic store. Remove the cone and gently detach the glue that is holding the cone and the voice coils together. Once you have removed the damaged coils, install the replacement coils gently, and with the help of some glue, your speaker will be brought back to life.
However, in many cases, the voice coils are not damaged or melted; they just get separated from the cone, birthing a blown speaker. This happens due to the vibrations of the speaker or because the glue from the cone deteriorated. Get your hands on a slow-drying glue and carefully apply a layer of it right between the coil and cone, and hold the two together.
Loose Wiring
If you are still not getting any sound out of your speaker, even after fixing the cone and the coils, then another guess is that the wiring of the speakers has been damaged or is loose. Wiggle the wiring in a few directions to see if your speaker starts working, and hold it in the direction where it does work. You can use some tape to hold the wiring stably in that certain direction, but this method is very temporary. A long-term solution would be to change the wiring of the amplifiers.
Clean The Speakers
Before you put all the parts back in their place, make sure to clean them. Dust can also be a cause of death for speakers. Use alcohol on a q-tip to clean the small parts of the speakers. For the rest of it, you can use plain cloth. Just make sure you do not rub any part harshly.
What Causes A Speaker To Blow
There are many reasons that cause a speaker to blow and hence, forcing it to succumb to its death. Some issues happen because of mechanical failure, while others happen due to thermal problems and even because of high signal or volume.
High Equalization & Volume
Altering the equalization settings of your speakers may not seem like a big deal at the moment. However, it is one of the major reasons behind a blown speaker when you boost your speakers’ bass and then turn the music up at a really high volume, which causes rupturing of the cone of your speakers.
The same goes for the other settings available on the equalizer, such as treble and midrange. Turning their frequencies high for a longer period of time will end up in your speaker blowing out. Apart from the equalizer settings, playing music at the highest volume for longer duration damages the cone of your speakers.
Excess Power
Another reason behind a blown speaker is giving it more power than it can handle. Overpowering the speaker can create a buildup of heat that causes two problems, both resulting in a blown speaker. The first problem is that it may end up burning or melting the voice coils. Melted voice coils often stick to the magnet, and hence your speakers stop working. Forget about distorted sound; if the voice coils of your speakers melt, you will get no sound at all!
Another problem that heat build-up may cause is that it may melt the glue holding the small parts inside the woofers, such as voice coils and cones. Due to heat buildup, the glue holding the cone to the voice coils or the voice coils to the spiders may disintegrate, which will only result in distorted noise emitting from your speaker instead of pleasant music.
Absence Of Protective Layer
Every speaker has a protective layer at the front in either a grill or a soft mesh fabric. What this layer does is that it stops dirt and small particles from entering the speaker. The presence of dirt and small particles will hinder the movement of the voice coils, which will cause irregular movements of the coils, causing distortion.
Another perk of this protective layer is that it also keeps the insects such as spiders outside the speaker and prevents them from nesting and turning the inside of the speaker into their houses. The presence of insects can cause tearing and damage to the cone and the foam of the speaker.
Mechanical Failure
Mechanical failure is also a prevalent reason behind a blown speaker. The reason behind this is if you purchase a speaker that has low quality or defective components added to the design. If even a single part of the speaker is not of high-grade quality, it will damage the entire system.
Another factor that comes under mechanical failure is loose wires. If your speaker has loose wires, do not keep high hopes and get them fixed as soon as possible. Loose wires cause rattling and popping sound resulting in burn-out of the speaker.
How To Avoid Blowing Your Speaker
Now that you know what the reasons for your speaker to produce distorted noise and blows out are, there are also some methods to keep your speakers safe. Allow me to share some ways you can prevent all the reasons behind a blown-out speaker from happening to your speaker set.
Durable Construction
This goes without saying that always buy a speaker that comes with a durable outer body and strong inner parts. If you spend all your money on a speaker with low-quality voice coils or cones, then do not keep higher expectations from that speaker set.
Matching Speaker To The Amplifier
One other way through which you can avoid burning your speaker up is to match the speaker to the suitable amplifier. If the speaker and the amplifiers are mismatched, then the speaker will receive a high amount of signal, causing it to blow out.
Protective Layer
The presence of mesh fabric and a strong grill on top of the cones is highly crucial. It keeps the inner parts of the speaker safe, resulting in a longer life of the speaker set. If dust enters your speaker set, it will disrupt the movement of the voice coils. Similarly, if a foreign object or an insect enters your speaker set, they may damage the speaker’s cone, causing it to blow out.
Conclusion
Being stuck with a blown speaker can be quite a nuisance, whether you are on a road trip or at a concert. The purpose of this article was to enlighten you about the multiple ways you can fix your blown-out speaker set yourself without spending a large sum on a new model. Every aspect has been discussed in detail, so even if you are not handy with tools, you will easily bring your dead speaker back to life. I hope this article was helpful and you found a solution to your problem.
