djcheung Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 Hi all, Just started working on a woofer with a rubber surround replaced by the previous owner. The rubber surround is very think so I need to remove it and put foam surround on. Removing it from the basket was easy enough but it is a completely different story when it comes to removing it from the cone. The surround was replaced I believe 5-6 years ago and it is still very fresh. The glue just wouldn't come off so is the surround. Any thing that I can use to remove the surround/glue without damaging the cone ? Or should I just stick the new surround on top of the leftover rubber edge ? Best regards, David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iso Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 3M 8984 adhesive cleaner is quite easy to use and effective solution for removing contact cement, silicone, wax etc... http://3mcollision.com/3m-general-purpose-adhesive-cleaner-08984.html Kimmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidR Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 Trying to determine which industrial solvent was used as the diluent can be a lengthy trial and error. The easiest and relatively safe solvent to try first is isopropanol. Lacquer thinner has many solvents in it but the fumes are dangerous with health and flammability issues. Another popular diluent is toluene, Hard to find and expensive. Yet, it too is dangerous to work with and will pull fat right thru your skin. So always wear appropriate gloves. Nitrile gloves will stand up to most solvents for a good deal of time. Iso has the right idea but check for solvents in the mix. Another popular remover is Goo-B-Gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakecat Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 Maybe try heat to soften glue to remove surround. Hair dryer might work or heat gun on gentle. Then use the solvents to clean residue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcheung Posted April 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2016 Hi all, Here is a couple of pictures on the remains of the surround. I will try lakecat's suggestion first before the chemicals. It is the lower midrange woofer for the AR9. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted April 19, 2016 Report Share Posted April 19, 2016 That black ring on the cone perimeter looks so smooth (except for that one location) that I'd be tempted to attach the new surround directly to that existing rim. With regards to trying to remove that ring, my concern would be the possibility of doing more damage to the cone than making any improvement. Why remove it - - are you concerned about added cone weight? My thought would be to leave cone as-is and simply clean up the metal basket frame to ensure a neat glue joint. In your first post, you mentioned that the rubber surrounds were "very think", and it is unclear if you meant "thin" or "thick". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcheung Posted April 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2016 Hi ra.ra, sorry, I meant 'thick'. I will take a look this evening and if there is too much work and may make it worse if I try to remove it, I will just leave it in place and stick the new form on top of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted April 19, 2016 Report Share Posted April 19, 2016 Re: "thick", I suspected so, but just was not sure. On the cones, I'm only trying to offer a word of caution since I know how tenaciously some substances adhere to those heavily textured paper cones. It appears you may already have an excellent surface to attach the inner foam, so I would hate to see you make it worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michiganpat Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 you might be best off getting some brand new single edge razor blades or xacto knives and very carefully slicing between the rubber and the paper to remove it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcheung Posted April 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 I have tried using a new xacto knife but with no luck. I figured even if I can get it off, it will leave an uneven surface for the new foam and I may damage the cone material. With what I have tried, the old glue seems to have penetrated into the paper cone and bonded with it. I have glued a new foam surround onto the old rubber surround and I will wait for a day to see if it will hold. Some picture when I have completed the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan461 Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 I am currently refoaming a 6 1/2 woofer and the last remnants of the glue are imbedded on the outer perimiter as you described. I really see no reason for me to go any further. In fact it will probably make for a better bond. I'm just going to leave well enough alone. No sense in damaging the cone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 Quote I really see no reason for me to go any further. In fact it will probably make for a better bond. I'm just going to leave well enough alone. No sense in damaging the cone. Stan makes a good point. If you were on this side of the pond I'd say send them to Bill LeGall. I had a pair of AR 12" woofers that looked awful, with a sloppily glued surround. The solvent-based glue was thick and gloppy. I decided not to tackle them and sent them to Millersound. Bill did his usual outstanding work! -Kent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcheung Posted April 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 Just managed to refoam the woofer without removing the remaining rubber surround. I will test it later to see if it is ok. So far there is no rubbing on VC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted April 24, 2016 Report Share Posted April 24, 2016 Your work looks very neat and precise, so I do hope they play well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve B Posted December 2, 2019 Report Share Posted December 2, 2019 I was about to start re-foaming my AR-16 Woofers so knew I had to get the old glue off. So I read all the posts on this site and a few others. The glue on the speaker metal I removed using a sharp craft knife and then "sanded" it with coarse emery paper. This was probably some sort of rubber adhesive. I then had to get the glue off the paper cone. I was worried about tearing the paper but didn't want to try lots of different chemicals so decided to try shaving off the glue using a disposable knife. I stress the word shave rather than cut as I only took off a very thin layer of this hard black glue at a time. Doing this slowly I got a lot glue off but it was still very uneven. So I carefully sanded the remaining glue down using coarse (P60 grit) then fine (P400) emery paper just a small piece about 2" X 2". You have to support the cone under where you are sanding it, I just used my fingers under the cone or rolled up paper towel where my fingers would not fit. When I had finished it looked like this: Which I considered good enough to attach the new foam without damaging the paper. Hope this information helps some one else. I'll post more photos of the AR-16 speaker refurbishment in an other post. Thanks Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted December 2, 2019 Report Share Posted December 2, 2019 1 hour ago, Steve B said: When I had finished it looked like this: Really helpful description with excellent results. You've created a very good new cone edge surface for attachment of new foam surround. Please keep us updated with the AR-16 restoration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lARrybody Posted December 2, 2019 Report Share Posted December 2, 2019 I remember reading a thread by Doug G (the Advent guy) where he brought up the theory that solvents never completely disappear from being absorbed into the cone material and over time can weaken the bond of the new glue. He went on to recommend just mechanically removing the glue residue by scraping it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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