richard#1949 Posted May 16, 2016 Report Share Posted May 16, 2016 A thin wire connecting to the 6uF cap broke off. I guess I can go looking for a similar cap on the internet . I've even thought about reinstalling the original cap that I removed to make way for these Solen caps. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 Yep. Photo? Original cap? The hard part is apparently past - you are inside. Replace all the caps and clean the pots. Refer to the AR3a restoration manual you can download from this site. Everything you would ever need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard#1949 Posted May 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 Thanks David, I've seen your posts and realize you know your stuff. These are the old cloth surround ARs that I previously installed the caps and pots from the kit from Carl along with the AR guide and Carl's instructions. I originally reused the wiring already there [with my substandard soldering skills.] They worked but the mid was touchy and the tweeter had no sound. I bought new tweeters for this [back-wired] and the other one [ front wired ] from the vintage AR store with new premeasured stuffing to do it right this time. I went back inside using new wiring ,a de-soldering gun [and solder help via Utube]. I was doing ok until the wire broke off the 6uF cap. Disappointed for not finishing, I went and searched for a replacement cap on the web. The closest I could find was a 5.6uf of the same type from Dayton Audio. I ordered it. Will it work or should I wait and buy another whole replacement kit minus the pots? I'm sorry for not having pics at the moment but I'll put some up later. I'll also need to talk about the other front wired AR too, but it's this one that's on the operating table. Thank you David and anyone else who'd like to add thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 2 hours ago, DavidDru said: Everything you would ever need. So many of us have learned so much by absorbing the terrific information in the 3a restoration document, but for any speaker model with the cloth woofer surrounds (like the OP), we should try to recommend the manual with the one caveat that they should avoid the outdated recommendation to re-dope the surrounds using the Permatex sealant discussed on page 6, and instead recommend the butyl solution from vintage-AR, if required. Normally, cap replacement is desired to be implemented in both speakers at the same time in order to maintain a uniform stereo pair. The 5.6uF cap will probably work fine even if it results in adjusting the crossover frequency a bit, but several good 6uF caps are commonly available. https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/carli-capacitors/carli-mylar-6-mfd/ https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/solen-capacitors/solen-6-mfd-fast-cap-400v/ http://www.erseaudio.com/Products/PEx250v/6uF-250-volt-Metallized-Polyester-Mylar-Film-Capacitor http://www.erseaudio.com/Products/PulseX250v/MPX25-03-6-00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyC Posted May 17, 2016 Report Share Posted May 17, 2016 3 hours ago, richard#1949 said: Thanks David, I've seen your posts and realize you know your stuff. These are the old cloth surround ARs that I previously installed the caps and pots from the kit from Carl along with the AR guide and Carl's instructions. I originally reused the wiring already there [with my substandard soldering skills.] They worked but the mid was touchy and the tweeter had no sound. I bought new tweeters for this [back-wired] and the other one [ front wired ] from the vintage AR store with new premeasured stuffing to do it right this time. I went back inside using new wiring ,a de-soldering gun [and solder help via Utube]. I was doing ok until the wire broke off the 6uF cap. Disappointed for not finishing, I went and searched for a replacement cap on the web. The closest I could find was a 5.6uf of the same type from Dayton Audio. I ordered it. Will it work or should I wait and buy another whole replacement kit minus the pots? I'm sorry for not having pics at the moment but I'll put some up later. I'll also need to talk about the other front wired AR too, but it's this one that's on the operating table. Thank you David and anyone else who'd like to add thoughts. This Dayton 6.2uf cap would be a better cap to use: http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-dmpc-62-62uf-250v-polypropylene-capacitor--027-427 Not sure how you could have broken off the cap lead. They can take alot of bending without breaking. It sounds like you were a bit heavy handed. Are you sure the cap issue wasn't the cause of the tweeter with no sound? Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted May 18, 2016 Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 Roy, I was hoping you would chime in on what richard did to repair the tweeter. ra ra is correct. The new stuff is far better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard#1949 Posted May 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2016 Quote I was trying to remove the cap to rewire it when the glue that held the cap was still attached to the wire at the bottom. A little bit of glue I didn't see was the culprit [and me]. This was ok previously. I was redoing the restoration in the guide and being meticulous with the soldering. I don't want to keep taking these apart: this was the third time for both of these speakers. They now both have new pots, caps, stuffing, and the replacement tweeters from the AR vintage store. I ordered the 6uF cap yesterday so I'll have to wait to finish this one [the back-wired]. When I installed the replacement tweeter two months ago it worked but only in a touchy pot adjustment that I needed to keep checking. The front wired new replacement tweeter never worked on the other speaker, but that could be because its hard to solder wires onto those connectors sticking up from the baffle board.The guide says to solder to these but no details as to how. Any tips would be appreciated. They have black paint on them which probably doesn't help either. After I install the 6uF cap that's on the way, I'm going back inside the second speaker [this front-wired one] to recheck and redo wiring so these tweeters will finally work too. I'm not very experienced at soldering but I'm getting better. Thanks for the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard#1949 Posted May 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2016 Madisonsound cap arrived but they didn't send the 250V.It's labeled 150. Can I use this for the tweeter cap or do I have to order another one. Thanks to whoever answers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ra.ra Posted May 19, 2016 Report Share Posted May 19, 2016 If this is for your 3a's and you received a yellow Carli cap, 150 is the correct voltage for that brand and will work just fine. The original caps in the AR-3 were only 50 volt, and excessively higher voltage caps are normally unnecessary. The Erse caps that were previously mentioned in your earlier thread are 250V and the Solen is 400V. All of them would work fine, but in my opinion, you made the right choice. Good luck with the soldering. (No need to create a separate thread for this - - in fact, usually better to keep discussion within the original thread.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard#1949 Posted May 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2016 Quote Thanks a lot ra.ra Now I can get to work on it. Also thanks for the tip about posting within the thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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