How to replace Tinsel lead (Sub-Woofer repair)

[scrapiron 0]

I searched the web looking for a "how to" on fixing Tinsel leads and couldn't find one. So I made one myself and would like to share it with the car audio community. (I will be cross posting this "how to" other web sites.)

Don't throw that sub away just because the leads broke! Here's how to fix them.

Finding new leads can be a pain, and this is just a "how to" video. So I will just be using De soldering braid instead of replacement tinsel leads.

De soldering braid will work in place of real leads, but not for long. This can be a bit time consuming and will take some patience.

I'll use this old sub I had laying around for this.

Start by going around the dust cap with any tool that has a flat edge.

BE VERY CAREFUL!! Eventually the dust cap will begin to release it's self from the cone.

The 2 little black gobs of CA glue you see, are where the tinsel leads come through the cone and attatch to the voice coil leads.

Start at the top of each gob of CA glue. THAT'S AWAY FROM THE CENTER OF THE SPEAKER!

Begin working the CA glue away from the cone. It kinda peels up on Its own once you get it going. Go slow. Don't just go to town on it! The coil leads are very delicate.

You'll eventually begin to see the tinsel leads.

De-Solder the tinsel leads from the speaker terminals (If still attached lol)

At this point you have 2 options.

1) If your leads are not totally fried, I recommend leaving a portion of the original tinsel lead attached to the voice coil leads. Its a lot easier to solder your new leads to a portion of the old ones than straight to the coil leads them selves.

- In this case, pull the tinsel leads through the cone.

Then cut off all excess old tinsel lead ACCEPT for just enough to solder your new leads to.

2) Your leads are totally fried.

- In this case, continue to remove the remaining CA glue from the tinsel leads down towards the voice coil.

Be very careful at this point!!!

As you can see the voice coil leads are very thin, and can be broken very very very easily.

Ok now that you have removed the rest of the CA glue. De-solder the tinsel leads from the voice coil and remove them.

Then run your new leads through the cone.

Position them for soldering and cut to length.

Its time to solder all your connections.

DO NOT USE TOO MUCH SOLDER, THE LEADS WILL WICK UP THE SOLDER AND BECOME STIFF! fLEXIBILITY IS WHAT YOUR AFTER!

After you have done all your soldering.

Finish by covering your connections under the dust cap by replace the gobs of CA glue on them.

I just used a 2 part epoxy.

Clean off the excess old adhesive from the dust cap. A Dremmel tool with a sanding wheel comes in handy.

Then replace the dust cap with the same epoxy you used for the connections under the dust cap.

Install the sub back into your box, and enjoy!

I hope this helps people out there!

- Scrapiron

Edited July 13, 2008 by scrapiron

[Adrian_D 520]

Very nice tutorial

[johnecon2001 82]

You sir, have just been stickied.

[stovebolt6 3]

i just want to add to this if you don't feel comfortable with soldering the new leads to the voice coil leads. you can instead crimp the connection instead, and then glue each one down afterwards. it can be hard to solder to solid wire, and some people may not feel like trying, so this is just another option.

Edited July 13, 2008 by stovebolt6

[scrapiron 0]

Wow, Stickied! thanks.

I like this web site and meant to post in a few other threads but haven't had the time. But I will here soon.

[djjdnap 78]

i was bout to post the same things, got the pics of my re-tensiling on my phone just never posted them.

Get the cap off with a box cutter.

Between the box cutter and soldering iron dig down to the tinsel, it usually has some black adhesive covering them. I worked it till i made a hole in the cone so i could pull it back through like below. You then use the soldring iron to disconect the old tinsel and it will be a small copper wire attached.

Solder your new tinsel to it and pull it back throught the hole and put some glue over it i think i used goop.

solder it back to the connector and glue the cap back on and wait for the glue to dry then your done.

Sorry for the crappy pics, this was old and jusst figured id put what i had up

Edited January 13, 2013 by djjdnap

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Very nice work! This can go up on the main page content too.

[detroitdiesel 0]

we had fix a burnt end on an Fi 15

we didnt have a soldering iron around (the one thing i didnt have in my truck)

so we used a crimp terminal, and JB weld to keep it from vibrating off, until we had to recone it, or had time and tools to solder it properly

but i would recommend JB cold weld for people afraid to solder, i solder like a champ, but im still weary of getting that much heat that close to the sub, and when i do solder leads, i cover any susceptible area with thermal tape (aluminum with a sticky side, used on wiring harnesses close to exhaust systems), if u dont have of that, try aluminum foil in case of a fallout or dripping

[Lil JackHammeR 0]

DUDE!!!... Thanks.....great tutorial....very helpful...

[AlanHall 6]

This is a nice write up. But how come you wouldnt use a nice piece of like 12ga speaker wire so it lasts?

[scrapiron 0]

I accidentally deleted my photo bucket. So my pictures are gone. I apologize. I will try to put them back.

This is a nice write up. But how come you wouldnt use a nice piece of like 12ga speaker wire so it lasts?

I didn't not care one bit about this speaker. This speaker just replaced a blown floor speaker in my living room that doesn't receive that much power and desoldering braid works just fine in that situation.

Again sorry about the pics ill work on getting them back up. If I cant, I do have a video of it and can host it.

[tc3k101 0]

you deleted the pics. can u please re host them

[VietPho 0]

you deleted the pics. can u please re host them

x2

[Johnnymgl 1]

repost picks please

[blue fury 3]

Ya first time seeing this and Im missing the important parts

And just thought I'd add to this in case anyone was looking for leads and glue

http://www.speakerrepair.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=Leadwire&Category_Code=AIII-SP

http://www.save-on-crafts.com/e600037ozsize.html

[antimatt3r 0]

will you please repost the pics or email them to [email protected] i have an infinity 12' sub with a broken tinsel lead (suspected) not sure how to fix it i have never solderd before.... thanks!1

[sl33py 0]

i *think* pics were supposed to be there. May help.

[Estsound 7]

Am i blind ? No pics

[Mike Doyle 0]

no pics

[clouduz 1]

damn i guess i'm waay too late b/c no pics had a old sub i wanted to try and repair

[Soapbox 7]

where's the mods on this one

[Claytonedberg 0]

I searched the web looking for a "how to" on fixing Tinsel leads and couldn't find one. So I made one myself and would like to share it with the car audio community. (I will be cross posting this "how to" other web sites.)

Don't throw that sub away just because the leads broke! Here's how to fix them.

Finding new leads can be a pain, and this is just a "how to" video. So I will just be using De soldering braid instead of replacement tinsel leads.

De soldering braid will work in place of real leads, but not for long. This can be a bit time consuming and will take some patience.

I'll use this old sub I had laying around for this.

Start by going around the dust cap with any tool that has a flat edge.

BE VERY CAREFUL!! Eventually the dust cap will begin to release it's self from the cone.

The 2 little black gobs of CA glue you see, are where the tinsel leads come through the cone and attatch to the voice coil leads.

Start at the top of each gob of CA glue. THAT'S AWAY FROM THE CENTER OF THE SPEAKER!

Begin working the CA glue away from the cone. It kinda peels up on Its own once you get it going. Go slow. Don't just go to town on it! The coil leads are very delicate.

You'll eventually begin to see the tinsel leads.

De-Solder the tinsel leads from the speaker terminals (If still attached lol)

At this point you have 2 options.

1) If your leads are not totally fried, I recommend leaving a portion of the original tinsel lead attached to the voice coil leads. Its a lot easier to solder your new leads to a portion of the old ones than straight to the coil leads them selves.

- In this case, pull the tinsel leads through the cone.

Then cut off all excess old tinsel lead ACCEPT for just enough to solder your new leads to.

2) Your leads are totally fried.

- In this case, continue to remove the remaining CA glue from the tinsel leads down towards the voice coil.

Be very careful at this point!!!

As you can see the voice coil leads are very thin, and can be broken very very very easily.

Ok now that you have removed the rest of the CA glue. De-solder the tinsel leads from the voice coil and remove them.

Then run your new leads through the cone.

Position them for soldering and cut to length.

Its time to solder all your connections.

DO NOT USE TOO MUCH SOLDER, THE LEADS WILL WICK UP THE SOLDER AND BECOME STIFF! fLEXIBILITY IS WHAT YOUR AFTER!

After you have done all your soldering.

Finish by covering your connections under the dust cap by replace the gobs of CA glue on them.

I just used a 2 part epoxy.

Clean off the excess old adhesive from the dust cap. A Dremmel tool with a sanding wheel comes in handy.

Then replace the dust cap with the same epoxy you used for the connections under the dust cap.

Install the sub back into your box, and enjoy!

I hope this helps people out there!

- Scrapiron

[Claytonedberg 0]

Hey I dident see pics eather I think that's what's broke on my sub to email me them [email protected] thanks

[RollinOn23z 1]

they should upgrade this thread and get some pics... would be a shit ton of help

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Upgrade or update?