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Flood damaged barefaced cab, anything I can do?


Ant
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Was away over Christmas and our lockup / rehearsal space totally flooded, my barefaced super 15 was almost entirely submerged for an unknown length of time (days I think)

It was one of my friends who pulled it out of the more and messaged me saying it will full of slime and crap, no insurance cover or anything so in probably just down a cab, but is there ANYTHING I can do to get it working again (as cheap as possible as we have no money and have to replace plenty of equipment)

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The cab itself might dry out OK, though you would probably want to take out the wadding inside and hose everything down with clean water before drying it out. I think the Super 15 used Eminence 3015 drivers, which are about £170 each at the moment. I don't know if flood damaged drivers could be re-coned, that might be an avenue to explore.

Edited by Beer of the Bass
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I've seen speaker thrown in a river fished out and fine! (Long story) I've also heard stories of various speakers dropped in water and once dry were fine.

As said clean the cab and insulation, with a hose or in the shower.
Let it dry don't force the drying.
Cab should be perfectly fine, you might be unlucky if it warps etc but worth a go.

Let the speakers dry out. Any gunk might not of got to the voice coils as it would be filtered by the cone and spider. Put them back in the cab, maybe try the 9v battery test before hand to see if they move if so good. Then try them at low volume if they work great, play them for a while low volume maybe raise volume over a long period of time.
If any crossovers etc make sure there dry.

Good luck Let us know what happens

Edited by Twincam
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If you thought it sounded muddy before....

Sorry, couldn't resist. I'd definitely recommend contacting Alex, and I hope it works out for you. In the meantime if you're stuck for any gigs, I might be able to help out.

Martin

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Take it appart (or have someone with expertise do it for you), hose down everything except the drivers (make sure you clean it very well), leave it all to dry indoors. Barefaced cabs are well braced so your cab may not develop warp. Pay especial attention to the wiring and plugs, after hosing them and leaving to dry spray them with contact cleaner spray.

As for the drivers, i believe that the coil of the Kappalite 3015 is vented (if it has a hole on the back of the driver) and if that's the case the driver may be ruined as water might have entered the inside of the coil and dirt may have build up. A recone would be the cheaper way to repair them. There's a chance that they haven't caught dirt and they'll work after drying, if that's the case clean the allready dry cone gently with a brush to remove most of the dirt. Don't try to force it or expect it to look like new, you'll ruin the cone before getting to that point.

Talk with Alex and see if he offers you any kind of repair service/quote.

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Even if you do not have specific insurance for your kit check your contents insurance. Some will offer cover for personal possessions or items up to a specified amount that are taken out of the house, although you will need to check if covers this sort of damage. Good luck.

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The old adage - 'dry it and try it' comes into play here - I've had 15" G18c speakers with S3 Vitavox horns chucked in a brook ( some audiences are very hard work), and they were fine.
I'd leave absolutely alone in a warm(ish) dry space and wait a week or two, then assess the true situation.

:)

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[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1452005417' post='2945394']
Take it appart (or have someone with expertise do it for you), hose down everything except the drivers (make sure you clean it very well), leave it all to dry indoors. Barefaced cabs are well braced so your cab may not develop warp. Pay especial attention to the wiring and plugs, after hosing them and leaving to dry spray them with contact cleaner spray.

As for the drivers, i believe that the coil of the Kappalite 3015 is vented (if it has a hole on the back of the driver) and if that's the case the driver may be ruined as water might have entered the inside of the coil and dirt may have build up. A recone would be the cheaper way to repair them. There's a chance that they haven't caught dirt and they'll work after drying, if that's the case clean the allready dry cone gently with a brush to remove most of the dirt. Don't try to force it or expect it to look like new, you'll ruin the cone before getting to that point.

Talk with Alex and see if he offers you any kind of repair service/quote.
[/quote] I'd also see if you can borrow a dehumidifier & leave it next to it for a few days . It worked on an old ampeg 8 x10 that I lent to some one that didn't tell me it was being used outside with very little cover in the rain & left over night .

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Awful! However, on the plus side as long as you don't play it until it's COMPLETELY DRY it'll almost certainly be absolutely fine.

Take it somewhere warm, safe and dry. Take the grill off. Take the woofers out and put them somewhere safe and well aired. If the insulation/damping is soaked/dirty I'd pull all that out (note where each bit goes), collect up all the staples (they're not much fun to stand on and you don't want them loose in the cab), and hang that up somewhere to dry.

Once everything is bone dry - like not at all damp, like washing that's been in the tumble drier for too long - then vacuum the insulation and inside of the cab and brush any dirt off the cones with a soft brush. Staple/silicone the insulation back in. Re-fit the woofers (make sure their polarity is correct - marked cable to the red terminal) taking care not to push out any t-nuts (use a G-clamp to push them back in if they've come loose), and test the cab before putting the grill back on.

If you try to use the cab whilst the cones are still damp they will fall apart. But as long as you wait for it to dry out it should be sonically as good as it was before its aquatic experience. Worst case scenario there'll be too much corrosion on the motor pole pieces but I think you'd have to have it submerged for years to manage that. I'd put some light oil on all the hardware (not the woofers!) to stop things rusting in the future.

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[quote name='sunburstjazz1967' timestamp='1452025510' post='2945710']
Some anti bacterial spray wiped over the surfaces is a good idea too, when flooding occurs the foul mixes with the storm water,"das poop!"
[/quote]

Yes, good idea! Just don't go spraying even more water on it. Get it dry, then disinfect if required.

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[quote name='Subthumper' timestamp='1452031043' post='2945798']
You might get away with no corrosion on the magnet centre pole. All the other types of eminence driver I've seen have completely powder coated magnet assemblies and are almost rust proof. I'd be interested to know how this goes.
[/quote]

You're quite right, they are all powder coated, I'd forgotten!

I'd be surprised if the cab warps when drying out, there's a lot of bracing in there...

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Guest bassman7755

[quote name='deepbass5' timestamp='1452000489' post='2945332']
Alex has said that his cabs can go really deep :unsure:
[/quote]

I guess it can be used as a sub ... :yarr:

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