Hi Guys, a small and very compact tutorial for re-foaming the PC-5 speakers. Found one of these two weeks ago and as usual the speakers were wrecked by foam rot. Maybe its useful for somebody.

First get the feet off to remove the plastic part in front of the speaker.



Next get the plastic front piece off to expose the speaker mounting screws.



Next get the mounting screws out, remove the grill and see the horror of the rotten foams



Remove the speaker and get rid of the rotting foam on the paper side of the speaker.



On the metal side of the speaker there is some kind of cardboard ring. Normally you should leave it there, but I will replace it by a more sturdy wooden ring.

All the rotting parts removed from the speaker...

Next chapter, some time this week, will show mounting the new foams.

Super your very clever .

aaaaaaargh ... a cliff hanger ... now I'm clutching on with my fingernails waiting for the next installment

baiting us with wood surrounds instead of the old cardboard too ... looks like a great part 2 coming up

lol, well its not really spectacular. But when I bought the box, the previous owner tried to refoam them and destroyed the complete speaker box. So it seems to be a good thing to make some pics. I learned how to open them on the forum btw. Think it was Del that explained me how

Why is the PC-5 the one we have to refoam most often?

Aiwa"s can be bad to .

You gesture for the tutorial is highly appreciated.

My three deck O'General has also rotting foams. Maybe it has to do something with the wood of the speakerbox and the glue they used? Have those Aiwas any wood close the the speaker?

Yeah some of the ca models use wood .

because almost every other jvc uses a woven textile surround material that don't rot like foam does. this is the same material lasonic uses in their speakers.it's not as compliant as foam foam surrounds is used in speakers to give a smoother sound. textile surrounds are stiffer and can actually dampen the cone movement to allow a certain band or type of sound to be produced within a speaker cone.

the O-General!

Good info! I was wondering why the Lasonic woofers were still like new!

Very good info Michiel!

I, like Del, first thought about the AIWA's when "foam rot" was mentioned

fLOYD IS BANG ON

Chapter two of the PC-5 speaker refoam.

Ive cut some wooden rings to replace the cardboard ones. So its time to take the glue and start fiddling

Whats needed: glue, new foam rings, the cleaned speakers and the new cut rings (in this case).

Apply a moderate layer of glue on both the speakers and the rings.

Bring them together and let it dry for a couple of hours.

In chapter three, probably tomorrow, the foams will be joined to the speakers

Does the new foam not go under the ring michiel ?    or are you going to put another ring over the new foams  .

In the original design there is the metal frame, a cardboard ring of about 1mm thickness and then there is the foam on top of that. So the ring sits in between the metal frame and the foam. The original ring is still attached to the speaker frame in the fourth picture in the thread.

There is indeed a ring between the foam and the speaker grill. So that's goes on to of the foam

Right now i get it   

Chapter three

First apply glue to the inside of the speaker cone.

Second, apply glue on the inside of the new foam:

Bring both pieces together. In this pic there is no glue, because with glue you need some concentration and speed. And I'm a male so doing these things and making pictures cant be done at the same time

The foam is glued to the cone of the speaker. Now it has to dry for some time to connect the foam to the speaker frame. Cu in chapter four

Good work michiel  

This is going fast

Make some room by pulling the outer edge of the new foam and use a small brush with glue to connect the complete circumference of the foam to the speaker frame. In this case the wooden ring.

When done, make sure the coil isn't scraping against the magnet. Do this by pushing the dust cap gently down. If you hear scraping noises, its not good. You can still correct this, by aligning the speaker cone, while the glue hasn't dried.

When satisfied let it all dry and you have some nice fresh refoamed PC5 speakers, ohyeah!

This is brilliant stuff sir. 

The only things that you might wish to add are the type of glue and where you got the foams from?

Very good tutorial. Thanks.

I hope you got your speaker enclosure today also.

Yes Nick, it arrived this morning! Timing is so perfect! Awesome!

Finished, so here the complete picture of the box. Tested it a bit and even with bass turned down it already sounds awesome! Dudes, I love this box

Many thanks to Nick Fish! As I wrote in my first post the previous owner tried to dismantle the speakers and doing so destroyed the cabinet. Nick provided me with a very good left speaker housing, for free! This forum is so great!

Enjoy the pics!

Waited to see the whole post come to an end !!

Very informative but if i d do it probably i would end

with glue all over the speakers..

Thanks for shering your knowledge Michiel

This is great Michiel, thanks for the walk through.

They are a good box i love mine yours looks great well done not bad for a clogger   

Thats right, forget about that

The glue I used:

http://www.speakerrepairshop.c...aid=3406&lang=en

The foams I used:

http://www.speakerrepairshop.c...aid=1363&lang=en

Great tutorial Michiel - fantastic - glad you got it all done and sounding good

A great gesture NickFish re the cabinet - I bet Michiel is still grinning about that turning up just at the right moment too

top-notch post!  hat off also to NickFish who gave more than a helping hand

Aw shucks!

Credit to Deliverance though because I had missed Michiel's post looking for the speaker cabinet and Chris remembered that I had some parts so pointed him to me.

Good job someone has a memory! 

Love it.  Superb efforts guys.  Doesn't she sound sweet?  It broke my heart to use mine with the damage.

Thanks guys. Haha yes she does sound bad with rotten foams. When I went to pick her up, the guy demonstrated her with classical music. Even then she sounded horrible with this bass-less music 

Hope it's now easier for all to ones that never done this. It's nothing to worry about, just take your time and get the proper stuff before you start.

About the box; she is so cute, yet so powerful. If it was a girl I would ask her to marry me  No kidding, this is the best I got.

I'd never tackle a project without seeing in pictures how it's down and big thanks to you Michiel!

A picture is worth a thousand words....

Brilliant post Michiel, really informative and a great job done.

Posts like this are gold because it helps noobs like me see how its done, gives a walk through, and makes it far less daunting.

Question..How on earth did you cut the wood rings so perfectly Michiel?

I used a computerized laser cutter to make them. Same machine I use to make gears etc. 

Yes I do. Normally these machines are used for prototyping by others. But because they are under my control, I have to test them. With my own projects of course 

was it difficult  to put the foam behind the paper cone of the speaker? 

No, not at all. Its a bit like pulling a tyre on a rim, but then without using any force  You only have to watch the glue isn't touching wrong places. Even if it does it's easy to remove while it's fluid.