vintageHIWATTconvention.com

Well, finally had a chance to bring the Hiwatts home from the reheasrsal space. Sorry about the crummy photo, I will get better ones once I pry the back of the cab off etc.
'74 DR103
''75 cab on top
Mikhailwatt's former Reeves cab on bottom. (Thanks again Mike!)

Hmmm, having had some time to play the rig at low volumes at home, I have noticed that one of the Fanes in the '75 cabinet seems to crackle/distort. What would cause this? Tear in the cone, something less heart-attack inducing?

Nice looking stack! Needs another head, though.

Crackling... my guess would be you've got a cooked voice coil. Hope I'm wrong!

Anyway a layman such as myself could confirm or deny that guess?

Olsvik wrote:I have noticed that one of the Fanes in the '75 cabinet seems to crackle/distort. What would cause this?

It could be a tear in the cone, though those are usually frequency sensitive. Does it only happen on certain notes or all the time?

It could be gunk in the gap and/or an off-center voicecoil. I've had that happen with a few older Fanes. Sometimes, it's cureable - as long as you know the right people (eh, Doc ?).

Remove and inspect the speaker. If it's a tear, that should be easily mendable.

If the cone looks fine, CAREFULLY put fingers on opposite sides of the cone's edges (near the surround) and GENTLY push it down evenly and release it. If you hear a grinding/crunching/scratching sound, it might need cleaning / realigning. Reconing should be the very last resort. Do whatever you can to retain the original components.

Good luck...and nice looking stack!

Dave

detailed instructions here:

http://vintagehiwattconvention.com/foru ... p?f=5&t=22

nice stack!

Thanks gents! I haven't had much time to troubleshoot it yet, but I should have spare time tomorrow. I will report back with my findings!

Alright, I took some photos of the speaker in question.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v734/colsvik/Fane/

It looks like there may have been a small repair at one point? On the right edge of the speaker in that front shot of the cone? Or not, I don't know what I'm looking for,

Dave, I'm unsure as to where exactly you want me to gently push the cone to test to see if it needs cleaning. And those instructions the good Doc posted look WAY over my head.

Great looking stack!!There is something that screams "rock" about those, huh? But I'd be happy with just half of the same!

Franz

Yeah it definitely looks "Rock!" People think I must be a rock god when they see that stack, then they hear me play

Olsvik wrote:Yeah it definitely looks "Rock!" People think I must be a rock god when they see that stack, then they hear me play

Haha Olsvik! I'm sure you're being too modest about your playing. How can someone with enough taste to choose a Hiwatt as a battlehorse not have as much "flair" in his playing?

Olsvik wrote:It looks like there may have been a small repair at one point?

That cone looks perfectly fine to me.

OldSchoolDave wrote:If the cone looks fine, CAREFULLY put fingers on opposite sides of the cone's edges (near the surround) and GENTLY push it down evenly and release it. If you hear a grinding/crunching/scratching sound, it might need cleaning / realigning.

The surround is at the outer edge of the cone. You want to push down just enough to move the voice coil in the gap (between the pole and the magnet) to see if you hear a scratchy sound.

So, just inside the gasket on that photo?

Olsvik wrote:So, just inside the gasket on that photo?

The surround isn't marked on that graphic (cool graphic, though!). It's the accordioned part between the gasket and the cone proper.

On your pic, there's a wide, unribbed area just inside the surround. That's where to place your fingers (180 degrees apart from each other) and gently press down on the cone to listen for crunchy sounds...

Dave

Gotcha, I will give that a try tomorrow. If there don't appear to be any issues with the cone, what does cleaning it involve? I'm thinking I'm gonna have to send it to Weber or someone at any rate. I don't think I would feel comfortable doing any sort of delicate work on it.