[jackman]

Hi Guys,

I decided to take off my woofer drivers to get a look inside the cabinet and was wondering if anyone had a suggestion as to how tight I should tighten the screws when I put the drivers back in place.  I screwed them in snugly and was careful not to overtighten but I'm not sure if there is a good rule of thumb regarding how snug you should tighten the screws.  Also, it seemed they were not particularly tight when I unscrewed them. 

How tight do you screw in your woofer screws?   

Thanks!

Jack

[macrojack]

I imagine that depends on the receiver material. If screwing into T-nuts, you can go tight. If you are using wood stews into MDF, then there is great danger of stripping.

Are you looking for a torque stipulation?

[Æ]

Tight enough so that there are no air leaks around the woofer, but not so tight as to bend the woofer frame or strip the screw holes.
Wood screws into particle board or MDF have a tendency to vibrate loose. A little bit of wood glue into the wood holes and on the screw threads will hold better, longer.

[jackman]

Hi Macro,

I'm not looking for a torque recommendation because I don't have a torque wrench at the moment.  I'm also not sure if the speakers have T-nuts but is there any danger in over-tightening woofers (other than stripping screws)?  The woofers in question are pretty stout, they are Peerless XLS's and have large cast frames.  I'm not sure I could flex these if I tried but wanted to make sure I didn't mess anything up by over-tightening them. 

Some of the screws were really loose and these drivers have quite a bit of output.  I just tightened them until they became slightly difficult to tighten.  They pretty snug.  Just wondering if too tight can cause problems. 

Thanks,

J

[steve f]

You need to tighten driver so that the gasket compresses and the frame doesn't rattle. The Peerless XLS series is capable of fairly large excursions.  I've used a few of them before and wouldn't consider mounting them without T-nuts or furniture mounts.

Steve

[jackman]

Thanks for all of the advice. I have owned these speakers for years and have bad no issues. I just wanted to take off the drivers and was concerned about over tightening the screws.   I tightened the screws just enough to compress the gasket.  They are on and sounding great.

Thanks

Jack

[*Scotty*]

Depending on the gasket material you may want to partially tighten the screws and wait a half an hour and tighten them some more. Believe it or not you can warp the frame by tightening it asymmetrically
against a gasket that is slow to compress, like 1/4in. thick foam weather stripping.
 A lot depends on how many screws are used to hold the woofer in the cabinet, regardless of how many are used they should always be tightened in a pattern that alternates from one side of the woofer to the other in the same way you would tighten the bolt pattern on a wheel mounted on a car.
Scotty 

[Mark Korda]

Hi Jackman,I just put a pair of woofers into a set of Dynaco-A-25's.The gaskets used were way to thin so I made a new pair with modeling clay.My mounting holes were a little loose so I filled them up with Bondo,or you could use plastic wood or painters caulking.Then just turn your woofers a half an inch to the right or left and make new holes with a drill that is much smaller in diameter than the screws(pilot hole).It will be as good as new.....Mark Korda.

[ptmconsulting]

Simple - tight enough to hold them firm and maintain a seal without stripping the cabinet.

[jackman]

Thanks guys, I think I have it covered.  On midrange drivers, I've noticed that you can flex the frame (even on high quality designs like Revelator and Excel) but these Peerless woofs have very heavy frames and 8 screws.  My concern was not about stripping the screw holes, they are reinforced, but warping the frame of the woofers by overtightening the screws.  The gasket is doing its job and I tightened them enough to keep the seal intact and not damage the gasket. 

I was doing some testing and thought I messed up my left subwoofer because I heard a vibration or a rattle but it turns out it was a loose ceiling tile.  I've got some blu-tac and will take care of any room vibrations this weekend (picture frames, ceiling tiles, etc.).   

Since Phil Bamberg came over and adjusted my DCX to flatten out my bass response, using an Omnimic for measurements, I've been getting much better bass output.  The only negative is that the increased output is causing unintended issues like vibrating tiles and picture frames.  These things can be corrected.  I'm just happy the noise wasn't coming from my driver.  These Peerless XLS drivers have very impressive output.  My system uses 10" woofers with 12" passives and I'm really liking the articulate and powerful bass I'm getting. 

Cheers,

Jack

[skifasterslc]

after seeing this and some other posts I went  home last night and checked the mounting screws on my quad 12L mid-woofer (they are around 3 years old).  On  one speaker I tightened them just slightly and did not over tighten.  the other speaker was noticeably looser and took more tightening.  seemed to improve sound stage just a bit, good tweak.

a bit off topic here .....

[GT Audio Works]

Hi Guys,

I decided to take off my woofer drivers to get a look inside the cabinet and was wondering if anyone had a suggestion as to how tight I should tighten the screws when I put the drivers back in place.  I screwed them in snugly and was careful not to overtighten but I'm not sure if there is a good rule of thumb regarding how snug you should tighten the screws.  Also, it seemed they were not particularly tight when I unscrewed them. 

How tight do you screw in your woofer screws?   

Thanks!

Jack

Highly inadvisable !!
 You will let out some of the critically measured enclosure air,, and you don't have the proper enclosure air meter to put it back in.

[jackman]

Do you sell audiophile air that I can use to replace the garden variety air I have in my home?

I forgot about this old thread!  Forgot to thank everyone for the advice.  Thanks

[Mark Korda]

 Hi Jackman, if you make a gasket like Frank Van AlStine told about in Audio Basics 1982, his free news letter on his web site.You wont have to worry about tightness of screws. I made mine a 1/2 inch thick, no air sneeks by that and the suction of fit keeps it right there. Thats a Audax 8 inch co-ax......Mark Korda

[jackman]

Thanks Mark,
I'm afraid I don't need it because my drivers have gaskets.  The deal is air tight and sounding good.  Plus, I'm not sure my screws are long enough to accommodate those thick gaskets.  What are they made out of?  They look pretty beefy.

Cheers

Jack

[Mark Korda]

Hi Jack, those gaskets I made were laid out by me on a kitchen counter. It's the modeling clay they give you as kids to create stuff. It never hardens. I built those monitors 20 years ago and the gasket is still plyable.I wish I had a better picture. You got to warm it up in your hands like a window glaziers putty. You could use a rolling pin to speed things up. They sell that clay at any artists store.It's called Plastistine. I could of made it neater but I use a grill cloth cover on the speaker. P. S.   I just worked a painting job where they had a nervous Jack Russell Terrier. I love dogs, I renamed the pooch (Nipsy Russell),,,remember him.....Mark Korda

[jackman]

Nipsy!  My JRT is named Pogo.  He's pretty calm for a JR unless he's in rodent killing mode or frisbee catching mode.  We have a family if squirrels in my tree and he is losing his mind!  Hopefull we don't have Squirrelmagedden II this year.