Repair Driver Headphone

[121639]

Hi!

I washed my Sennheiser HD 650 and cleaned the driver with rubbing alcohol. I know that it was risky, but they are 11 years old and very dirty.
I thought it would work, because its not corrosive to the copper, but now they are playing very quiet.


What happened? How can i repair it?


I found this similar thread, but i am not sure if the solution does apply in my case:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/washed-headphones-sound-seems-different.773918/


Thanks in advance,

Patrick.

 

[GREQ]

Can you give more information about which parts of the driver you touched and how rough were you handling the driver.
Did you submerge the driver in water?

Best case scenario is you've unseated the voice coil and need to pop it back into place.
Getting worse would be if you've deformed the shape of the diaphragm, because that needs to be exactly as it was - any kinks in the plastic will cause it to become more rigid and unable to flex freely - which will reduce volume. It's possible to get the kinks out, but they should never be made in the first place because some kinks can leave permanent, rigid creases.
Worst case scenario is there is some irrepairable damage to the voice coil.

So, some info or links to images would be useful to help troubleshoot the problem.

 

[viivo]

The 650 drivers use aluminum voice coils. Alcohol can react with aluminum and form an oxide layer (aluminum alkoxide). I don't know if that's the cause of your problem, but something to consider.

 

[cddc]

I would only clean the ear pads

cleaning the drivers inside is too risky...and not so necessary to me as some dust won't impact the sound i think

 

[121639]

 

[121639]

Sorry for the late response, i am currently without internet access
I had to get (unstable) wifi/wlan from a neighbour first.

I have uploaded all of my photos as i dont know what you are looking for. The best ones might be the first ones and IMG_1884.

Spoiler

Can you give more information about which parts of the driver you touched and how rough were you handling the driver.
Did you submerge the driver in water?

Best case scenario is you've unseated the voice coil and need to pop it back into place.
Getting worse would be if you've deformed the shape of the diaphragm, because that needs to be exactly as it was - any kinks in the plastic will cause it to become more rigid and unable to flex freely - which will reduce volume. It's possible to get the kinks out, but they should never be made in the first place because some kinks can leave permanent, rigid creases.
Worst case scenario is there is some irrepairable damage to the voice coil.

So, some info or links to images would be useful to help troubleshoot the problem.

I cleaned the headphone being assembled, with a rag soaked in tap water and detergent, then poured the alcohol slightly over every part.
Disassembling it now for the photos, i touched the diaphragm, but i felt no coil (thats why its dented on the photos).
I think its inside the "notch" of the magnet, maybe because i dissolved the glue which was sticking it to the diaphragm?
(I searched to find a drawing or photo of an headphone driver, but wasnt successful. I dont know how everything should look like.)

By the way, i have now so much practice, i could just have the driver removed and submerged the rest of the headphone - i would have been finished by now. Its not "too much work" anymore, sigh.

The 650 drivers use aluminum voice coils. Alcohol can react with aluminum and form an oxide layer (aluminum alkoxide). I don't know if that's the cause of your problem, but something to consider.

Oh, thank you. Also i noticed that there is lacquer coat around the coil wires. Maybe they can be sensitive to alcohol either?

I would only clean the ear pads

cleaning the drivers inside is too risky...and not so necessary to me as some dust won't impact the sound i think

They are about 6 year old now, with daily use. Inside, even behind the earpads (!), there are hairs, dirt, sweat, very much skin fat.... well, obviously these type of products should be constructed to be easy cleanable. But they are not...
I am not comfortable with such dirty headphones, thats why i took the risk



Thank you and good night!

 

[cddc]

Hi!

I washed my Sennheiser HD 650 and cleaned the driver with rubbing alcohol. I know that it was risky, but they are 11 years old and very dirty.
I thought it would work, because its not corrosive to the copper, but now they are playing very quiet.


What happened? How can i repair it?


I found this similar thread, but i am not sure if the solution does apply in my case:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/washed-headphones-sound-seems-different.773918/


Thanks in advance,

Patrick.

Check out this great yet funny video by Tyll from InnerFidelity.

It shows you how to dismantle the HD650. Be careful thou with the drivers. Hopefully you will do a better job than Tyll...LOL

 

[GREQ]

Sorry for the late response, i am currently without internet access
I had to get (unstable) wifi/wlan from a neighbour first.

I have uploaded all of my photos as i dont know what you are looking for. The best ones might be the first ones and IMG_1884.




I cleaned the headphone being assembled, with a rag soaked in tap water and detergent, then poured the alcohol slightly over every part.
Disassembling it now for the photos, i touched the diaphragm, but i felt no coil (thats why its dented on the photos).
I think its inside the "notch" of the magnet, maybe because i dissolved the glue which was sticking it to the diaphragm?
(I searched to find a drawing or photo of an headphone driver, but wasnt successful. I dont know how everything should look like.)

By the way, i have now so much practice, i could just have the driver removed and submerged the rest of the headphone - i would have been finished by now. Its not "too much work" anymore, sigh.





Oh, thank you. Also i noticed that there is lacquer coat around the coil wires. Maybe they can be sensitive to alcohol either?





They are about 6 year old now, with daily use. Inside, even behind the earpads (!), there are hairs, dirt, sweat, very much skin fat.... well, obviously these type of products should be constructed to be easy cleanable. But they are not...
I am not comfortable with such dirty headphones, thats why i took the risk



Thank you and good night!

Yeah, those drivers are toast.
There is way too much warping of the diaphragm and the orange voice coil beneath also doesn't seem to be a perfect circle any more.
Ideally, one never touches the diaphragm with anything, let alone as much physical force that was required to put that driver into that unfortunate condition.
They will need replacing. No amount of effort can be made to restore that much damage.

A set of new drivers from Sennheiser or a reseller should cost around 100 euros (or similar).

 

[121639]

Yeah, those drivers are toast.
There is way too much warping of the diaphragm and the orange voice coil beneath also doesn't seem to be a perfect circle any more.
Ideally, one never touches the diaphragm with anything, let alone as much physical force that was required to put that driver into that unfortunate condition.
They will need replacing. No amount of effort can be made to restore that much damage.

A set of new drivers from Sennheiser or a reseller should cost around 100 euros (or similar).

It fell down by itself! And it still plays, see my first post.
Same with the warping, in some future i want to upgrade anyway, so i would be ok with that too.

I would like to try to open it and glue it back - its worth a try, i think.
And they cost 160 Euros, so i would probably just buy them new on (Mass-)Drop for about 220 Euros.

 

[GREQ]

I washed my Sennheiser HD 650 and cleaned the driver with rubbing alcohol.

It fell down by itself!

Hmmm ok...

...but they are 11 years old and very dirty.

They are about 6 year old now, with daily use.

I'm finding it a little challenging believing anything you write at the moment. The inconsistencies in your story combined with the images of a brutally tortured driver do little credit to your request for assistance.
A set of replacement drivers directly from Sennheiser should cost around 130 euros (I just checked).

 

[121639]

Hmmm ok...
I'm finding it a little challenging believing anything you write at the moment. The inconsistencies in your story combined with the images of a brutally tortured driver do little credit to your request for assistance.
A set of replacement drivers directly from Sennheiser should cost around 130 euros (I just checked).

I wasnt aware i am questioned in a cross-examination, neither that i am giving anyone a "story" meant to be "believed", nor that i have to give you or anyone else "credit", nor that i have little credit for some reasons.
I am not arguing with you how much ME is going to pay in MY location.
Posting images showing an item i just have been decribing is logical, contrary to your post and assumptions.
It looks like you are just trolling.

All i want is to talk to people who like to take things apart and may have an idea what to do now.
Can we now go back to the topic please?

 

[CoryGillmore]

Dude you destroyed those drivers...I mean just look at them...your problem is obvious. I'd just buy a Massdrop 6xx at this point. Even a used one.

 

[121639]

Dude you destroyed those drivers...I mean just look at them...your problem is obvious. I'd just buy a Massdrop 6xx at this point. Even a used one.

Oh, ok!
Well, thank you for definite answer! :-|
At least i am sure now...

Have you disassembled the drivers once? Or is it like no one has done it before because the hifi-sound is gone anyway?

 

[GREQ]

Oh, ok!
Well, thank you for definite answer! :-|
At least i am sure now...

Have you disassembled the drivers once? Or is it like no one has done it before because the hifi-sound is gone anyway?

Disassembling, repairing and reassembling any driver without the proper tools and experience will basically give the same results as the botched Jesus painting restoration (see google for more info) ... in their current condition they are already in a far worse a state; totally beyond repair.
The diaphragm and voice coil need replacing, but these are not spare parts you can purchase since the skills and tools required are out of most people's reach financially and from a technical point if view.
Most people never disassemble drivers because there is normally never any reason to do so. Dynamic diaphragms are normally glued at the edges to the housing, which already eliminates them for most people as a total no-go for disassembly or modification.

I have disassembled many dynamic and planar drivers in the past. Planars tend to be far easier to deal with by their nature, essentially being a very simple sandwich of 3 layers: magnet-diaphragm-magnet...
However dynamics are almost always 'finished' units, and if they fail they will in over 99% of cases need to be completely replaced, because it is more economically viable or repairing is simply not possible.
This is definitely one such case: a repair is not possible. *proceeds to beat dead horse*