AKG K1000 re-cable just turned into a bigger project

[Fitz]

I'm going to guess without reading further that he used either that bedazzler material or that stuff with the ironing that mends without sewing.

[Fitz]

Alright, since I've been asked to, I'll go into the incredibly unimpressive process of fixing the K1000 driver. To start with, I removed the foam disc from the back of the driver, giving me access to both sides of the driver. I was limited to not using any of my metal tools because of the proximity to the magnets (how do they work?), so I took a rounded off plastic rod and used it to slowly and gently push the big dent back out from behind. Then once I could see what I was working with, I used a plastic rod with a flat, tapered end to uncurl and flatten out the parts of the diaphragm that were folded back over on itself.

The actual tear caused by the puncture was worse than I had initially thought, but the material was less warped than I expected and only a very tiny piece was actually missing. It essentially ended up with four triangle flaps, with the space between them forming a nice little +, further proving it was a phillips screwdriver that pierced it. Now the material was back in approximately the original position, but all crinkly and sticking up in spots, so I used a variety of curved objects and my fingers to sort of compress the material back into shape. Once I got it as good as I figured I would, and it looked reasonably even under magnification, I decided to move on to sealing the hole.

It still had a tendency to pull back in a little and form a dip when any pressure was applied from the front, so I would need something to support it from behind. Blu-tak would work nice to form a rounded support that I could easily adjust in height and curvature, but it would stick to the diaphragm and probably make things worse when I tried to take it off. To solve that I took a thin piece of plastic from a little baggy and stretched it out on a finger so it would fit over the rounded top of the blu-tak without creasing (ok so it's a condom for the blu-tak, happy?). I took a very small dab of run of the mill blue gel glue and applied it to the outer part of the hole, where the end of the tears were. After wiping off 99% of the glue, I ended up with just the little bit that made it between the edges where the diaphragm was torn, and none on the surface of the diaphragm or in the middle of the hole.

Now that it was halfway done, I went back and repeated the flattening process again, to further smooth out the tips of the little flaps, since one was still sticking up a bit. There was also a very small pinhole in the middle where the material didn't come all the way back together, which I would have to seal up as well. Using the same blu-tak from before, I supported the diaphragm from behind and used another tiny dab of glue to seal the middle part of the hole. This time I had to also be careful in wiping up excess so it would leave a very thin film across the pinhole, so it would be fully sealed. Once that dried, I checked that the hole was completely sealed and matched the original curve reasonably well, put the foam disc back in, and that was it.

Not very exciting, huh?

[swt61]

Actually that is kind of exciting, but I'm one of those guys that loves the process of repairing things and building things, so I'm easily entertained by this kind of thing.

Again Fitz really nice work!

[Dusty Chalk]

Not very exciting, huh?

Captive audience, here.

[mypasswordis]

Definitely very exciting. I bet it measures pretty close to the other side now.

[mrarroyo]

This why Ryan is Dr. AKG! To state the obvious, I/we are impressed! Awesome work.

[deepak]

Nice going Fitz, congrats Steve on getting them refurbished!

[n_maher]

Well done, Ryan.

[CarlSeibert]

Nice. Elegant approach. Very little build up of mass. Very impressive.

I'm like Steve. I get a little thrill out of solving something like that and bringing something of value back to life, or seeing it done as the case may be.

So I guess I should fix my old beard trimmer again instead of buying a new one.

[luvdunhill]

yawn... when do I get to borrow these again?