Sub Rattling

ras311bab · #1 01-22-2010, 07:50 PM

I have a pair of 10" old school T model bazookas hooked up at 170RMS x 2 @ 4 ohms and one of them started to rattle today, I put my ear up to it and it is popping and rattling and only pushing air. What the hell is going on? Please help.

Rodek · #2 01-22-2010, 08:55 PM

Swap the tubes positions. When you swap them, listen to the "suspect" woofer to see if it is still rattling. If it is, you may have a driver that's on the verge of failing. If the suspect woofer no longer rattles, and the swapped one now does...you have another issue. Try this first and post back. We'll help you trouble shoot the best we can.

heavyduty · #3 01-22-2010, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ras311bab

I have a pair of 10" old school T model bazookas hooked up at 170RMS x 2 @ 4 ohms and one of them started to rattle today, I put my ear up to it and it is popping and rattling and only pushing air. What the hell is going on? Please help.

You most likely have a driver failure. The rattling is your voice coil and the popping is your motor structure no longer being able to control the excursion of the subwoofer. The good thing in this whole scenario, is that you can upgrade to replacement woofer with a 2" voice coil and higher power handling.

http://store.bazooka.com/WF1042-10-I...2-VC-P252.aspx

ras311bab · #4 01-23-2010, 09:03 AM

Damn....that hurts. How does driver failure happen? It's not repairable? So exactly how easy is this process of uprgrading both subs, and what about the PRICE? I don't think it would be safe to just unplug that bad sub and leave the other one hooked up to one channel of my amp working from fear of hurting it.

ras311bab · #5 01-23-2010, 09:08 AM

I will be dealing with them today to see what the problems is. From just my own research I've read anything from driver failure, a hole in the woofer cone, something being loose inside the woofer bass tube, etc. I will switch them sometime soon and listen to see if it's still rattling.

heavyduty · #6 01-23-2010, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ras311bab

Damn....that hurts. How does driver failure happen? It's not repairable? So exactly how easy is this process of uprgrading both subs, and what about the PRICE? I don't think it would be safe to just unplug that bad sub and leave the other one hooked up to one channel of my amp working from fear of hurting it.

Several factors can lead to driver failure; distortion (improper gain settings), thermal fatigue (age of driver, gain setting, amplifier power), adhesive breakdown (surround will come apart from the cone), and simple physics.

Unless it is a surround replacement, replacing the driver is cheaper then rebuilding the driver.

Unhooking one channel at a time to listen (and also swapping channels) will not harm anything. The power will remain constant on each channel, regardless of being used or not.

heavyduty · #7 01-23-2010, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ras311bab

I will be dealing with them today to see what the problems is. From just my own research I've read anything from driver failure, a hole in the woofer cone, something being loose inside the woofer bass tube, etc. I will switch them sometime soon and listen to see if it's still rattling.

It will be well worth the effort. If the suspect driver is still making noise, position the Tube so that the grill is no more then a inch or less from a boundary (corner of vehicle or taillights). Give it a listen and post back.

ras311bab · #8 01-23-2010, 11:39 AM

I just swapped them, and the suspect sub was still distorted (popping and distorted). So I am kind of at a loss for words. I shook the suspect sub to see if I heard anything loose inside and only heard what was probably the wire inside hitting the casing. So IDK?

For the meanwhile I guess I will unhook that tube and just keep the other tube hooked up as is to one channel, and look for a replacement subwoofer.

As for the cause I'm not sure, they both had sounded stellar before yesterday, and the amp was at 1/4 power, and I am pretty sure I didn't have to much wattage going through each if they 200W subs with 170W of power going through them at 4 ohms.??????????

heavyduty · #9 01-23-2010, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ras311bab

I just swapped them, and the suspect sub was still distorted (popping and distorted). So I am kind of at a loss for words. I shook the suspect sub to see if I heard anything loose inside and only heard what was probably the wire inside hitting the casing. So IDK?

For the meanwhile I guess I will unhook that tube and just keep the other tube hooked up as is to one channel, and look for a replacement subwoofer.

As for the cause I'm not sure, they both had sounded stellar before yesterday, and the amp was at 1/4 power, and I am pretty sure I didn't have to much wattage going through each if they 200W subs with 170W of power going through them at 4 ohms.??????????

Keep in mind, the age of the Tubes. To have a driver survive almost 20 years is nothing short of amazing. It sucks when these things happen, but that's part of the game.

Here is your replacement link;

http://store.bazooka.com/Component-Woofers-C116.aspx

ras311bab · #10 01-23-2010, 12:12 PM

yes, no joke, these tubes have seen a lot

are the component woofers just basic replacement subwoofers, could I buy a 10" 4ohm MardiGras bass tube and it work just the same as any 10" 4 ohm woofer I find on the page link you sent me

Just to clarify, it is okay to just leave my good sub connected to my amp right? Should I disconnect the other wire that was connected to the bad sub from my amp to be safe, or can I just leave it connected?