My Dynamax speaker Stopped working...

[aebm]

Hello,


What should be the reason to failure of a Federal Signal Dynamax 100 w Speaker? last night it simply stopped working while responding,... "quite disgusting"... :evil: I would like to know if it´s serviciable? and if so what is the main pieces to Replace/Service? Voice coil? membrane? I did open the rear part, but the front panel seems to be too hard to dismantle. To be honest I have never gave service to this unit, Got it used from here and use it for like 2 years so far.


Any tips to bring back to life this speaker? is it worth it to rerpair it? I got this model due space restrictions behind my grill, It works with a Whelen 295 HF.


Thanks for the Help.

 

[cajunblitz]

Hello,

What should be the reason to failure of a Federal Signal Dynamax 100 w Speaker? last night it simply stopped working while responding,... "quite disgusting"... :evil: I would like to know if it´s serviciable? and if so what is the main pieces to Replace/Service? Voice coil? membrane? I did open the rear part, but the front panel seems to be too hard to dismantle. To be honest I have never gave service to this unit, Got it used from here and use it for like 2 years so far.


Any tips to bring back to life this speaker? is it worth it to rerpair it? I got this model due space restrictions behind my grill, It works with a Whelen 295 HF.


Thanks for the Help.

The MS-100 was prone to premature failure and is NOT field serviceable by the user. Federal Signal replaced the MS-100 with the ES-100, which is field serviceable and is a great improvement over the MS-100 in terms of longevity. Chances are your speaker is long out of warranty. My advice is to toss your MS-100 and acquire an ES-100 or a comparable field serviceable slim mount speaker.

 

[aebm]

Hey Hello Cajunblitz, Thanks for the Reply,


Oh well yeah, I guess it goes for the recycle garbage can now, Wish I knew it was not serviceable before I bought it, Hate throwing money away like that.


Any other recomended Serviceable Speaker besides the MS-100?


Next Stop, the wanted forum... :cry:


Thanks.

 

[GranPrix]

ES-100

 

[aebm]

sorry I meant besides the ES-100.

 

[C2Installs]

The MS100 was often chosen for tight spaces, so you may want to be sure whatever you swap out is close in size. The ES100 should swap nicely, I believe brackets are the same. Haven't seen many yet. We mostly use the FedSig AS124, which is awesome, but bigger in size, or the SoundOff 100H, which is very close to the MS100 in size (we've actually used - with very slight modification - MS100 brackets for the 100H.) Either should be in the $120.00 or less range.

 

[shues]

I recently learned that it's not hard to swap the voice coils between MS100 speakers. I asked about a month ago, but not one soul on here could tell me the part number of a brand new voice coil. Instead, I took a couple of ugly MS100 speakers, removed their voice coils, and put them into a couple of beautiful but blown MS100 speakers.


It took maybe 15 minutes total to do both of them.

 

[aebm]

thanks shues,


I have tryed to open the MS-100 but seems it only can be opened from behind where there are screws, but the front panel is really hard to remove, how did you dismantle it?


I guess as almost every voice coil out there it could be sent to one of those speakers repair stores to have it recoiled right? Only a guess. What do you guys think? If only I could open it... (then if so how will it close again?) it seems install-pressed from factory...

 

[shues]

Unless you want to remove the wiring or contacts from the speaker housing, leave the rearmost portion alone. Also, rest assured that the halves of the speaker housing are not pressed together, and do come apart with hand tools alone.


If you want to get the voice coil out, get out your 1/4" drive nut driver and a 1/4" drive 1/4" six-point socket, and gently loosen the four screws at the corners. Do this by hand to avoid breaking them. These screws are 1.3125" long, so take your time. Also, understand that these are steel screws threaded into a cast aluminum housing, and the dissimilar metals will start corroding before the speaker even leaves the factory.


[Broken External Image]:http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/8841/0801001637.jpg


Next, try to pull the two halves of the speaker housing apart. Pull gently but firmly. Be certain to pull straight up, and pull evenly. Twisting and turning does not help. There are two alignment pins that keep the two halves of the speaker housing aligned. Do this by hand at first. Mine came apart by hand, but they were only 4 years old.


[Broken External Image]:http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/650/0801001617a.jpg


If you give up after trying for a while, locate the small slot on each side (above picture shows the slot below the bolt hole) between the two halves of the speaker housing near the mounting bolt holes on the left and right sides of the speaker. Insert a standard screwdriver into each slot and twist each screwdriver uniformly. The alignment pins are 1/2" long, so some wider screwdrivers will be needed as you go along.


Once you get the halves apart, you will see the dark amber/brown voice coil attached to the front side of the speaker housing. Be careful as you lift the voice coil slowly and uniformly out of the magnet and front half of the speaker housing. If you break any part of it, your speaker shop will not be able to re-coil it for you. The wires connect to the voice coil as pins through contact holes in the voice coil, and should not be an issue. Below are pictured the two halves of an MS100, sans voice coil.


[Broken External Image]:http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/1446/0801001619.jpg


Good luck!

 

[aebm]

Great pics shues, really thanks,


No I know why I can´t remove the front part, seems my "friends" trying to help me "dismantle" the speaker they broke the 4 long screws, (the shorter screws went off nicely, but the long ones not, Bad metal combination yeah, And in my case this speaker was way much rusted (older) than yours, Anyway Since I am not easy to give up, I will take it to a metal shop and will try to remove the screws with the right tools, next once opened, will go to the speaker repair shop and lets see wha they say.+


Thanks so much for the pics and help, I still think I might fix this one.

 

[C2Installs]

Can fix and should fix are two different matters. The MS100 is a mediocre performer, known to break down at a higher rate than other speakers, and much better choices can be had at a reasonable price. If you need a reliable speaker, just replace it.

 

[shues]

Once the heads are broken off of the long screws, the only thing holding the housings together is going to be corrosion, either where the long screws (nearly) contact the back half of the speaker housing, or possibly where the alignment pins contact the back half of the speaker housing.