Hi all,
I can assure you all that I only showered with my speakers after I had my wife’s consent.
I have no idea how the electrostatic panel became so dirty. I purchased the speakers second hand and so it is possible that they were already dirty but I suspect that the cause was that over the last two years the speakers have had very little use, approx. 2 to 3 hrs per month. The reason was that my old amplifier (Quad 33/303) was under powered and the sound quality was not that great. The speakers sat powered up for most of the time and I believe that the combination of time, electrostatic charge and lack of use caused the dust to accumulate to the point that the speaker would no longer function.
The electrostatic panels were very easy to remove from the speaker frame. The speaker was laid on its back (take care not to damage the speaker input posts) and the side rail taped lightly on the bottom with a hammer and a piece of soft wood to prevent any damage. The side rails are then removed. The electrostatic panels are located by velcro and these are easily removed by lifting one side and then the other. Once the velcro seal is broken the panels are moved away from the bass speaker and this reveals a connection block with three wires, red, blue and black. The wires are disconnected and then the panel was transported to the shower. I cannot take any credit for this method of cleaning the electrostatic panels because I came across it on the Martin Logan club web page. I cannot remember the exact details but I think someone was having problems with a set of Sequel II panels and as a last resort Jim Power suggested that the panels were cleaned under a shower
