Veneer delamination


Good evening my audiofile friends!  I am in a quandary that I am hoping some of you may able to help me with.  First of all has anyone had speakers "delaminate" (bubble, split, etc)  when they were under warranty, and how did you get this resolved with the company?

The end of 2021 I received a pair of Ohm T1000 speakers new from the Ohm company.  After a time setting them up and breaking them in I have enjoyed them very much.  Last week I went to dust them and found several large bubbles in the veneer as well as the veneer separating where it joined.  This was happening to both speakers.  My jaw dropped and my head hit the ceiling; I have never had this happen in over 45 years of owning stereo equipment.  The Ohm speakers that are in this series have veneer that raps around the entire speaker and meet in the back.

I live in Colorado where the humidity is generally below 25% and pretty consistent, and no one I know has witnessed problem.  I called Ohm and the technician I talked to said this has happened before but said with a hot iron with no water in it I could probably fix the problem or send it back and they would fix it free of charge but not cover shipping. These are the best speakers I have owned and am not going to touch them with an iron and thought I better think about the shipping cost a little.

The next day I called again and said I would rather trade them in for a pair of T2000 they had because I did not feel comfortable that something else would not go wrong with them.  They would give me the exchange for my speakers (which I appreciated) but no discount on the 2000's or shipping of any equipment.

I've looked in Denver but have not found a company that would re-veneer the speakers (sending them back and forth to New York is going to cost several hundred dollars.  I would appreciate any help anyone could give me with this type of issue, the Ohm people have been ok to deal with but there may be a better solution out there.  Thanks 

128x128dbwinters

     Perhaps a bit of background on a couple methods, used by various cabinet manufacturers, professional veneerers and common civilians use, in the application of veneers, will assuage some fears.

     The suggestion of using an iron tells me: Ohm applies theirs with one of the following, common methods.        

Hot Melt:  

https://www.hmtmfg.com/blog/applying-wood-veneers-quickly-using-hot-melt-adhesive/

and:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5PGXoigtD4

or: something similar to Titebond Wood Glue and heat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxUKc4JWBaI

      As you can see from those vids; the judicious use of an iron would be an excellent method, for the repair of weak veneer adhesion.

     Seems to me: the high solids (rubber), 3M contact adhesives, we used back in the day, could probably be repaired the same way.    Never had to try it though.

     As suggested in the third link: keep the temps down to where you can touch the

surface of the veneer, without burning yourself.

     If that was the suggestion of the manufacturer; I'd have to assume, they feel whatever finish they applied, wouldn't be damaged, by the iron.

     From what I remember of the Ohms I repaired, back in the Eighties: they had a mostly natural, oiled finish (no gloss).   Don't know about now.

     I'd still use a lint-free cloth, between the iron and veneer, anyway.

     It's been my experience: in dry climates, in homes using wood burning stoves or high heat and no humidifier: glues dry out and expensive, antique furniture falls apart too (just a thought, having effected repairs on a lot).

     Give it a try, on one of the areas that is mostly out of sight, if you're afraid of the outcome.    ie: The rear seam would be a good place to start.

     Repairing one's own equipment, can be most gratifying.

     ie: Do a good job and you'll get warm fuzzies, every time you sit in front of those pretty Ohms.

@rodman99999 

Rodman is correct, a towel laid on the bubble and a warm iron should do it, lay it on for only a short 10-12 seconds and lift the iron and the towel should only be warm, do it several times, no rushing it, and it should remelt the glue, press down hard with a block of wood or a book as it cools down and it will make it lay flat.  If you are not a do-it-yourselfer, any local Denver woodworker/ cabinet maker should be able to do it for you, as you are not looking to re-veneer it, just fix the area that popped. Can happen with any furniture with a veneer.  

Dry air can cause issues with shrinkage and delamination all real wood finishes require furniture oil. If poly coated just toss them who wants plastic over real wood?