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Treating foam speaker surrounds

Does anyone know of a way to "treat" foam speaker surrounds to keep them from crumbling into dust ? While i know that all foam surrounds will decay over time, my prime concern right now are the woofers that i have mounted in the back deck of my car. Due to the extreme heat and sunlight beating down on them, i know that they won't last long in there. I am looking for "proven" methods as i don't want to do further damage or speed up the "rotting" process.

I've had two 8's and a 12" in there for about two years now and the 12" is starting to look "funky" in terms of discolouration but is still solid. Seeing that i have to remove the back window to replace them, i would like to be able to preserve these as long as possible. Any ideas or suggestions ? If you don't know for sure that what you mention is a valid approach, PLEASE state so in your post. I don't want to be anyone's "guinea pig" : ) Sean
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PS... I'm sure that others with older speakers ( home or car audio ) would LOVE to hear about something like this also.
sean
gregm
3,408 posts
 
Sean, I have used car interior treating products such as Armorall on HOME speaker foams with good results -- as far as I can tell. The foams look as new and still feel springy. I do it regularly on an old speaker pair and, particularly during dry season, the material seems to absorb the product in no time. I avoid treatment when the room is very hot
Pls remember however, this is at home where "living conditions" are more controlled than the back window of your car! Cheers
ultrakaz
187 posts
 
I have used 3m Scotchguard on my foam surrounds on a pair of home speakers for about 5 years or so with good results-no rot yet and I live in rather high humidity. I have heard of others putting foot powder on the surrounds because they believe it is some sort of bacteria that eats up the foam. Caveat, I have never tried this.

A better solution might be to tint your windows with a metallic type of tint that reduces heat and blocks out uv light. You could also try putting a screen over the speakers (like a grill) to further block out heat. My friend's Mercedes has this type of screen (retractable) that you can actually see through, yet blocks out heat and light.
mwilson
430 posts
 
Stereophile has had an ongoing debate in the "tweaks" column (back inner page - now no loger running) for the past year or so on the use of ArmorAll and other treatments... all I can remember is that ArmorAll was determined to be a no-no, but very similar products existed that didn't cause any damage or chemical/physical modification to the surrounds. If you're a subscriber, check out the tweaks column dating back a year or so. If not, I can look these up and give you a more complete lowdown at some point.
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