Subwoofer Myths And Facts

[tommyk90]

i'm working on something right now that will allow for sub to be powered past thermal and still survive.

think water pump for your car.

i have been testing this for the past couple weeks and i'm almost there.

what i did was take apart an aluminum radiator, bought a windshield wiper fluid reservoir and pump, and basically made a radiator for the motor of a re sx.

it fits onto the motor, has fins like a radiator and the wiper fluid reservoir and pump circulates water through the fins.

so far i've been able to give the sub full clipped power off of a AQ 1200D and it doesn't get warm to the touch after a good minute of full clipped power.

its not perfect because the coil is inside of the motor, but i found out that if you can keep the motor cool for the most part it will help to pull the heat off of the coil.

eventually i plan to build my own motor, put a water passage through the internal of the motor, and pump water through it much like the coolant system in your car's motor block.

its a work in progress and i'm not ready to show people YET.......

Bazooka had something like this years ago for their subs and amps.

Honestly, I'm not sure how well it would work. Coils get VERY hot VERY quickly, and I'm not sure if a small pump on the outside of the sub would make a bit of difference.

If you want to get real results, put a temperature probe inside the motor near the coil and see if the cooling system makes any difference.

[dwz]

Mods should sticky this thread eventually =P

[brewer_brewer]

Bazooka had something like this years ago for their subs and amps.

Honestly, I'm not sure how well it would work. Coils get VERY hot VERY quickly, and I'm not sure if a small pump on the outside of the sub would make a bit of difference.

If you want to get real results, put a temperature probe inside the motor near the coil and see if the cooling system makes any difference.

the goal isn't to stop the heat. it is to substain the heat to a certain (safe) temperature.

if you can keep the motor cool the the heat from the coil will dissipate into the motor.

the water running through your cars engine block isn't touching the pistons but it helps to keep their heat down.

[brewer_brewer]

oh and i use a laser thermal temp gun. point where you want and it tells the heat. pretty accurate.

[Boon]

the goal isn't to stop the heat. it is to substain the heat to a certain (safe) temperature.

if you can keep the motor cool the the heat from the coil will dissipate into the motor.

the water running through your cars engine block isn't touching the pistons but it helps to keep their heat down.

The gap in a sub's motor is a bit larger than that in a car's piston

The problem is that you have a nice layer of air between the 'sink' (the motor) and the heat source.

Air is TERRIBLE at conducting heat. I'd almost call it an insulator. Ever seen what happens if you get an air-pocket between a semiconductor and its heatsink?

Also a laser heat gun doesn't help much with subs, you need to find out the temperature of the coil and the air inside the gap to know if you're making a difference. Maybe a probe stuck up the pole vent would give a better idea.

[lanman31337]

What would be a great idea would be to encase the coils in some sort of fluid or material that dissipates heat. Ferrofluid cooled woofers anyone?

[brewer_brewer]

The gap in a sub's motor is a bit larger than that in a car's piston

The problem is that you have a nice layer of air between the 'sink' (the motor) and the heat source.

Air is TERRIBLE at conducting heat. I'd almost call it an insulator. Ever seen what happens if you get an air-pocket between a semiconductor and its heatsink?

Also a laser heat gun doesn't help much with subs, you need to find out the temperature of the coil and the air inside the gap to know if you're making a difference. Maybe a probe stuck up the pole vent would give a better idea.

first offf like i said this i am testing this for spl setups, and the gap in a spl motor is very tight.

and a laser gun works great for what i need because i remove the dust cap sometimes to take temp measurements.

a probe would be better though.

its just something i'm messing around with right now. i'm not trying to patent it and sell it. personal use.

[HHR Ed]

Why not do what a few of us SPL competitors have done for years now?

NOS spray.

[audiofanaticz]

MYTH: You have to break in a subwoofer with a certain method of playing before you can increase power to its RMS rating.

Fact: No you dont.

I cant fully agree with that, but yea if your bnib speaker cant do rms power without breaking it in, It maybe sold at walmart and called dual/vr3/ or sony!!

I agree with this to a point, I've seen people install their drivers an hour before a competition, and still come out winning. But it's still recommended to loosen up the spiders

But yet somehow I can agree with morel oral for some odd reason..

I think it comes down to the brand of the subwoofer and how they are made and the quality put into the subwoofer.

Lets say a company like FI car audio that uses a stronger 4 layer spider is not going to need to be broke in as much as say a company like Digital Designs that is using a 8 layer spider (12 layer in my case) with a mix of softer and stiffer spiders. These spiders 8-12 spiders are going to take a tad longer to get warn in then the 4 layer spider. But at the time of the speaker getting broke in, your suspension will be a tad looser which will result in more excursion which then results in more more air being moved equaling a high spl since it will take less power to get the broken in cone to move as far as the new speaker.

And just a lil funny clip...

And im curious to see if this is still a problem with T3?

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...ideoid=55917741

[HHR Ed]

I cant fully agree with that, but yea if your bnib speaker cant do rms power without breaking it in, It maybe sold at walmart and called dual/vr3/ or sony!!

But yet somehow I can agree with morel oral for some odd reason..

I think it comes down to the brand of the subwoofer and how they are made and the quality put into the subwoofer.

Lets say a company like FI car audio that uses a stronger 4 layer spider is not going to need to be broke in as much as say a company like Digital Designs that is using a 8 layer spider (12 layer in my case) with a mix of softer and stiffer spiders. These spiders 8-12 spiders are going to take a tad longer to get warn in then the 4 layer spider. But at the time of the speaker getting broke in, your suspension will be a tad looser which will result in more excursion which then results in more more air being moved equaling a high spl since it will take less power to get the broken in cone to move as far as the new speaker.

And just a lil funny clip...

And im curious to see if this is still a problem with T3?

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...ideoid=55917741

wow, never seen that before. I wonder how much power he is running? Looks like he has some wicked backpressure in that box.

Much like my friends Team BK. They had a box creating too much backpressure and they kept inverting DD99Z cones.

But about breaking in the subs. What you mentioned will change how the woofer plays, not the durability.

So they will just loosen up and play differently over time, just play them normally and it will happen. No need to do a fancy break in period.