How to Remove Speaker Grills

Repair or modification of Boston Whaler boats, their engines, trailers, and gear
zigzag930
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Speaker Grill Removal

Postby zigzag930 » Fri Nov 30, 2018 5:13 pm

I have a 2007 210 Outrage. I'm trying to remove the speaker grills. They are in perfect condition, but I think the speakers are dead. I can't seem to get the speaker grills off.

[Do the speaker grills come off by] twist or by pry?

There is a small slot on the bottom, but no set screw or anything there. I tried to put an angled screwdriver in there and pry them off, but they don'want to release. The grills are not frozen as they twist a little clockwise and counterclockwise.

Any assistance is appreciated.

Mr 88
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Re: Speaker Grill Removal

Postby Mr 88 » Fri Nov 30, 2018 8:49 pm

Most speaker grills are snapped on. If you think the speakers is cooked, I wouldn't worry about breaking the grill while trying to pry it off. You are going to replace the the speaker anyway and the new one will come with a new grill. Most replacement speakers will fit in the existing hole with no big problems. JBL and Fusion are excellent brands for replacement speakers and found easily on ebay or Amazon.

jimh
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Re: Speaker Grill Removal

Postby jimh » Fri Nov 30, 2018 10:39 pm

The existing loudspeakers should be tested to determine if all have failed. For all loudspeakers to simultaneously and spontaneously fail would be a very odd coincidence—a one in a million chance.

zigzag930
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Re: Speaker Grill Removal

Postby zigzag930 » Sat Dec 01, 2018 6:29 am

I am the new owner of this boat, so don't know if both rear loudspeakers failed at once or failed over time. Front loudspeakers work fine and are the same type.

I would like to test these speakers before replacing them, so I didn't want to break the covers in case they are working and I have a audio amplifier problem.

There is a little notch at the bottom, into which I have inserted a right angle screwdriver. I've put quite a bit of pressure and [the grill cover of the loudspeaker] didn't pop off. I will mess with removing the grill covers again today.

Mr 88
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Re: Speaker Grill Removal

Postby Mr 88 » Sat Dec 01, 2018 10:26 pm

If I were trying to see if [the cause of the loudspeakers not working is from] the [audio amplifier] or the loudspeakers, I would switch the wires where the wires are spliced. The splice is usually right behind the [amplifier]. Odds are they are shot.

I paid about $80 for all four of my JBL 6-inch round speakers. The mounting screw holes were the same as the original 25-year-old Fusion-brand loudspeakers that came out.

Wirenut
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Re: Speaker Grill Removal

Postby Wirenut » Sun Dec 02, 2018 6:29 am

I just received four new Fusion brand loudspeakers. Their grills are removable by twisting counter-clockwise.

ZIGZAG--what brand are your loudspeakers?

zigzag930
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Re: Speaker Grill Removal

Postby zigzag930 » Sun Dec 02, 2018 8:32 am

Whaler used Carion head units and remote controls on the boat, so it may be that they also used Carion speakers. I will send a pic to Clarion on Monday and see if they can identify them. There is no name or markings on the grills.

Regarding the idea of switching the wires to test the speakers, I would have liked to do that, but I don't see any splices. Radio plug seems to go directly to the speakers.

There is no wiring diagram for the radio and speakers that I've been able to find online. I suspect it isn't too complicated, but would be nice to know how and where the wires run.

Thanks for the help.

jimh
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Re: Speaker Grill Removal

Postby jimh » Sun Dec 02, 2018 8:43 am

Mr 88 wrote: Odds are they are shot.


Did you mean the loudspeakers, the wires, or the amplifier?

Mr 88
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Re: Speaker Grill Removal

Postby Mr 88 » Sun Dec 02, 2018 9:42 pm

jimh wrote:Did you mean the loudspeakers, the wires, or the amplifier?

The speakers, over time they have a tendency to dry out and fall apart.

jimh
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Re: Speaker Grill Removal

Postby jimh » Mon Dec 03, 2018 8:38 am

If the loudspeaker cone surround has failed, the loudspeaker will still work, that is, the loudspeaker will still produce sound output, but the low-frequency response will be much reduced. This is a different outcome than the loudspeakers "are dead."

jimh
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Re: Speaker Grill Removal

Postby jimh » Mon Dec 03, 2018 9:12 am

zigzag930 wrote:...Regarding the idea of switching the wires to test the speakers, I would have liked to do that, but I don't see any splices. Radio plug seems to go directly to the speakers.

The lack of spices in the wiring for the loudspeakers is evidence of a good installation. On a small boat there should never be a need to extend electrical conductors with splices, as the longest electrical conductor can't be very long on a small boat.

zigzag930
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Re: Speaker Grill Removal

Postby zigzag930 » Mon Dec 03, 2018 8:15 pm

Whaler support says these are twist off grills, and I need to hit the bottom right hard with my palm, twisting the grills counter-clockwise.

I will try that in the next day or so, when I can get over to the boat.

Mr 88
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Re: Speaker Grill Removal

Postby Mr 88 » Fri Dec 14, 2018 8:39 pm

Just out of curiosity, what ended up being the problem ?

zigzag930
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Re: Speaker Grill Removal

Postby zigzag930 » Fri Dec 14, 2018 8:44 pm

I wish I knew... Still haven't gotten the speaker grill off, but will work on it again next weekend.

zigzag930
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Removing White 6.5-inch Speaker Grills

Postby zigzag930 » Sun Jan 13, 2019 10:55 pm

How are white 6.5-inch speaker grills removed? I've tried prying and twisting, but afraid I will break them if put any more pressure on them.

zigzag930
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Re: How to Remove Speaker Grills

Postby zigzag930 » Fri Jan 18, 2019 1:22 pm

I finally have my answer: I pried the [speaker grills of the 6.5-inch white speakers} really hard and broke a small tab on one corner of the speaker, but they came off. I've glued the tab back, so I think it will be ok. The speaker grills are twist off. They didn't want to twist, but I guess I just didn't turn them hard enough. Or, there was too much dirt buildup in them to let them turn.

Now the grills are off and I have Panasonic Premium Marine EASA16PX86A1 speakers. No idea if these are original or not, but they did work when hooked up to another radio. When I put a working set of speakers to the rear terminals, no sound, so I am pretty sure the radio's fader-amplifier is out.

I am headed out to pull the harness apart and test at the radio, but I think I will be buying a new radio for the boat. Not the end of the world as they now make round radios to fit the same size hole as the old round Clarion remote. New radio will have bluetooth so I can stream. Also, I can get rid of that radio inside the console that always seems to be in the way.

Hope this information on how to remove the speaker grill will be helpful.

zigzag930
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Re: How to Diagnose Problems with Speakers

Postby zigzag930 » Sat Jan 19, 2019 9:12 am

A while back [user MR88] asked about the actual [cause of the] problem [with the loudspeakers] and why they weren't working.

After five hours crawling around in very tight spaces, it turned out there were two splices in the bilge area. While the splices were covered by heat-shrink tubing and looked perfect, both were bad.

I tested the old speakers on a working stereo and they were fine.

Then I tested another set of working speakers on the existing wires and no sound--expected as the original speakers weren't the problem.

Next I jammed two lead tips into the radio harness (right at the radio) and connected them to a speaker. All good there.

I was actually expecting the radio to be defective and was planning to order a new one. Good thing I tested here, because the new radio would not have fixed this problem.

Next I hooked up a 10-foot-long wire from the radio (again, slipping a probe into the harness) and connected it to the speaker, which then worked fine and confirmed the extra (and minimal) resistance of a long wire was not the [cause of the problem]. So then I knew I had a wiring problem.

Using the assumption that the crimps in the console were probably fine--there was no sign of weathering--I started to trace the speaker wires back into the bilge. I found two barrel crimps on the port side. I figure--what the hell-- it isn't working anyway, so might as well cut here and test. [And there was a problem there.]

Next I found the starboard barrel connectors in a mass of zip tied other cables, and I was able to cut them and replace all.

All working now.

jimh
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Re: How to Remedy Problems with Speaker Wiring

Postby jimh » Sat Jan 19, 2019 9:22 am

Thanks for the detailed narrative of your diagnosis of the cause of the problem with the aft set of entertainment system loudspeakers not working on your 21-foot boat being due to poor electrical connections in many splices you found in the wiring for those speakers.

There should never be a need nor is there a good reason for any electrical conductor to have a splice on a boat that is only 21-feet long. Getting a continuous non-spliced electrical conductor that is only about 21-feet long is not an extravagant expense, and avoiding splices will pay back a substantial reward because of higher reliability. As you have discovered, if any electrical conductor has a splice, that splice will eventually be a source of trouble. If that splice is in some hidden part of the boat where water is intended to collect, locating a splice there is just madness.

Although you described the diagnostic process in detail, you omitted all details of your remedy to repair the discontinuity in the wiring.

Please comment on exactly what you did to remedy this problem.

I hope you will tell us you discarded all the original wiring, and you ran all new speaker wiring, with no splices, from the speakers to the amplifier terminals.

A single conductor wire-to-wire splice is usually made with a device called a "butt splice." The term connector is usually reserved for devices that can be mated and unmated, an important aspect of a connector. A single conductor wire-to-wire butt splice is a one-time use device, and is not designed to be mated and unmated, thus it fails to qualify as a connector.

A "barrel connector" is a term used to describe a female gender connector made integral with another female gender connector to allow it to be an adapter so that two male gender connectors can be mated. The most common use of a the term barrel connector is perhaps to refer ti one designed to join two PL-259 coaxial cable-end plugs. This is sometimes called a "double SO-239" connector, but I am not sure there is a military listed part designator for it because the military would probably eschew use of such an adaptor. Amphenol lists it as a part 083-1J.

jimh
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Re: How to Remove Speaker Grills

Postby jimh » Sat Jan 19, 2019 11:18 am

zigzag930 wrote:I finally have my answer: I pried the [speaker grills of the 6.5-inch white speakers} really hard and broke a small tab on one corner of the speaker, but they came off...Hope this information on how to remove the speaker grill will be helpful.


If I understand your narrative, although the method suggested to remove the grills covering the loudspeakers was by rotating (or "twisting") the grills in a counterclockwise direction, you were never able to accomplish removal of the grills from the loudspeakers with that method, and you resorted to prying off the grills, which damaged them in the process. Since your boat was made in c.2007, perhaps exposure to weather, sun, dirt, and so on, for about 11 years caused there to be too much friction in the rotating axis to break loose the grill from its locked position. Perhaps upon reinstallation of the loudspeaker grills you could lubricate the retainer lock mechanism track with some silicon spray-on grease. The silicon sprays generally do not harm plastics, and they should help to prevent the grills from becoming locked in the future.

zigzag930
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Re: How to Remove Speaker Grills

Postby zigzag930 » Sat Jan 19, 2019 12:56 pm

That is a very good idea! They are back on now and holding tight, but now that I can get them on and off, I will lubricate them for future removal. (Let's hope that will not be for a long time.)