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ESL 63 panel refurbishment?

That's 3.5 hours of my life I won't get back, what a bastard job - strip out top 3 panels as one unit, but that requires about 4 million wires to be unsoldered, and 12 clips to be loosened or removed. Anyhow, happy path - I left the CD104 playing since yesterday, and all sounding very good again.

I'll pop the bad panel open over weekend to see what happened, I assume mylar split at edge of panel.

A few piccies;
Just faulty bass panel left;
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3 good panels removed as a unit;
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Quad's design means everything just falls apart at this stage :)
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These helped hugely to loosen/remove black clips holding the wires to the frame
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It's scary how loose the black panels are - remove the screws holding them to the frame and they slit by half a mm - I again I used my super bodge, 6 crocodile clips to clamp it closed (the white panels use 4 [per side])
52186913876_0c1679944c_k.jpg


Guess it really doesn't matter, but 6 or 8 of the wires had the insulation broken through when Quad fitted the black clips - my OCD can't handle that, so I re-insulated all the affected ones;
52187166064_03f0745066_k.jpg
 
Just to close this off, here's the damage causing the arcing - wasn't as bad as this when I first split panel, but glue that holds mylar to edge of stator had failed, which meant a tiny hole was allowing the mylar to flap down into the stator and arc. That and the split at one edge were the only issues - to be honest, surprised it caused such an issue - I guess because of mylar glue failure at edge of stator frame. I send it off to Oz with it's partner for a rebuild hopefully :)

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Big split, but no arcing from here
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Not sure I'd try powering it up like this :) Glue had completely failed (or was never there) for area of stator without the mylar
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Richard
 
I'm such an idiot - why didn't I check the state of the stator glue before fitting the above bass panel? Maybe I'd have detected it had failed, and re-glued it before it ripped a 3cm split in the mylar coating :( Got woken up this morning at 4am with a click-click-click sound of arcing... Switched speaker off and cancelled plans for day...

I'm such a twat! A little bit more care and I guess I could have avoided this - I'm assuming bass panel at bottom of frame gets a much harder life then one at top, due to rigidity - it failed in same place as the original, bottom right.

Anyhow, strip it all again - this time use logic; you only need to remove wires and clips at front - at rear of panel just remove clips and the 3 solder wires. You can then push the whole frame backwards and just about slide the panel out. Much easier.

Re-assembly was hampered by me putting 2 stators together the wrong way round - DOH! Only discovered after re-fitting panel, all needed to come out again - additionally complicated because I also needed to remove the 12 bulldog clips...and refit the bastards.

So far, so good - been playing low volume for 30 mins now - but for sure I need a couple more bass panels soon :)

Pictures;
Pushing frame backwards to allow release of bottom panel;
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Tight fit, but just works
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Honestly, I'm soo stoopid...this could have been avoided
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Re-glueing the stator edges
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Whole bottom right hand corner flapping (top left hand corner when bass panel mounted at top - I never heard any problem when it was there...but shit, should have checked)
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I do not think this will last long as a repair :)
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I am *so* pissed off with myself...

Richard
 
So - been listening 2 nights now no problem, cranked volume to excessive levels tonight - apart from bleeding ears my neighbors must be pissed :)

Repaired bass panel so far OK - very slight and occasional click from other speaker lower original bass panel - will need to re-glue it again I guess - and I’d forgotten, it’s that time of year where panel glue problems show up - at least here in Switzerland.

My question is - do you think my sticky tape repair will last 4-6 months? It will take that long to ship the failed panels to Oz, get the rebuilt and have them sent back. If not, I’m seriously tempted to just order another 2 bass panels from Quad now and be done with it. I’ve had excellent service from these 63s, bought for €450 in 2008 or 2009 when I was in Dublin. DIY fixed since then except for recent £450 purchase of 2 bass panels. Is another £450 OK for 2 more? Or hold off and hope they last another 6 months? :)

Listening to them via my new Micromega Duo CD transport and refurbed Wadia X-32 DAC - transport been on for a week now - my god these 2 just make music, absolutely not hifi, just pure music. Stunning :) Bit scared to try my modified Naim CDI again now.

Thanks, Richard
 
You're handy Richard....

Buy the kit from Oz, repair yourself and you'll be self sufficient for years into the future.....
 
fran said:
You're handy Richard....

Buy the kit from Oz, repair yourself and you'll be self sufficient for years into the future.....
Click to expand...

Thanks Fran - you're right of course, kit on way - less than cost of one new bass panel with priority postage.
 
Dowser said:
Ah, the kit will provide a whole new source for cussing I suspect - can you imagine the joys of tensioning mylar on a work top using gaffa tape? :D
Click to expand...
The one reason I hope my 57s keep on going and I have enough cash to take them to OTA...
 
Dowser said:
Ah, the kit will provide a whole new source for cussing I suspect - can you imagine the joys of tensioning mylar on a work top using gaffa tape? :D
Click to expand...

Get yourself a piece of toughened glass comfortably bigger than you need and 8mm thick at least. Another option is a piece of kitchen worktop, but better to get a glossy one. You'll need another bit for gluing down the stators - its all in the manual. After you make a balls of the first panel, the second one comes easier.

My recommendation - completely disassemble the panels when you're at it anyway and glue the stators on with fresh glue. Once its done there's no opening it back up. Soldering iron for cutting the mylar, and for poking the holes in the support pillars in the centre of the panels. A stanley knife blade held in your hand is very effective for removing the old glue.

Oh and RTFM he sends you as well!!
 
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