Subwoofer smell

[onetime]

I replaced one of my subs and the new one smelled for about a month but has not smelled since.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Do members get notified when you put them on your ignore list? I had to put someone on this post on my list the other day. If they reply with my quote, please let them know that I will not be getting their nonsensical, greater than thou responses. I love that feature.

So instead of either trying to find any reputable source to back up your excess glue claim just put your fingers in your ears, close your eyes and yell "nya nya nya I can't hear you".
Well done. Come back and let us know when you've finished burning off all the "excess glue" on your coils.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

I have a subwoofer that has 1000wrms dual vc connected to 2ohm. My amp gives 1700wrms 2ohm, i have my gain adjustet to the output voltage of 45volt. Today i played it at 43 volume on my headunit for about 25minutes the max is 63 but i dont go past that because of clipping. So the subwoofer gave a little voicecoil smell and the subwoofer felt little warm is it ok i think the sub havent played that hard before.

There are, unfortunately, many songs that are super clipped. So even if you set it with a tone, your rca voltage may be even higher with a shitty rap producer who basically makes their bass-lines have square waves.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

Different coil coatings smell differently. Lack of cooling can cause overheating. Movement restricted minimizes travels, reduces cooling. A 1700W @ 2 ohm amp is based on a non-reactive load and perfect voltage and @ who knows what freq. Your sub will have impedance rise from movement and restrictions in movement from an enclosure. Clipping and distortion are the biggest issues that cause heat. Your sub has more resistance @ Fs and at enclosure tuning. If Fb is @ Fs, then the load on the amp will be much higher than nominal/Re impedance and trying to get power from the amp will run it right into clipping.

Do you mean mechanical or electrical resistance? That's why we have Qts values divided into Qes and Qms.

Playing at tuning with a good box, what you've said doesn't totally check out with me. Sub only has more resistance @ Fs if it's in not in an enclosure. Enclosure tuning largely overrides Fs. Fs still determines the nature of a woofer, but how a ported box loads has immensely more effect on how the woofer plays than Fs ever will, and electrical strain from amp.

If playing at tuning frequency made you clip, then why are most people's charging voltages so much better with a ported box around tuning frequency? Real world doesn't quite back that up, respectfully, IMO.

The further away from box tuning you play, typically the worse your voltage usage by your amp becomes, and that's when you run into clipping is when you voltage drop. Playing a ported box @ it's tuned frequency, maybe +2 hz above, is literally the most efficient note you're going to play, typically, in a vehicle. Vehicle resonances can cause a secondary peak away from box frequency, so the vehicle cabin will play a large role in how badly your sub unloads playing away from tuning frequency. Playing away from tuning frequency really increases electrical load, that's where an amp with a great dampening factor comes in. The unloading of the woofer means the woofer tends to move further, which means the feedback of the coil moving through the magnetic field of the motor is going to INCREASE. The coil is able to force electricity back into the amp way more when the woofer unloads. A lot of amps can't handle that. You will see a MASSIVE increase in voltage consumption whenever your woofer begins unloading from playing too far away from port frequency. My elemental designs 9.1's could. Dampening factor of 250? iirc. I had a hard time bottoming out my sub DC XL 18's. Fs of like 32-35 hz. Vb 13, Fb 29 hz@ 12.3 in^2 per cube port area. I could play lower than I could hear. I could do a 145 @ 27 hz (2400 watts rated), 149.3 @ 34-35 (vehicle resonance + sub Fs). Smaller port increase mechanical resistance, but you want to that a large extent with musical boxes.

Air/mechanical load and electrical load have different factors to it. Both change the increased live-time resistances (reactive load) as you're playing. The more an enclosure loads, typically the more efficient it is. That's why 4th and 6th order bandpasses are so loud between their bandwidth is because it's basically DOUBLE mechanical loading. The higher pressure the air inside of the enclosure, typically the better the woofer plays musically. A SPL one note wonder may be really efficient at one note, you know, big port, exact best air volume inside. But musically? Medium-ish sized boxes tend to play the best ported on music, with slightly above the smallest port area you can get away with, because it keeps the enclosure pressurized and the cone loaded across the widest frequency bandwith. So that means the woofer xmax will be more controlled, which means you electrical resistance is going to be more consistent. But you want a high mechnical load, lol, that's how you produce louder bass waves. If you want a loud daily system. you want to keep your woofer air/mechanically loaded across the widest frequency bandwidth that you can.

I double dog dare you to play full volume sine wave at ported box tuning frequency and then play full volume at 1.5 octaves above your tuning frequency, and tell me which one kills your woofer first. Or try to play 10-15 hz below tuning frequency and tell me if your voltage is better than at tuning frequency.

All in all, it doesn't matter what your reactive electrical/resistance load is for music; you shouldn't make your daily enclosure based around having a low resistance to electricity as your woofer plays. It matters how loud your sub is, at the end of the day.

 

[audio_phill 10+ year member]

Port area should be decided by Qes and Vas, you paraphrased and oddly elaborated on my previous comment. Higher freq can build heat due to reducing cooling from travel, The more effective the enclosure acoustically couples with its surrounding space the more efficient it is. Hence the horn.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

I was worried about my Dayton Ultimax cause it was smelling real bad but then again I was trying to shove twice the rms wattage into its coils. I was trying to run it at 1 ohm and my amp (RF Prime 1200-D) @ 1 ohm is more than the Dayton's rated RMS wattage. So I am running it at 4 ohms and not only does it sound much better, it stays much cooler and no coil smell. 500w rms sub w/ 400w rms amp @ 4 ohms. If the coils stink and the cone is warm/hot... it's time to rethink the power you are feeding it. Coil smell should be minimal and only last for a break in period if at all, if powered correctly.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

I was worried about my Dayton Ultimax cause it was smelling real bad but then again I was trying to shove twice the rms wattage into its coils. I was trying to run it at 1 ohm and my amp (RF Prime 1200-D) @ 1 ohm is more than the Dayton's rated RMS wattage. So I am running it at 4 ohms and not only does it sound much better, it stays much cooler and no coil smell. 500w rms sub w/ 400w rms amp @ 4 ohms. If the coils stink and the cone is warm/hot... it's time to rethink the power you are feeding it. Coil smell should be minimal and only last for a break in period if at all, if powered correctly.

I am breaking /loosening up a new sub at the moment. Its been in a week now.The newer XFL DVC 2 Ohm 12" in a 2.0 Cu Ft Enclosure@32Htz on a PPI Phantom 1000.1D, Enjoying it thus far. If this sub does fine.. I may pick up 3 more