Building Crossover (1 Viewer)

[Jeremy Hopkins]

Right now I'm in the process of building my crossovers...but I'm having some troubles.

Will it really matter what size wire I have running to the drivers? The two drivers are the Seas P16REX and 25TAC/D. I have 12 gauge wire now, but soldering three pieces of it is going to be a pain. Would using 16 for the tweet and 14 for the mid be ok?. This would allow me to know which one is which too. The wire coming into the crossover will still be the 12 gauge.

Can anyone give me some helpful suggestions in general to building crossovers? This is my first time building these (have soldered before) things, so I want them to be good.

Thanks

Jeremy

 

[Jeremy Hopkins]

Doh...can't edit it....by three pieces of wire I mean soldering them together.

 

[Jonathan_D]

Considering the distances involved, I don't think you'll notice a difference between using 12ga all around and 16 ga all around.

 

[Mark Hayenga]

16ga wire is fine. 12ga is a pain to solder and isn't really going to gain you anything for only a foot-long run.

I build crossovers on 1/4" hardboard. Cut a small section (say 4x6 inches) and play around with parts layout, making sure to orient the inductors at 90 degrees to each other. I usually affix inductors and resistors to the board with hot glue, and the caps get glued down with Liquid Nails for small projects (caps won't survive the hot glue temp). You may want to use plastic ties on the heavier inductors. Sand the inductor leads to get rid of the enamel covering before affixing them to the board. Use colored hookup wire and mark each wire with the appropriate connection (ie T+, TGND, W+, etc). Use a big iron (40+ watts) as multiple wire connections can really sink heat away from the joint, and you'll end up heating the cap leads too much and the joint not enough.

HTH,

 

[Mark_E_Smith]

What Mark says plus,

Try not to put your inductors next to each other(opposite ends of the x-over board), and install them perpendicular to each other. ie I- or IO not II or =.

I used silicon sealer on my caps to glue them down. Then I smeared a line of the silicon in all the joints of my box to seal it up tight.

I also use 16 ga wire for my speakers.

 

[Jeremy Hopkins]

Thanks a lot for the replies.

I'm gonna get some smaller wire tomorrow. I think I'm gonna try and find some silicon tomorrow as well. I almost forgot about that. I'm glad you guys menioned using the silicon cause I would have put the hot glue one my caps .

I have to get some silicon anyway to seal up some spots on the speakers. I will post a pic when everything is done....The design is a mix of WATT/Puppies and Tony Gee's Andromeda or the Geers eVe II....Tony himself has helped me a lot on this project...especially with the crossovers. I still can't think him enough...Thanks Tony!!

Cheers,

Jeremy

 

[Chris Tsutsui]

If you havn't gotten the Silicon, I use this stuff called "shoe goo" which is sold at hobby shops works great.

If you use heat shrink or silicon to seal the solder connections, your crossover might last longer and also remember to double check all the soldered connections so that they are strong and none will come.

 

[Mark_E_Smith]

You might consider using "lamp cord" available at most hardware stores. I have used this for years as my standard speaker wire. And yes Ive tried the big exspensive monster speaker cables and couldnt hear the difference untill you droped below 18 ga or had a run over 25 ft to 50 ft

 

[Jeremy Hopkins]

How long would too long be when heating the components for soldering? I just really do not want to damage my caps. I have everything wired up dry and ready to be soldered together tomorrow morning. I'm going to practice on some extra pieces of wire at first just to make sure I can still do it. I really really really don't want to have to try and desolder these...

Thanks

Jeremy

 

[Anthony_Gomez]

if you use silicon, let it dry a MINIMUM of 2 days before you install the drivers with it. The "solvent" that evaporates will ruin the drivers (so I hear).

 

[Brian Fellmeth]

Frying the caps is a real concern. You can try to protect them with a heat sink. Any aligator clip will work- put it on the lead away from where solder will flow. rat shack makes a verision with no teeth that pulls heat off the lead a little better.

 

[Jeremy Hopkins]

well I soldered everything up this morning...and I don't think I fried anything. I tried not to heat the cap leads too long, just enough to get the wire. I didn't read this soon enough to try and use a heat sink....but...

Considering they are playing behind me without boxes I think they are good. They wires are just dry fitted to the drivers, they sound good so far . I can't wait to finish the boxes.