Computer speaker repair made easy! To learn electronics in a very different and effective way, and gain access to Mr Carlson's personal designs and inventions, visit the Mr Carlson's Lab Patreon page here: / mrcarlsonslab
#restoration #electronics #repair
To learn electronics in a very different and effective way, and gain access to Mr Carlson's personal designs and inventions, visit the Mr Carlson's Lab Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/MrCarlsonsLab
New filter caps, and install a full wave rectifier!
I would like to know how you deal with the potting material used on circuit boards!, thanks 😊
I the bellow speaker fake one or it is a piezoelectric one?
@@amotriuc Its called a Passive radiator
@@b.powell3480 it had 4 1n4000 series diodes that make up the Full wave bridge rectifier
This is some kind of weird miracle. I am setting up a new office and literally yesterday I found this EXACT model of Logitech PC speakers with the same failure mode. What a strange universe we live in. Love your videos, and thanks for making an episode seemingly just for me! 🤣
Its a common occurrence now day to have bad electrolytics in imported products build quality is a thing of the past
@MrAr15 Idon't even remember the last piece of electronics without a fake UL sticker or emblem. It's a sad sad world.
@@jagtan13 UL now stands for Usual Lies lol
They left them behind because the Audio is dreadful.
@@2100Warzone They left them behind because the previous owner passed away. The audio is fine for computer speakers. They are not made to please audiophiles, nor are they priced or built as such. Offices don’t need hifi-there’s a always a market if someone wants better fidelity. My coworker died happy with what he had. I think we should count our blessings and mend what we can.
Paul you forgot to wash off the electronics with a hose first.
Putting electronics in the dishwasher is more in the style of Linus Sebastian from Vancouver. Linus Tech Tips
@@anthonyshiels9273 Agreed Sir👍
@@anthonyshiels9273 Not anymore. Linus stepped down so he’s full time power washing electrics nowadays.
The best electronics youtube channel ever. Mr Carlson's eye for detail feeds perfectly in with OCD and perfectionism. This is how you do things right. Love the hot glue tip.
It doesn't matter what is on Mr Carlsons bench, it's always an interesting watch. Thanks for all you do, sir.
And- oh no , dust.
A very practical demonstration even for a non-technical user, very neat.
Unfortunately those kind of "fake" videos get millions of views! I like sticking to genuine non-sped up content :)
There was a jump cut though...😂
@@bzuidgeest yep, right after he said how much he hates them! 😂
Mad respect. Mechanic for 40 years
This video gets a like from me just for the fact that you put effort into fixing stuff that most people won't bother with due to the low price of a replacement item. This is really protecting the environment and not that green crap that wants to restrict your heating in the winter.
18:25 finally someone who know, how to remove dry hot glue, in proper way (using isopropyl alcohol) 😍
Nice to see a disassembly of these... I have four sets, and always buy them when I see them at second hand. Have handed three of four sets over to friends. Great small speakers that stack up nicely when stored away. Using one set connected to and old phone as a very loud alarm clock. (Edit: none of the sets that have passed my hands have had any failures)
I'm happy with these speakers as well..had mine for years !
Thank you, Mr., Carlson. I had a similar issue with my speakers and this demonstration allowed me to fix the problem and not dispose of a perfectly good set of speakers.
"perfectly good" you must be joking these are ewaste by design. Spend more than 20-50 bucks on some speakers or I don't get some actual speakers and an external Amp. You don't need to spend 2k on a schiit vidar and kef ls50 metas but sure as ish you can afford to spend 150 on some Mackie cr3s. You will thank me.
@@TheObsesedAnimeFreaks Meh, just do what I do, connect your pc to a stereo system works wonders.
@@toysoldier46552 lol or that
Nothing like fixing something for a very low cost so you dont have to throw them away! I love those panasonic caps.
6:52 - Magnetism at work (except 'rolling back to their spot'! ) :)
Nice, easy, inexpensive fix! Thank you for showing us and keeping it out of the landfill.
I appreciate your calm, knowledgeable long-form content. There are days when something like this really helps me to keep pushing.
You don't really realize how funny Mr. Carlson is until you watch about a dozen videos. Witty and sardonic, what a great combination.
Nicely done Mr C👍👍 This repair was interesting and anybody with similar speaker systems will benefit from the solution. I'm surprised you spared some time to diagnose the engineering failure and repair of these speakers as inexpensive as they are. Just goes to show anything related to electronics is showcased on your channel, thank you. 73's
I find it super that this has been repaired as a lot of those simple amps/speakers are thrown away only needing a quite simple and cheap repair. Of course ... only something to do by the "DIY-man". No "repairshop" will put about half an hour time into this as the customer will not pay for the repairtime ... By the way ... If you'd have some vintage speakers by hand (bookshelf-type or even bigger) ... just disconnect the built-in speakers and connect the amp to those "bookshelf-thingies" (respecting the polarity). I connected once such a tiny amp to vintage vintage ALTEC A7 (yes HUGE speakers) ... The result was quite impressive!
I have 2 sets of these speakers. 1 at home and 1 at work. The work ones are quite hummy, home ones are not too bad. Have been putting off fixing them. You confirmed what I figured, bad filter cap. Interesting. I have the same Mastercraft screwdrivers, the same Costco Isopropyl, and a parts cabinet full of Panasonic FM and FC caps.
Take a blow drier and heat the case, this will soften the glue and plastic to make it easier to remove. Thanks for the video. Good luck, Mike
Your upload of this video is perfect timing, I have the same set of speakers and been putting up with a hum for past two years. Looks like it will be an easy fix. Thanks for sharing all your knowledge and skills.👍
lucky
yeah they're not bad speakers i have a pair i have not used for a couple of years, mabye it's time i looked at them.
Hello Paul, My first transmission rebuild was a Muncie M22 out of a 1974 Firebird Formula 400 that I purchased used when I was 20 years old (bad 1-2 syncros). I’m glad to hear that you’re also a master in the garage! 👍🏼
Brilliant episode, I was listening to you through a set of the very same speakers but without the hum (touch wood).
Makes me hark back to when I worked at Ohio State. Every Dell, and gateway from the early 90s, to mid 00ts came with speakers that were about like this. They all had the board in one side, and the transformer in the other. I'm sure part of it was for weight, but the bigger reason they didn't separate things was they would have had to spend an extra quarter or two to make the second board. It was always amazing how good a poorly designed set of really cheap speakers sounded though. There were some during that era that had the volume/power switch that cut the AC, so they weren't on all the time. Later in the 00ts they just came with a wall wart. I did the exact same thing for lots of crappy speakers in the departments I worked in so they didn't end up in a landfill.
Hi Brian - this video was a reminder to me of my time at Altec Lansing in the UK in the mid 90's until I joined a young Diamond Audio. I was a technical account manager for Dell and Gateway in Ireland - that would have certainly been the brand on the Dell, I think Gateway used other types too. Yes, most of the 2.1 systems had an inbuilt transformer and some 2 channel ones also did (even a toroidial in some of them! But that's a whole other painful tale!!) then the change to wall-warts came along to bug me! The advantage in Europe of self-contained supplies was that the European plugs could simply have a UK converter plug put on as needed, thus eliminating the need for two skus for Europe/UK....if you'd seen the warehouses full of speakers, you'd have understood why this was a good thing!
So simple and so helpful. Thank you
I'd honestly love to see you do a transmission teardown/repair video. Your attention to detail and ability to explain seemingly anything would be awesome for it. Most of the videos I've come across are just teardown guys fly through everything with even faster explanations.
Enjoyed the little video. I fixed two things recently using the check-for-bulging-caps method, a 15 yo flat screen TV and a 35 yo IBM computer monitor. Good tip about the glue and alcohol.
Good show Thank You .I really liked that ESR / Capacitor tester handy tool
Enjoying your repairs, but what I love the most is the engineering rants! You reached the EEVBlog level on that one :)
Yes, but he forgot to call the hot glue "hot snot".
hi Keri,.
Nice repair Paul. I have a set of very manky Creative computer speakers that I must have bought about 18 years ago or more for the staggering cost of £30 (brand new). One of those sets with the subwoofer/amp unit and two tiny passive main speakers that was popular at that time. I still use them today and haven't had to so much as replace a cap in them yet. The one time I did have to take them to bits I was actually pleasantly surprised by the build quality. Whole thing is powered by a little class B 4x5w amp-on-a-chip, with two of the channels bridged to drive the sub driver. All things considered, they really do sound surprisingly good for what's inside them.
I have a Cambridge Soundworks-branded powered sub-woofer with two satellite speakers and power supply - marketed as a computer accessory - that I bought in the mid/late 90s and that, many years later after, admittedly, modest use in terms of hours, still sounds great. The "Cambridge" in the name refers to Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. The company was one of the audio businesses founded or co-founded by the late Hentry Kloss (others included Audio Research, Advent and Tivoli). Cambridge Soundworks was acquired by Creative in 1997.
@@ttnyny I have a ZoltriXound from about 1996 like that. Sub box with 2 tiny satellites on my desk. It's so many years used the beige case is yellow and the red letters all faded off. Only had to take it apart to reconnect the left channel input wire on the jack board. Have forgotten it was powered on for days or weeks at a time. Works great while I have seen many of the powered home theatre subs blow the amplifier after a couple years.
Trouble is with those cross point screws they are never the same as the screw driver you have to hand! A lot of older Japanese, and some Cinese units, use JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) screws which are just ever so slightly different to Phillips and Pozidriv - and the driver you need is always the one at the bottom of the tool box anyway!
So Paul, the surprise to me after the disassembly of these speakers, we saw that one of the drivers is actually a passive driver. So the "bass" driver is passive. A real surprise.
Very useful for day to day people who do not use vintage audio equipment. Very helpful.
Bless you for putting that much effort into repairing Logitech anything..😂👍
I had a pair of these at my former employer back in around 2011! When new, these speakers Rock! The Great thing about your video, it's great to see the things that happen to these as they age and how a simple $1.50 brand new capaciter brings new life and give them a second chance to last another 10 to possibly and maybe 20 more years of use. Great Video!
I enjoy watching your videos but get lost on the more complicated equipment. This is a job I think I could even tackle. Thank you for taking the time to record this.
Well done, I was just itching for you to test those other caps even though you were convincing us they didn't need to be replaced, but like the consciencious man you are you tested them anyway. Sometimes these little inepensive things aren't commecialy viable to repair, but as a home project there is joy in getting them working again. Thnks for the alcohol and hot glue tip.
We knew it was a filter capacitor, excellent tip on removing the hot glue.
A fellow gear head! Two of my passions cars and electronics. Yes a transmission has a lot of parts.
I have these exact speakers..I use them for my T.V in my bedroom...I've had them for years and still work and sound great...I find these speakers an excellent quality product
Besides repair, also details learned, thank you very much!
I had the same speaker's, well explained
Thank you MrCarlson
You're very welcome Josh.
Another good practical video, Paul!
excellent job Paul... as ever, thanks for sharing. I love your videos...I learn more every time I watch one...
Nice trip down memory lane for me.. .thanks!
Paul build your own pair of speakers that would be very nice to watch and I know they would be overbuilt and sound great.
So, it looks like either a wash bottle (125 or 250 mL squeezable bottle with a fine tip that is curved or straight) of isopropyl alcohol should be part of a good repair kit as something to break out hot glue. These wash bottles are readily available from science supply stores. Or you could use an inexpensive 3-5 mL disposable bulb pipettor to suck rubbing alcohol out of the stock bottle and directly attack the hot glue blobs or "fill" in this type of consumer electronics. I really like these tips and techniques on restoration and remodeling/repair of "low cost" consumer electronics items from today and the "classics of yesteryear". And I agree with the engineering comments, as a switchable "wall wart" could have supplied clean DC power to both units and minimized the AC hum on the speakers. But, with rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol or lacquer thinner (or mineral spirits, etc.) be very cautious about using too much, as these products can damage plastics. Even with fiberglass tubing or heat shrink tubing.
Wow, this is so cool. Your channel is a gem. I wish this had been available when I was studying solid state physics back in college. We slaved over things like "the h(ie) small signal parameter looking into the base of a common emitter transistor amplifier'" but never really learned to repair real life stuff . It's as if what you do here and what they teach in school are two parallel universes.
Many of these speakers have this problem. Glad you could show folks how simple the repair is. I have fixed several of these similar to this one in the same way. As long as they don't have a wall wart, the filter cap is a good candidate for hum problems. Thanks Paul.
@Rocco. Noob question. What difference does the wall wart make? No AC in speaker?
@@markhelseth253 no rectification in unit. Simply replace the wall wart. You could repair the wall wart, but many are too difficult to get open in a non-destructive manner.
@@RocRizzo Ahhh. Thanks!
This was a cool video to watch Professor Carlson and it seems like the glue was more of a problem. Thanks for sharing.
Must be my lucky day since I too have exactly the same set of speakers with the same "annoying" hum. You saved many of these from ending up in the e-TRASH dumps. Thanks for such meticulous attention to detail even in the opening of the case as well as the release of the hot glue trick. You are like the VIZARD of the E-TRON universe🤣🤣👍👍
Looks like an easy half mil of test equipment or more in your lab there! It must be nice! I've seen a lot that I used to use daily in my days as a technician and in engineering. I kind of miss it but I have forgotten so much after the 10+ years I've been off the bench! It was fun watching!
Thanks 👍
thanks Paul, another great video
Week 16 2009 built, still held up pretty well!
Considering its been doing this for about 7 years (They put up with it,) it's still no so bad, but not good either.
Great video post as usual! Thank you! I learn something in each, especially when you go off on tangents.
My "computer speaker" is a single 100 watt old stereo speaker under the shelf next to my repair bench powered by a 1957 Challenger amp with PP 6V6's that I was able to repair thanks to watching your videos. I'd like to make a wooden box to keep speakers in to protect them when working on vintage radios when the cabinet is not practical to move into the shop. My favorite videos are the one's where the guy runs his water pump, tv, a/c and other stuff from an old 200 watt ceiling fan made into a generator! Or the one's that have "Chinese rock" and no words telling you what's going on. NOW.....Wait a minute! Shango066's tv's may be dirty, but he DOES get them all going! (or blows them up!) Thanks for all you do!
6:40 loved that comment 👍 Very true. Not even 🪛, fingers also love to poke speaker cones. Especially the old paper cones The first thing I do is remove the speakers and lay them face down, away from the work area and away from danger.
I've found that the same tools/fingers love to go straight for crt necks. That final hiss is stomach sickening.
"Hey Logitec... Need some engineering lessons?" LOL!! 🤣
My first video ever, was getting that amplifier back to use with decent speakers, and it didn't sound bad either.
glue is used to reduce vibrations. great work again!
Paul you have discovered what many people know about logitech speakers, when they work they work great, when they stop working properly they are impossible to get into. This is not specific models, it's virtually all logitech speakers. It's amazing how you can fix the most complex electronic equipment Paul, but can be stumped not by the complexity of the device but by not being able to get into them to fix. Some are glued, some have screws under the speaker grill, which deforms the moment you try to pull it out to get at the screws. But as usuall a great fix it video.
One way for tackling glued grills is to gently heat the whole unit up. Putting it in the car on a sunny day works, or by the window behind a curtain to keep the heat in the space. It helps to heat them up slowly so the entire body had accumulated the heat and won’t cool down rapidly just as you’re wrestling the grill off. Sometimes the grills are glued with a plastic solvent type of a glue and those are almost impossible to remove :(
Super handy; I have a set of Logitech speakers with the same issue that - when I put them away - I didn't know how to resolve the issue. Since learned a lot of electronics and this has inspired me to go back and investigate.
As always...wonderful and entertaining...
nice video, i had a heck of time trying to open these as well.
Oh is this ever one I can use. I love your channel.
I have the same speakers with the same problem, thanks for showing how to fix it!
You're very welcome!
I learned alot here just from a simple speaker repair
Real time, i just love it.
I immediately guessed what the problem was with those speakers as soon as you turned them on the first time, due to the way the hum was even MORE excessive upon first turning them on. (A bad filter cap will let even more AC through with a heavier load, as in the momentary surge of current required upon initial start up of an amp, etc.) You had said that the new cap you put in there was not only physically bigger, but also BETTER than the original one, so I suppose, since it is newer than the original cap also, that the new one is not only a better brand of capacitor, but also either a slightly higher uF value, a higher voltage rating, and/or a higher temperature rated one than the original one too... But since you never specifically mentioned WHY the new cap was better than the original, OR if you upgraded any of the values of it, (as listed above), I will ask you if you will please clarify those aspects of it, because I'm curious why you upgraded it also, instead of just replacing it with another cap of the exact same value and voltage, etc. as the original one... Thanks, and hopefully you'll actually see this comment!
As I know after watching the video (and so do you): Old cap: 16v 2200uf some random chinese New cap: 16v 2200uf panasonic It is better cap as in, better build quality and materials.
Probably because it was only a $1.50...
@@mikas2051 Well if that was the ONLY thing that was upgraded about it, (was the brand), then that doesn't make sense because he said it was considerably physically larger than the original one was, and newer capacitors almost NEVER get physically larger than older ones of the exact same specs, due to continual improvements in the manufacturing process, so brand new caps of completely identical specs to an older original part are almost always SMALLER than the original part, or at the very least, exactly the same size. But the fact that the brand new cap that he put in this speaker is physically so much larger than the original one that he had to actually modify the way it was mounted, leads me to believe that he must have upgraded something else about the new cap also, other than ONLY just the brand of it... I would like to hear the exact details about this directly from him, but realistically he is so busy that he may never even see this comment thread, much less actually reply to it... We'll see I guess.
Love the hot glue trick. Good stuff.
Awesome video sir!
Subscribed, you had me at speakers and Big Clive like disassebly and explanation 🤓
This brought back memories of when I had to work on my realistic pro 2005 scanner. After 15 years of service the audio speaker went out in it. So I opened the case up and looked around and found that 1 of the capacitors had blown in it. It actually blew off the ground lead for the capacitor at the board itself. The speaker was making a distorted sound when the volume was turned up and was complex garbled and you could not make out what was being said at all. The capacitor in question was a 25v@2200uf which controls the power flow to the speaker. Since it blew it enough to actually sever the ground lead from the capacitor and the board I removed it and replaced it with a 50v@2200uf capacitor which you can do on audio applications. Some of them anyway not all of them however. The 50v@2200uf is holding the current and the speaker is back in operation again and I can hear everything that is being said as clear as a bell now. What he did in this video is exactly what I did also in the pro 2005, replacing one capacitor on the board and that’s it. A very simple fix and a lot easier and less dangerous then fooling with that old radio equipment from the 1920’s 30’s, 40’s, 50’s that uses high power tubes in them that can hold up to 5,000 VAC ON GROUND. This man has all the necessary equipment to fix equipment like that and won’t sell it? If I had the knowledge that he has to be able to work on equipment like that I would fix it and sell it and GET RID OF IT. Why? Because at some point in time the parts for this type of equipment are going to be extremely hard to find and then he will be stuck with that old equipment unable to get rid of it at all. I would sell it for whatever I could get for it and GET RID OF IT WHILE I STILL CAN BEFOR ITS TOO LATE.
Nice video..👍 Thank you
Quality video as always sir!
Nice PAUL greate job very professional well explained your the best of the best on You Tube best channel out there. Love to watch your videos the most thanks 73s Mike
Hey I’ve got some of those here in my old junk box. Good speakers. ❤
LOL.. I completely agree about screwdrivers having a strong pull straight for the nearest speaker!
Repairing a not complex device is still fun and satisfying
You can't wrong using the latest test equipment there Paul. LCR-Reader-MPA by Siborg Systems . Nice!
I also have a great pair of computer speakers that run in AC from an external power supply. They are superb speakers. I traded some crappy speakers for these with a friend of mine years ago. The power supply brick was missing, which is why we traded.
I may suggest, to make the world a safer place, you should form a Carson's engineering guild, with quality must do criteria for all manufacturers!
What make is that capacitor checker that works like a tweezers? Great repair, I love simple jobs like this Thank you
LCR-Reader-MPA by Siborg Systems Inc. They are in Canada hey.
@@hestheMaster 💲💲💲It only costs $400 💲💲💲
@@robschertler8099 It's very very accurate. That makes it very very expensive.
3M makes a CA adhesive for plastic and rubber called Scotch-Weld and is number PR40. They also have one called PR100, and is made for polyethylene and polyester plastics, and uses an activator. The PR40 will work on ATV tires and the like, but for sidewall repairs, is not suitable for radial tires used on public roads, as there would be a liability issue.
So right about screw drivers and surrounds. Been there, done that…
I've got these exact speakers i keep for spares because of the headphone socket, they're not the best for clarity to my taste, but still usable, i use a set of Polaroid 2.1 with wireless headphones as a normal setup.
Logitech computer accessories have served me very well. Keyboards, speakers, etc. work as advertised for me and each lasts 4-6 years. For the cost and ease of availability I have no complaints.
so much for the right to repair. Modern society. "Throw it away and buy new". But not with a mr Carlson in the neighbourhood. Everybody needs a Mr Carlson.😁
awesome video and your channel is grand too
I've got 3 sets of these same speakers, and one started buzzing a while back. Now I know what to check! :D
Thanks for the video. Was wondering could you have use hot air to remove the grill?
Thanx Paul for the Isopropyl alcohol as a release agent for hot glue.
great fix, informative and entertaining as always gj
Good tip about the alcohol and hot glue. Next time I'll give it a try. tnx
Cool ancient speakers and a nice repair job. I am listening to this on my new Logitech speakers. They have an earphone jack which is handy :-)
I liked it. I learned something.
Love these simple repairs! It gives me ideas on how to fix some simple electronics around the house. I'm wondering how these speakers got into the lab. I'm imagining a beautiful lady politely asks for some help. 😂
In my opinion for Mr Carlson to waste his time on such junk it had to be his Mom…
New part 1 dollar, know-how 100 dollars
@@cormackeenan8175 😂 I was thinking the same thing.
You have psychic powers Daniel!
Heck yea.