Werid smell?

thedeal7235 · Post by **thedeal7235** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 5:50 pm

so , i put my "work system" back in my work truck over the last couple of days, just finished the subs tonight- and there was a really weird smell coming form the diamond d6s(dual 4 ohms(10s) wired series/par- in a downfiring box i built about 8 months ago- ofcourse i used non-flamable caulk when sealing the box, and i used 12 gauge wire, hooked up to one of my rsd 1200.1( whcih b/c they are dual 4 ohms they are playing 7-800 watts, not the 1200,-
so ofcourse i hit on them hard for tuning( they havent been played in 3-4 months, but it smelt like they were frying- so I pulled htem and checked them on the dmm and they still showed 4ohms on all voice coils-so what does anybody think the burnt smell could be???? also, i wired in my remote relay, but after soldering all connections I taped them, with electrical tape, then wrapped the remote in 3-4 layers of electrical tape as well, is it possible they are related? is it possible for my subs to catch on fire???? and there is a distribution block , so the sub and highs/mids amps are all fused
any ideas, and thanks-

gkitching · Post by **gkitching** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 6:28 pm

The smell was possibly the coil heating up enough to 'cook' the adhesives and/or epoxies of the former. If left playing it's likely the subs would seize up. I've smelt that many times and it's a pretty distinctive smell too. The coil didn't pop so that's why it still reads the normal resistance. I've seen subs continue to work long after that has happened but not sure what kinda permanent damage may have been done. That's one scenario anyway.

And yes it's possible for a speaker the catch fire.

thedeal7235 · Post by **thedeal7235** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:03 pm

so do u think i should keep running them?( this is my backup set btw, run them to ground and keep acheck on the smell,turn off every now and then?? thanks Greg-btw what causes a speaker to catch fire??? i know electricity is going thru them, current, ???

KHPower · Post by **KHPower** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:39 pm

Are you running any signsal processors like the Basscube? It always takes me awhile when installing a new sub to finally tune the subsonic filter enough to protect the sub from burning up and causing "the smell"

Do you here distortion?

gkitching · Post by **gkitching** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 3:20 am

It's the heat generated in the coil. Paper cone speakers are the most likely to catch. If the coil heats up enough, the glues are highly flammable, the paper cone and the fact that the movement of the speaker 'fans' the flames. Most speaker's coils would pop before such a thing happened. It's typically the more hardcore speaker that can withstand the heat longer that can continue to play long enough for that to happen.

I had a customer cook the anodizing off the aluminum former of a Ti elite once!

thedeal7235 · Post by **thedeal7235** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 3:43 am

thanx guys-btw when i check the speaker wire coming out of the box for resistance, it keeps showing 2 ohm( these are 2 dual 4ohms wired series par.- shouldnt it be saying 4 ohms? i mean im VERY sure i dont have the coils reversed-but, im gonna double check my diamond spec sheet( if i rememebr the coils are together on each inout on these, but ill check it,

thedeal7235 · Post by **thedeal7235** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 4:37 am

NEVERMIND! i did have them wirred wrong- lesson learned ALWAYS doublecheck your specs!!!!!!!!!! damn how stupid- well luckily they are playing fine now and NO SMELL_thanx guys