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RE: Restoring Acoustat Monitor 4

Hey Luther,

I also am running my Acoustats from a (heavily) modified PAS3 and also using an FM3 (also modded). In that picture I sent you can see them. Small cases with Rosewood front panels.

I really hope you get these back up and running.

You should be able to remove the individual panels from the rear of the frames without messing with the grill cloth. That is if they're anything like my model X's.

Each panel has 8 plastic screws holding it to the frame. Disconnect the wires of each panel (from the end of the flying lead, not at the panel itself) and label them correctly (should be 3 wires each). To remove the screws I used a power driver with my hand cupped around the tip to keep from slipping. YOU DON"T WANT TO SLIP and pierce the mylar! Back the screws out slowly, they'll squeak and pop because they're plastic but don't let it scare you.

After you get the panels out use a sharpie to outline where the thick felt damping pads are located and peel them off. When it's time to put them back on just get some spray glue (3M super 77 or 90) and dust the felt pad and press back into place.

Once the panels are out and pads are off you should be able to see both sides clearly to inspect and clean. I don't have any experience cleaning them, so proceed cautiously.

You probably could just hose them off? However, I would think the biggest danger is loosening the stator wires which are just glued into place. From what I understand the glue gets old and brittle and is easily dislodged if disturbed. Somewhere out there I found directions for re-gluing a few loose spots, but you don't want to cause anymore. I think it involve laying the panel on sawhorses and working from underneath using superglue. Upside down so you don't risk dripping any glue onto the Mylar.

Whatever you do, I would not use anything with chemicals to clean since you don't know what it would do to the graphite impregnated paint on the mylar (crucial for function). If you just see a thin layer of residue like the ring on a bathtub I would be tempted to just leave it alone. As long as the coating on the mylar is undisturbed and the film is not enough to add signifigant mass to the diaphragm it probably shouldn't affect operation. If you see anything that needs to be washed away, maybe a turkey baster?

As for the re-tensioning the Mylar with a hair dryer. It's easy. I did it with just an average home dryer. I used the HI setting (tried it on medium 1st until I was confident it wasn't too hot), but kept the dryer about 6-8" away. KEEP THE DRYER MOVING! Work across the entire area of the panel, but do a couple laps around the outer perimeter. Most of any sag will be in the corners unless it's really bad (from the info I gathered before attempting).

Hopefully I haven't given you any mis-information. Just adding my experience and 2 cents. If anyone reading this disagrees please chime in!

-Dogwan

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