HiVi B3S Surround Repair

[Edge540]

I received 2 ea. B3S's from PE today. I opened the driver box and much to my horror, the surround was wrinkled in multiple places. Well, seeing how HiVi packages, i can see why. Anyway, i took the speaker out of the box and the surround popped back into place but upon inspection, about 75% of the surround is not glued to the basket any longer. Both drivers are like this.
My question is, has anyone re-glued the surrounds? If so, what did you use?
At $9 ea. it hardely seems worth it sending back and forth for new ones...
Thanks
Eric

[augerpro]

Send it back and don't worry yourself...

[ThomasW]

Call PE, my guess is they'll send you out replacement drivers and tell you to throw the one's you have into the trash.

[aprilia88]

I have purchased a couple hundred of those from and about a third of them are like that. I blame it on the paper box. it has a flap that fits around the surround. The chances of getting two more that have the same problem are pretty high. If you just staighten the surround and give it a little time to reform then swab the frame with alcohol the just use superglue. These don't move enough or create enough air pressure in the box to require any special glue. Madisound sells there b3s drivers in a styrofoam box, I never had any problems with those. That being said, It don't think it is pe's fault it is just the way they puchase the drivers. I have fixed about 100 this way, so good luck.

[jkrutke]

I have purchased a couple hundred of those from and about a third of them are like that. I blame it on the paper box. it has a flap that fits around the surround. The chances of getting two more that have the same problem are pretty high. If you just staighten the surround and give it a little time to reform then swab the frame with alcohol the just use superglue. These don't move enough or create enough air pressure in the box to require any special glue. Madisound sells there b3s drivers in a styrofoam box, I never had any problems with those. That being said, It don't think it is pe's fault it is just the way they puchase the drivers. I have fixed about 100 this way, so good luck.

Interesting. I've only purchased those from Madisound and I didn't know PE had some packaging issues. thanks for the heads up on that.

[Edge540]

Thanks for the replies. I thought about using Superglue but wasnt sure if it would damage the rubber or be too brittle after cure.
I believe the packaging is stock HiVi. I am quite sure it has nothing to do with PE, unless they repackage. There is nothing holding the magnet end of the speaker from sliding around, and thats exactly what it does...
I will try the superglue...
thanks

[jkrutke]

Thanks for the replies. I thought about using Superglue but wasnt sure if it would damage the rubber or be too brittle after cure.
I believe the packaging is stock HiVi. I am quite sure it has nothing to do with PE, unless they repackage. There is nothing holding the magnet end of the speaker from sliding around, and thats exactly what it does...
I will try the superglue...
thanks

When you buy them from Madisound, they come in a well protected box like this. You could literally punt them without damage.

[JasonB]

I have had 5 of them from PE sitting here in their original boxes since October. I pulled them out today to inspect them after reading this thread and John Krutke's blog. 4 out of 5 have problems. None of them have deformed surrounds but 3 are unnatatched in small areas and one is detatched about 2/3 of the way around. I have to say I'm pretty dissapointed since I was finally going to start cutting enclosure parts over the holidays, I wish I would have known earlier, I could have had replacements here already.

Jason

[mikev]

Reply to Parts Express Hi-Vi B3S issue

I completely apologize for any and all problems any of you have had in relation to the B3S issue. We have contacted Hi-Vi for answers, and all of the B3S drivers have been pulled from stock and will be replaced in the very near future by drivers that have been inspected. If any of you have been affected, PLEASE contact our Customer Service Represenatives at 1-800-338-0531 extension 790 for an immediate resolution.

Sincerely,
Mike Van Den Broek
Parts Express International

[cjd]

By the way, you should use a nice heavy duty contact cement NOT superglue... while superglue will make the joint it won't be flexible and it may damage the surround. Though even contact cement *could* damage the surround.

A good industrial strength acrylic adhesive is probably the best bet for something that won't do any damage.

And, despite the shipping troubles that happen, I've always been VERY impressed with PE's response. I've never had shipping damage that mattered (one pair of $0.49 drivers fell out of their wrapping and had dented dust caps, but... ) but I do sometimes wonder about their packing on occasion.

C

[kingpin]

When you buy them from Madisound, they come in a well protected box like this. You could literally punt them without damage.

Man, I wish the Dayton drivers were packaged half that good.

[aprilia88]

cjd, why would you need a flexible adhesive? You are bonding to a metal surface. And I don't think acrylics are even close to soft. But I am quite sure that there is a better adhesive than superglue, That is just what I had in my drawer. And way off of the topic, haven't you used the 1320sb in one of you three-way designs? If so, I was wondering what you thought of it. thanks.

[cjd]

You want flexible glue because the edge of the glue joint is going to flex, and a stiff glue will actually be *weaker* in this situation (even though it's to a solid stiff surface). And because superglue has nasty stuff in it that can eat into all sorts of things and could change surround properties even if it doesn't visibly eat through it. At least, that's the theory.

And, 1320sb? I've looked at it but never actually used it.

C

[JasonB]

I completely apologize for any and all problems any of you have had in relation to the B3S issue. We have contacted Hi-Vi for answers, and all of the B3S drivers have been pulled from stock and will be replaced in the very near future by drivers that have been inspected. If any of you have been affected, PLEASE contact our Customer Service Represenatives at 1-800-338-0531 extension 790 for an immediate resolution.

Sincerely,
Mike Van Den Broek
Parts Express International

I just want to thank Parts Express for taking some serious steps to resolve this problem. I passed a link to this thread on to one of their sales reps a few days ago as part of an email I sent trying to get my issues with the HiVi B3S's resolved. Great customer service is one of the biggest reasons why I shop at Parts Express.

Jason

Jason

[fjhuerta]

I got two of them, and one of them had the surround unglued.

aving said taht, I only have one thing to say about Parts Express. Their customer service is simply outstanding.