rattling 112

[steve-bbb]

Have had a pair of hydrive 112's now for a couple of years and up until recently they were being driven by an LH500 and doing a great job was quite impressed with their overall output compared to the hydrive 410 i moved from (for logistic/health reasons rather than audio considerations!) and also changed the LH500 for the lightweight TX600... nice tone but nowhere near the balls and power of the LH500

have just noticed that both of the two cabs seem to have a rattle that sounds like it is coming from the structure/chassis somewhere inside the cab - is doing it very slightly on one cab but the other is quite pronounced - i did notice at last gig i thought i could hear some distortion but realise now what i could hear was actually the rattling of whatever has vibrated itself loose

anybody else had any similar experience with hydrive cab particularly the 112 and what was the remedy thanks before i go stripping these two apart

ta muchly in advance

[Lozz196]

I`ve not got experience with these cabs, but did have a similar issue with a cab, had a whistling/vibrating/wampy noise when a low B was played. Turned out to be the tweeter was iffy, so it was replaced/upgraded and problem sorted.

[steve-bbb]

i actually noticed the rattle when i was moving them and put them down on a concrete surface and heard the rattle - sounds a bit like the grill but sounds more like it is sort of internal if you catch my drift

[Ghost_Bass]

I had a similar rattle a few years ago when i bought a couple of Fender Rumble 12's (V2 i think). It was only in one of the cabs. I traced it down to the backplate. Removed it, put a bit of insulating foam around it and screwed it back. Result!
It can also be another thing like a loose driver, loose grill, loose corners, or even the wire inside touching the driver and vibrating against it. Check all the screws in your cabs.

[Phil Starr]

just work systematically and you'll find it. You'll need to remove the grille anyway to look at anything else so do that and see if the rattle goes away. then have a good look at the outside of the speaker cone. Look for any tears but also have a look at the dustcap in the middle and where the cone joins the corrugated surround. Check that all the fixings on the speaker are tight and it is pulled firmly against the baffle (front board). If the rattle is still there you'll need to remove the speaker and look inside, First check the wires inside aren't touching the cone, this is a common fault and you can usually fix it to something with cable ties to stop this happening, then look for anything loose onside the cab, check the speaker magnet which will pick up any loose screws etc. Then work your way round all the woodwork and fittings to check for anything amiss. Tapping things gently will often tell you if something is loose. It's unlikely to be anything serious or difficult to repair. Good Luck

[lemmywinks]

I had an old Hartke VX215 cab which started to rattle and buzz. Get someone to play a bass through it and try pushing different sides of the cab to see if if goes away when you put pressure on them, then when you find where the problem is you can secure it.

 

I ended up doing a crude but functional repair on mine - cut a flap of carpet (like a square U shape), stuck a screw in and glued the carpet back. Repeat this x20 and I had a fully functional cab for years, the guy I sold it too recently resold it on eBay here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hartke-VX215-bass-cab-cabinet-/183158935358?hash=item2aa51f8f3e%3Ag%3AOtgAAOSwxfdauOsd&nma=true&si=gkQkrxvTDcndV%2BnbZ8ltGoj%2Fe7c%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

You can still see where I repaired it, still going strong though!

[Graham]

I had a rattle on one of Hartke's big Pro4200 cabs - 4x10 with a horn-like tweeter in the middle. 

I discovered, in the studio unfortunately, that when a loud note was played there was an audible rattle; we stripped the cab, tightened everything up but the rattle persisted. I ended up having to drive into London (from Kingston) to hire an Ampeg to record with.

I later found out that the issue was a great big upholstery staple was on the tweeter magnet, so when I played a loud note it shook off, but was then immediately pulled back onto the magnet. Unfortunately, it was just the angle the tweeter was hanging that we missed it when trying to get rid of the noise in the studio, as it was a better cab than the Ampeg.

[steve-bbb]

found it - took the back panel off - there are six self tapping wood screws which fasten the back plate to the cab and then four set screws which hold the brass legs supporting the circuit board to the back plate - two off the screws holding the brass legs down had just vibrated themselves completely free

ive noticed that there is some sort of red wax on the base of the legs and plate - does this serve any mechanical purpose or is it purely an anti tamper thing?

thanks

 

[steve-bbb]

Decided to take the original screws out as the were only 6mm long and replace them with longer to give a bit more grip and include a flat washer and a spring washer

rattling has ceased

[Phil Starr]

well done

[Ghost_Bass]

Good job. See if the older screws are all accounted for, you don't want to find out there's one stuck to the magnet after having all the trouble of reassembling the cab.

 

The wax is just an anti-tamper thing. Not very eficient as it broke off without any tampering from you... glad it wasn't sent back under waranty or it could have been a tough situation to handle.

[steve-bbb]

On 24/05/2018 at 17:40, Ghost_Bass said:

Good job. See if the older screws are all accounted for, you don't want to find out there's one stuck to the magnet after having all the trouble of reassembling the cab.

 

The wax is just an anti-tamper thing. Not very eficient as it broke off without any tampering from you... glad it wasn't sent back under waranty or it could have been a tough situation to handle.

didnt have to disassmble the cab in the end just remove the back plate they were already missing so i guess theyve vibrated themselves completely free whilst being hammered by the LH500 at full whack lol

Edited May 26, 2018 by steve-bbb

[Ghost_Bass]

On 26/05/2018 at 18:03, steve-bbb said:

didnt have to disassmble the cab in the end just remove the back plate they were already missing so i guess theyve vibrated themselves completely free whilst being hammered by the LH500 at full whack lol

In that case there's a possibility that they may have been caught by the magnet. If i was in your shoes i would be taking out the speaker(s) just to be sure there was any there and avoid future worries.

[Ghost_Bass]

Not so long ago i bought a new RCF top for my band's PA. when i was unpacking it i noticed that the screw that tightens the cab to the pole was missing. First thing in my mind was that it may have gotten loose and entered the cab by the port. Took the back plate off and sure thing it was there stuck to the magnet. I sent an e-mail with pics to Thomann explaining it so i wouldn't loose waranty for opening the back plate. There are powerfull magnets in our drivers, it's more likely that they catch the screw rather than letting it fall through the port.

[Graham]

The venue we played on saturday couldn't get the subs working initially, turned out that the wiring inside the Speakon connector had been shook loose......

[steve-bbb]

I don’t think theloose screws made it inside the cab is sealed not ported and it all sounds clean now

[krispn]

If I ever start a cab company I’m calling it Rattling Cabs 👍🏽😀

[Ghost_Bass]

On 31/05/2018 at 08:23, steve-bbb said:

I don’t think theloose screws made it inside the cab is sealed not ported and it all sounds clean now

Yep, i googled the cab when i noticed that the missing screws were on the outside of the back plate. When i posted i thought they were on the inside. They won't be in there for sure, i forgot to post about it.