dirty panels

[pidigi]

No news! The panels are still working (pretty well I would say ), the "central heating room" is in another building and I don't see this dirt on other furniture in the house. I used to see a lot of this dirt (especially on the crt tv screen) when I had in the living room my diy electrostatic loudspeaker, the mylar coating was made by a graphite deposition that was (slowly) coming off. This was some years ago, infact I don't see it around anymore. This is why I was thinking that the same is happening also on the deposition of the conductive material of the ML panels....

It's time for another "cleaning session", I will try the dampen cloth after a deep vacuuming!

Ciao

Paolo

 

[slowGEEZR]

I would say it is the finish decomposing on the stator panels, not the coating on the mylar, nor dust.

 

[Victor]

Hi Paolo,
Steve (SlowGeezr) may have a point....I admit I have noticed something similar over the years when cleaning by hand but attributed it to natural causes (my boiler is in the chimney behind the fire in the same room).
Interestingly, you notice it more on the micro-perf than on the frame....

Purely as an aside, your OP reminded me that cleaning was overdue on mine so I tackled them with the brush attachment rather than my old bare-handed method of shielding the nozzle.

I thoroughly cleaned the R speaker but was not nearly as thorough with the L speaker. When I switched on, standing in front of the L speaker I noticed that most treble was coming from the other speaker while the L was very muted. I think this is a clear illustration that we must not only be precise but equally so with both channels. I powered down then re-vacuumed the L speaker the following day. The treble showed recovery.

On the subject of cleaning (for the benefit of newer Users who may not know) I will quote Jim Powers Wisdom :
- Martin Logans love powerful vacuum cleaners - the more powerful the suction the better.
- The main concern is to AVOID SCRATCHING THE STATORS with whatever tool you are using.
(e.g. if you normally wear a wedding ring remove it just in case.)
- Always clean in both directions (up/down left/right)

I bought a separate brush attachment for the stators only - that way avoiding any sharp contaminants.
Hope this is helpful.
Kind regards,
Victor

 

[pidigi]

@Victor: thank you for the useful post!

@slowGEEZR: if it is the stator coating that is coming off, this means that in some years it will loose its insulating properties.... I'm not an expert, but I always thought that the difficult task was coating the mylar, not the stator!

I'm wondering which is the best tool to use with the vacuum cleaner to avoid any damage to the stators. The brush could get in contact with the mylar, and I fear this could damage it. I use a tool that has a strip of velvet on the plastic part, what do you use?

Ciao

Paolo

 

[slowGEEZR]

The coating on the mylar is transparent and is measured in angstroms for its thickness. I would be very surprised that you could even see it coming off. See if your stators are shiny. If they have dulled any, then you know the culprit. The dust may also be something that was in the air and was attracted to your panel.

 

[pidigi]

actually the stators are not really shiny....

 

[slowGEEZR]

Semantics, I should have just mentioned a dulled appearance, or not as smooth to the touch.

 

[Victor]

Hi Paolo...it is a pleasure to help (although the credit truly belongs to JP who has been a goldmine of Martin Logan info and an all-round good philosopher.)

The questions you ask are exactly the same as the ones I have asked.
The membrane is incredibly resilient and defies even determined attempts to damage it.
Many users prefer the brush attachment and it does no harm. As a precaution, I always bias the brush movement in the opposite direction of the bristles - so that I'm not "stabbing" the membrane during each pass

Getting back to the paint problem : I've observed older, dirty panels sometimes show black spots on the membrane which correspond to the holes in the stator? One would have thought if there was any transference this would be a "lattice" pattern instead of polka dot!
My own panels show no evidence of spotting on the membrane - it looks uniformly clear so I guess after 6 years that is good news?
It's worth mentioning I always cover the panels when not in use (with the original "paper" covers). The paper covers are getting a bit tired looking now and I may start using my cloth martin logan Vantage covers (I have 2 sets as supplied by Melodie of ML)

After reading your story many Users might be inspired to cover up their panels - polythene bags being the first choice?
I must warn anyone doing this that new poly bags contain a great deal of static. They must be discharged first or you may damage the sensory electronics within the speaker(!)
Best regards...........Victor