wfissell
Member
I decided to have a go at separating the stators on the one panel of my Clarity that is dead. I wanted to pass on my experience.
1- not for faint of heart. ONLY do this if you have already decided that you are going to have to buy new panels anyway and want to try a Doug Flutie Hail Mary pass.
2- Like the old joke about the 911 operator who tells the woman to make sure her husband is really dead before starting CPR, if it wasn't dead before it sure is now.
3- I tried the sawing string approach and did not get anywhere. I used a discarded steel guitar string. It may have been too smooth.
4. I dribbled some acetone onto the 3M VHB tape to dissolve the solvent.
5. I then used some tiny wood wedges to try to ease the panels apart. It was clearly just tearing things up. I stopped.
6. I had a 'cellphone repair kit' lying around and I used one of the plastic triangles to pry two stators apart. I got them far enough apart that I could place a pry tool in the gap, long axis of the tool aligned with long axis of the panel. I did one on each end. I made a sketch and attached it.
7. I dribbled a few drops of acetone in the parting line, reefed on it by hand a lil, and then advanced the tool a few mm further.
8. The Mylar is pretty tough. Even though the struts were bonded to both the stator and the film, by moving very slowly I was able to give the adhesive time to relax and let go. Robin Renzetti, a machinist and precision freak, has some videos about using adhesives effectively. Hes on Youtube.
9. Working my way along I had about 95% done and I heard a pop and a corner of the Mylar had torn. Fumble and turnover at the 4 yard line.
10. I'm not sure why it failed as it did when it did. It looked to me as though there was some sort of breach (wedge-induced? most likely) in the mylar where it is bonded to the stator and the tool - essentially just a dowel - just entered the breach and propagated it into the active speaker area. If I had noticed I probably could have stopped it.
Its definitely a mess. Now Im going to try to decide if I want to try restretching new mylar myself. Hell, I made it this far.
1- not for faint of heart. ONLY do this if you have already decided that you are going to have to buy new panels anyway and want to try a Doug Flutie Hail Mary pass.
2- Like the old joke about the 911 operator who tells the woman to make sure her husband is really dead before starting CPR, if it wasn't dead before it sure is now.
3- I tried the sawing string approach and did not get anywhere. I used a discarded steel guitar string. It may have been too smooth.
4. I dribbled some acetone onto the 3M VHB tape to dissolve the solvent.
5. I then used some tiny wood wedges to try to ease the panels apart. It was clearly just tearing things up. I stopped.
6. I had a 'cellphone repair kit' lying around and I used one of the plastic triangles to pry two stators apart. I got them far enough apart that I could place a pry tool in the gap, long axis of the tool aligned with long axis of the panel. I did one on each end. I made a sketch and attached it.
7. I dribbled a few drops of acetone in the parting line, reefed on it by hand a lil, and then advanced the tool a few mm further.
8. The Mylar is pretty tough. Even though the struts were bonded to both the stator and the film, by moving very slowly I was able to give the adhesive time to relax and let go. Robin Renzetti, a machinist and precision freak, has some videos about using adhesives effectively. Hes on Youtube.
9. Working my way along I had about 95% done and I heard a pop and a corner of the Mylar had torn. Fumble and turnover at the 4 yard line.
10. I'm not sure why it failed as it did when it did. It looked to me as though there was some sort of breach (wedge-induced? most likely) in the mylar where it is bonded to the stator and the tool - essentially just a dowel - just entered the breach and propagated it into the active speaker area. If I had noticed I probably could have stopped it.
Its definitely a mess. Now Im going to try to decide if I want to try restretching new mylar myself. Hell, I made it this far.
