What's the bad news if my speaker doesn't work and shows 1 ohm?

[Hoochie Coochie Man]

Whenever people talk about meter readings I am tempted to ask them about the meter they used, and the measurement technique. Especially for low Ohms, or other small magnitude measurements.

I own a nice collection of test equipment, and I have at least one of my Fluke multimeters calibrated every year. When a meter comes back from calibration, I will make a few measurements with it, and compare those readings to at least a couple other meters I use to give me some confidence in the accuracy the ones that I don't spend the money for calibration on.

I had to retire a couple nice, (in their day, but very old) Flukes from use a few years ago, and bought a new one because they were obviously out of calibration and I did not feel it was worth spending money on them anymore.

 

[beans-on-toast]

An inexpensive ESR meter can work for testing speakers. Normally you don’t think of using something like that but they are designed for low ohms.

For quick and dirty, I sometimes use one of these.

Anatek Blue ESR Meter - Full Kit For Self Assembly

Otherwise it’s a good bench meter.

 

[Hoochie Coochie Man]

Speaking of meters, (and calibration too), rather than pay to have my old B&K capacitor meter calibrated, I decided to buy a newer B&K. My research on whats out there to compare to the current B&K LCR meter lead me to purchase this one: Invalid Link Removed

I had never heard of the brand, and was reluctant to go with a "no-name" meter, but I found that Agilent had sold these under thier brand name, and I found some good reviews on it, and for not much money, I bought one. It has a lot of features and capabilities. I am very happy with it so far.

 

[beans-on-toast]

I have one of these: Invalid Link Removed. It works well.

Maybe it is the one that you are referring to.

 

[Hoochie Coochie Man]

That's the one.

In the same vein, I also bought one of these a while ago: Invalid Link Removed

Another brand I never heard of before, but good enough for basic audio work.

I own a number of older Tektronix scopes, but they are not at all portable. The Hantek has an amazing feature set for the price.

 

[beans-on-toast]

The latest generation of flat screen scopes are way better than the older ones. I’ve been impressed with Rigol products from a cost/performance perspective.

Some models have bandwidth performance upgrades that are unlocked with a software code. There are web sites that show you how to do it. I’ve been told by an insider that Rigol didn’t want to prevent hobbyists from doing this, maybe they sell a lot more product.

 

[Hoochie Coochie Man]

Never heard of Rigol. Interesting stuff.

 

[Oren Hudson]

Inspect the speaker’s tinsel connections, at the terminal and at the cone where the coil connects. If in doubt, resolder the terminal connections.

Got delayed from this, but discovered that it was the tinsel wires as BOT suggested. Now fixed and sounding great.

Thanks to everyone for your participation.

 

[Hoochie Coochie Man]

Glad to hear that my suggestion that you had lost your hearing, and that your meter was out of calibration was not the problem.

There are some really fart smellers...I mean smart fellers around here, (I'm not one of them), but beans-on-toast sure is!

Edit to ask: Can you explain the 1 Ohm meter reading if you had a bad solder connection at the tinsel wire?

 

[agedhorse]

We're the tinsel wires touching each other? If so, the driver was not assembled properly or there was a crappy recone job done on it. On a properly assembled speaker, it should be impossible for the tinsel wires to touch.

It can't possible be an open solder joint, that would result in an open (or infinite) reading (unless the meter was read wrong).

 

[beans-on-toast]

Glad to hear that my suggestion that you had lost your hearing, and that your meter was out of calibration was not the problem.

There are some really fart smellers...I mean smart fellers around here, (I'm not one of them), but beans-on-toast sure is!

Edit to ask: Can you explain the 1 Ohm meter reading if you had a bad solder connection at the tinsel wire?

That was just luck with a hint of experience thrown in.

 

[Oren Hudson]

Glad to hear that my suggestion that you had lost your hearing, and that your meter was out of calibration was not the problem.

There are some really fart smellers...I mean smart fellers around here, (I'm not one of them), but beans-on-toast sure is!



Edit to ask: Can you explain the 1 Ohm meter reading if you had a bad solder connection at the tinsel wire?

We're the tinsel wires touching each other? If so, the driver was not assembled properly or there was a crappy recone job done on it. On a properly assembled speaker, it should be impossible for the tinsel wires to touch.

One tinsel wire section was actually missing, something that didn't catch upon first look. See ohm reply within.

It can't possible be an open solder joint, that would result in an open (or infinite) reading (unless the meter was read wrong).

Glad to hear that my suggestion that you had lost your hearing, and that your meter was out of calibration was not the problem.

There are some really fart smellers...I mean smart fellers around here, (I'm not one of them), but beans-on-toast sure is!

Edit to ask: Can you explain the 1 Ohm meter reading if you had a bad solder connection at the tinsel wire?

Since I'm not BOT, me highly thinks the 1 ohm may have just been a number that showed up with the no tinsel connection. Meter was on the proper selector position and showed a single 1 - that's all I know.

We're the tinsel wires touching each other? If so, the driver was not assembled properly or there was a crappy recone job done on it. On a properly assembled speaker, it should be impossible for the tinsel wires to touch.

It can't possible be an open solder joint, that would result in an open (or infinite) reading (unless the meter was read wrong).

 

[quickfix]

I fondly remember the Bach-Simpson 635.

 

[beans-on-toast]

I fondly remember the Bach-Simpson 635.

Many would be surprised to know that Simpson is still making analog multimeters. I have an old 260.

Invalid Link Removed

 

[Hoochie Coochie Man]

I spend some time in the northern part of Wisconsin and have driven past the Simpson factory in Lac du Flambau a few times. It's a very nice area with many lakes, and great fishing.

I own and still use a couple 260s.

 

[agedhorse]

I recall a few early DMMs would show a 1 (without the other digits) for open circuit circuit or out of range. I believe my old B&K cap meter does this.

 

[BadExample]

and no decimal IIRC. was: 1
now 0L on most I've used.

I am in the 260 club as well. Can't beat them. Also have an old pocket size, with the fashionable belt holster. I think it's another brand. Triplet I think. One of the two has a weird sized battery that's dead.

 

[agedhorse]

Mercury battery by chance?

 

[Hoochie Coochie Man]

BadExample. I bet you have a Triplett 310. I've got two of these very handy little meters. I don't like the miniature banana plugs on the test leads, and of course all these old meter leads don't meet modern safety standards due to non-sheathed banana plugs.

 

[BadExample]

Mercury battery by chance?

I just remember it was a funny size.

BadExample. I bet you have a Triplett 310. I've got two of these very handy little meters. I don't like the miniature banana plugs on the test leads, and of course all these old meter leads don't meet modern safety standards due to non-sheathed banana plugs.

View attachment 2829866

That looks a lot like it.