Cockpit speaker

[mcanderson]

I have 2 cockpit speakers, one works fine and is powered by the radio/cd. The other, futher aft abeam the wheel makesno sound at all. Checked the wiring in and all is connected fine. Anyone know of a way a check to see ifthe speaker is working? It would make sense if it was for the VHF. Boat is a Beneteau 323.

Thanks.

 

[cliffb]

Get to the back of the radio/cd and reverse the speaker output connections; i.e. connect the signal to the working speaker to the speaker that's not working. If the suspect speaker still doesn't work, then take the non-working speaker out of it's housing and gently, with two hands from the front, push the diaphram in and out. If there's resistance there (as I suspect there will be) then the speaker is cream-crackered. To be absolutely sure take the working speaker and connect it to the wiring of the non-working speaker.
Having established that you have a duff speaker, all you have to do then is find a replacement speaker (which only come in pairs BTW) that is marinised and has exactly the same mounting dimensions as the old one.
Having been down this road myself... I can tell you that this is the most difficult bit.
Good luck
BTW... when I did mine, at the same time I installed a rotary switch by the radio that took the signal from the VHF and the signal from one side of the radio so that I could select which I wanted to hear on the new speaker. In practise I tend to leave it switched to VHF.

 

[mcanderson]

Thanks for the tip, I'll try that next weekend. In the mean time I'll see if I can find an OEM replacement to take the guess work out of sizing a replacement.

 

[john_morris_uk]

A multi meter set to measure resistance (ohms) should show amost a short circuit when you connect across the speaker terminals. (Disconnect whatever radio etc is connected to the speaker first.) You should also hear a faint clicking sound from the speaker when you apply the meter prods to the speaker connections.

A cruder test would be with a battery and bulb, and you should hear a definite click from the speaker when you connect that. Just flash the wire to the terminal and don't leave it connected, or you could stand a (very slim chance) of burning the speaker out if you leave it connected.

 

[mcanderson]

Thanks John.

I'll try that. I have my trusty multi-meter and just love proding things with it. I think the speaker is stuffed, as I tried this over the weekend and it was dead.

 

[Twister_Ken]

If the speaker is a Michael Martin model, it is well and truly stuffed.

 

[mcanderson]

There is a small amount of rust staining coming from the centre of the speaker. So therefore (tongue in cheek) it must obviously be a marinized version. Not a No1 priority.

Shane