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focal tnk tweeter completely fell apart


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terminat0r 
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Joined: May 28, 2012
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Posted: May 28, 2012 at 2:18 PM / IP Logged  
Like the title says. Seems like the magnet got unglued first, and then it pushed out the cone, which seems to be held in place by a material similar to the sticky foam that's used for insulating windows.
The system wasn't playing when it happened. The car was sitting in the sun for a few hours, with driver window open (it was driver side tweeter), rear window/tailgate open. It was about 23C outside. The car is 09 Jeep Wrangler, that has tweeters sitting on top of the dashboard. I installed these speakers (165 KR) just a few weeks ago, and I love them, other than what happened to the tweeter.
My question is this normal for them to fail like this? The ebay seller I got them from says this kind of failure is not covered by Focal warranty (which I know is major BS). He's not an authorized seller, but offers his own warranty, which also doesn't cover that. He blames me for not protecting them from the sun and installing them in a bad location. I will leave no comments here and is pretty much self explanatory.
I'm also thinking whether I should replace this single tweeter with exact same one, or just get a completely different set of tweeters, likely not Focal... but only if this is a common problem with Focal tweeters. Can anyone please chime in on this? To me it's something unheard of. But the seller says same thing happens to his other customers that mount them in "a bad position".
soundnsecurity 
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Posted: May 28, 2012 at 2:52 PM / IP Logged  
tweeters dont fall apart unless you are talking about the casing that is used to mount the tweeters. i could tell you more if i had a picture or a better description.
terminat0r 
Member - Posts: 13
Member spacespace
Joined: May 28, 2012
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Posted: May 28, 2012 at 3:15 PM / IP Logged  
It wasn't the casing. It's the tweeter itself. Cone and the magnet got all seperated, which is basically what makes up the outer part of the tweeter. I have pictures that I will post later this evening.
i am an idiot 
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Posted: May 28, 2012 at 4:35 PM / IP Logged  
How do they sound?  I have seen counterfrit Focal drivers purchased from Ebay.    They were pretty easy to tell they were counterfeit because they sounded horrible.
terminat0r 
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Member spacespace
Joined: May 28, 2012
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Posted: May 28, 2012 at 5:44 PM / IP Logged  
They sound amazing. I never had so much bass coming from up front, and I can't even get them to distort no matter how loud I turn them up. It's also the first time I find no use for the high pass filter. Of course, having them mounted on a mdf baffle in a completely sealed plastic box with a few layers of fiberglass over it, must be helping a lot. They do have a serial number and a warranty card with serial number, so can't really notice anything counterfeit other than this tweeter falling apart for no good reason. Probably should have got the $85/3year warranty from SquareTrade on ebay, but now it's too late.
terminat0r 
Member - Posts: 13
Member spacespace
Joined: May 28, 2012
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Posted: May 28, 2012 at 9:36 PM / IP Logged  
Here are the promised pictures.
focal tnk tweeter completely fell apart -- posted image.
focal tnk tweeter completely fell apart -- posted image.
focal tnk tweeter completely fell apart -- posted image.
focal tnk tweeter completely fell apart -- posted image.
focal tnk tweeter completely fell apart -- posted image.
DYohn 
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Joined: April 22, 2003
Location: Arizona, United States
Posted: May 28, 2012 at 11:44 PM / IP Logged  
If these had been purchased from an authorized dealer you'd have warranty coverage.  I do find it difficult to believe the tweeter just fell apart like that from being in the sun.  Looks more like someone put a thumb through it.
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terminat0r 
Member - Posts: 13
Member spacespace
Joined: May 28, 2012
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Posted: May 28, 2012 at 11:55 PM / IP Logged  
No thumbs were put through, I can assure you on that. It was covered by the included grill too. When I noticed what happened, first I thought the grill just popped out, but after a closer look I saw that the tweeter simply took a crap. I assume it's the sun, but who knows. Maybe just gave out due to a weak glue bond.
terminat0r 
Member - Posts: 13
Member spacespace
Joined: May 28, 2012
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Posted: May 29, 2012 at 1:14 AM / IP Logged  
UPDATE.
My hands got itchy and I wanted to see if I can put the tweeter back together again. It turns out that glue has likely very little to do with holding it together. The round piece that sticks out into the cone, and the round piece on the bottom are magnets, and the top magnet piece simply snapped into the bottom magnet. It is quite strong too. Now I have 2nd thoughts about how on earth would this be caused by sun. How would a magnet just release like this? Vibrations maybe? I just shook it like crazy, it is still holding strong. It's a real mystery now.
I was able to put it back into 1 piece, but ripped off one of the wires in the process. Other than that and a somewhat wrinkled cone on the edges and the sticky foam, it looks "OK". I'll try and see tomorrow if I can somehow solder this really thin wire, and then check how it sounds. Maybe not all is lost yet.
DYohn 
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Joined: April 22, 2003
Location: Arizona, United States
Posted: May 30, 2012 at 9:35 AM / IP Logged  
Good luck trying to solder those tinsel leads.  I wouldn't even try.  I suggest you will be better served buying a new set of tweeters, and this time buy them from an authorized dealer.  focal tnk tweeter completely fell apart -- posted image.
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