Takaharu

I have been using an old subwoofer for use with my TV lately for that extra bit of sound (rather than using the TV's speakers) but today, whilst watching a film, I noticed that the right speaker was acting up.
After some fiddling with re-wiring the speaker it dawned on me why I stopped using the sub in the first place (this sub also acts as the amp) - the connections are temperamental; some of the speaker ports (eg: the front right) have a tendency to not work.

I decided to take a look to see if there was a loose connection inside. There's not a lot that can go wrong with the port externally:


I cracked it open. It's been a good number of years since I bought the speaker system so the warranty's long gone (despite the fact that the company that made it has changed professions too). Either I'd fix the problem, break the thing altogether (which isn't really an issue) or do nothing and put it all back together. Well it was the latter of the three, though I was really freaking surprised why.


Yup, glue. Not just any glue either, this stuff is crap; it's still soft!


Bear in mind that these boards are securely screwed in to the plate. There are several screws holding on each PCB.
They did a rather poor job of gluing too:

The glue wasn't really applied with a professional hand by the looks of it.

I'll be asking a friend to take a look to see if he can rectify the connection problem as he used to build hi-fi systems for a living. Just thought I'd share

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Tyrsonswood

Gluing like that is common, it's done with a "hot glue" gun. One of the main reasons manufacturers will tell you they use it is to stop vibrations from loosening screws, nuts, etc.

The REAL reason they use it is so the unit can't be repaired...... It's a "planned obsolescence" deal.


Under that "glue" is probably something simple like a broken solder joint or cracked trace on the board. Both common and easily repairable..... They just don't want you to get at it.

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Judas

Most commonly glue is used as a way to insulate traces and eletrical components from vibrating and creating a "hum/buzz/whine" or other eletrical sounds from the unit itself.. on top of which also reduces damage to the components due to these vibrations too... (depending on quality)

Obviously sometimes they can be overzealous about it, or terrible.... And the type of clue usually should have even after a few years.. A LITTLE bit of spunge to it.... Cheap glue in cheap components or systems i've found to actually do their job up until the warranty is up... and then become the problem they were intended to prevent.

That stuff actually looks like a fridge/freeze distance from being very brital...

But yeah... tryson is also correct that most of the time i find they strategically glue things so there is no way to fix it....

And id also say that considering those RCA connections... i've RARELY ever seen them get finicky let alone fail... they don't get hot... nothing goes wrong... 3.5mm jacks yes.... they are terrible... but RCA.. never..

Only time i've seen them quit is when someone has the equipment jammed up against the wall putting preasure on them and physically breaking them..

Any other time is actually further down the line.. actual product itself quiting...

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