Speaker connections Vibrating Loose

[pegwill]

Hi Everybody
I had a problem with the speaker connections vibrating loose.I would tighten them up as tight as I could. After a few weeks of playing I found I would have to re-tighten them again. A quick and easy fix and also pretty cheap (the best type of tweak) was to use some plumbers PTFE tape between the nut and the wire and then tighten it onto the tape. This seems to provide a little bit of give between the surfaces and now they stay tight all the time.

Hope this helps somebody

Regards

Bill

 

[Gordon Gray]

Bill,

Are you saying that you have this material comingled with the speaker wire with both attached to the speaker terminal?

GG

 

[Speedskater]

In industrial situations, they would sometimes have a similar problem. Solder tinned bare stranded wire would cold-flow with vibration and temperature cycles. Then the terminal screws/nuts could loosen.

 

[Gordon Gray]

Hi Speed,

Don't know about the physics but here's what I do know.

To obtain best performance from your audio system, it is imperative that contact between speaker wire and speaker posts, as well as IC contact between male and female contacts, be as CLEAN AND SECURE as possible to ensure that the maximum amount of electrical energy is transferred.

From Bill's description, it seems he has intentionally compromised this connection.

With all due respect Bill and assuming I understand your post correctly, I hope no one takes your advice.

Best,

GG

 

[Speedskater]

Gordon, I sort of thought that also. But maybe I misunderstood the description.

 

[Victor]

Hi Bill,
Sorry for the delay.....I've been away for a while

If it is true to say that you are using bare stranded wire on your binding posts, I recall that reliability studies conducted many years ago (i.e. when leaded solder was standard) concluded that crimped connections were best.

A crimping tool and a quantity of spades can be bought quite cheaply. This would give you a secure connection which is unlikely to loosen. I would also suggest cutting off the exposed copper of your current cable and re-stripping to obtain the cleanest connection.

Hope this is helpful.
Best................................Victor.

 

[twich54]

IMO, if 'vibration' is causing the issues you decribe you got more problems than just your trminals loosening up, I suspect other annomolies are at work as well......