Why do the resistors of my 3 way crossovers get very hot on high volumes?

[highfigh]

Remind us of anything?

Would wiring 4 super tweeters per speaker box increase life of tweeters?

I bought 8 super bullet 3" tweeters at 8 ohms each and have a 500 watt receiver. I want to wire 4 tweeters to each 3 way crossover per speaker box.(2- 3 way crossovers, 2 speaker boxes[per each box- 1 15" woofer,1 mid range,plus 4 tweeters]). Through the years i always wired just 1 tweeter to a...

forums.audioholics.com

I bet some compression tweeters would have solved Domic's problem with burning out tweeters, hearing, etc.

 

[NINaudio]

Remind us of anything?

Would wiring 4 super tweeters per speaker box increase life of tweeters?

I bought 8 super bullet 3" tweeters at 8 ohms each and have a 500 watt receiver. I want to wire 4 tweeters to each 3 way crossover per speaker box.(2- 3 way crossovers, 2 speaker boxes[per each box- 1 15" woofer,1 mid range,plus 4 tweeters]). Through the years i always wired just 1 tweeter to a...

forums.audioholics.com

I was waiting for this thread to be linked.

 

[ryanosaur]

I was waiting for this thread to be linked.

So was I... just got to that point I guess.

 

[nickless]

I bet some compression tweeters would have solved Domic's problem with burning out tweeters, hearing, etc.

Maby Domic could be my brother or he can't log in due to an old email address??....I, umm, oh, he just reported now no problem at all with his 4 super tweeters wired to each box and that they still sound perfect, and that hes still using 10 inch bass woofers for the midranges that he bought last year to replace the other ones that were 15 years old.

Anyways, my new solder gun arrived quickly(probably due to pressure from Xmass season sent my package fast) and I soldered 1 wire per crossover to get the tweeter sound back. (actually when I first wired these new crossovers 2 months ago, I never soldered any of the wires to the bass, midrange or tweeter terminals of the crossover, I actually inserted each wire into their negative and positive tiny holes and twisted the wires tightly and securely, but since I had to solder the wires to replace the resistors, I also soldered those connections as well).

The super tweeter(s) do sound (just a) little louder than before but better and more in the clear really and the midrange also increased so I adjusted the highs (mostly the midrange) on my EQ's (eq with receiver and seperate eq), and the speakers sound great. I had to remove resistors because they were getting too hot and 1 resistor actually discolored from white to slight-grayish white indicating it would of burned after so many months. Theres nothing wrong to adjust the EQ to reduce the midrange in order to get the sound you want.

My other question is by removing the resistors, would any midrange frequencies travel though my 15" sub bass woofers and any chance they won't produce ever so slightly some of the lows as before, although im pretty sure they do sound exactly the same as before, actually may be more bass and with same lows, wow as im playing a metal slow motion instrumental hard rock cd by Earth- Hex or printing in the infernal method cd........ the very-slow bass beats and bass sounds quite thunderous in low bass fequencies, love it. I could always buy new 20 watt resistors and solder them back if I decide to, thanks for the replies and sorry if i make a mess out of my speaker systems.

 

[Truthslayer]

Maby Domic could be my brother?
Anyways, my new solder gun arrived and I soldered 1 wire per crossover to get the tweeter sound back. The super tweeter(s)(1 or 4 per box??) do sound (just a) little louder than before but better and more in the clear really and the midrange also increased so I adjusted the highs (mostly the midrange only) on my EQ's (eq with receiver and seperate eq), and the speakers sound great. I had to remove resistors because they were getting too hot and 1 resistor actually discolored from white to slight-grayish white indicating it would of burned after so many months. Theres nothing wrong to adjust the EQ to reduce the midrange in order to get the sound you want. My other question is by removing the resistors, would more midrange frequencies travel though my 15" sub bass woofers? Everything sounds great though.

I'm sure that resistor was there to protect the tweeter. So please come back next month and let us know what tweeter you bought to replace the blown tweeters.
Seriously though why wouldn't you just replace the resistors with a better quality resistor? Your straight wire solution I believe is going to cost you more money in the long run.

 

[nickless]

I'm sure that resistor was there to protect the tweeter. So please come back next month and let us know what tweeter you bought to replace the blown tweeters.
Seriously though why wouldn't you just replace the resistors with a better quality resistor? Your straight wire solution I believe is going to cost you more money in the long run.

OK, to end a long thread short, i'll also try 20 watt or 30 watt resistors.(30 watts would be better I think to prevent over heating).
There are 2 resistors per crossover that I have removed that have these specs:
10 W 2 ohm 2
10 W 8.2 ohm J
How do I match specs to 20 watt or 30 watt resistors? Are the specs the same except for the 20 W and 30 W? Thanks for the replies!!!

 

[ryanosaur]

 

[lovinthehd]

The resistance in this one is strong....

 

[ryanosaur]

The resistance in this one is strong....

literally.

 

[TLS Guy]

OK, to end a long thread short, i'll also try 20 watt or 30 watt resistors.(30 watts would be better I think to prevent over heating).
There are 2 resistors per crossover that I have removed that have these specs:
10 W 2 ohm 2
10 W 8.2 ohm J
How do I match specs to 20 watt or 30 watt resistors? Are the specs the same except for the 20 W and 30 W? Thanks for the replies!!!

It is clear to me that you do not have the first clue what you are doing.

So if you want I will give you a Christmas present. If you tell me what drivers you have, I will tell you if it is even possible to design and build a crossover for your speakers. For a lot of speaker combinations, it is not even possible to design and build a crossover. Speaker design starts with speaker selection, to see if they can work together. Only then can the arduous process of crossover design begin. So if it is possible to design a crossover for your speakers, I will design it for you. Lastly you can not use an equalizer to make dreadful speakers good ones, or even acceptable.

 

[nickless]

Well......if I do solder resistors back, they seem to sell 10 watt 2 ohm 5% tolerance and 10 watt 8.2 ohm 5% tolerance resistors, so per crossover if I do so, i'll buy-
3- 10 watt 2 ohm resistors and wire them parrallel to equal 30 watts.
3- 10 watt 8.2 ohm, wire them parallel to = 30 watts.
In order to match these that i may replace per crossover-
10 W 2 ohm 2
10 W 8.2 ohm J, unless i'll just leave the wires there, speakers sound great when lowering the midrange alot on the eq section in the middle of eq- On eq directly in the middle(per speaker output)- the 1kHz midrange is lowered to -10 dB slightly above that actually, next high to right lowered to -6 dB, next high to right its an even 0 dB, finest high to right the16 kHz its increased to + 4 dB or + 6 dB, the 3 bass freqs on eq to farthest left they are all an even 0 dB, on eq of my receiver the bass is at + 5 dB and the highs + 5 dB. When the resistors that got too hot were not removed and still there, in order to sound as good as the above I had to increase both bass and treble of receiver to + 10 dB (+10 dB is max), with some increase on all highs and lows on other eq, 1kHz midrange was set at -6 dB though, next to right at 0 dB, next 2 to right both quite high all way maby, the farthest bass to left the 63 Hz was + 4 dB(or 2 or less depending on the cd) going right from farthest left + 2 dB or less, then 3rd is even 0 dB.

All above are all my specs.

 

[Swerd]

No one could be so clueless without trying. You have to be trolling.

 

[nickless]

If you remove them from your crossover board, you must replace them with something, even if its only wire, or you will have an open circuit – no current can flow. Are you certain that's what the crossover designer said, that you can remove them and not affect the function of the board? If so, why were they put there in the first place?
In resistors, the label 10W8.2RJ translates as 10 watts, 8.2 Ω, with ±5% tolerance. The wattage is the failure rating, and the letter J means the printed resistance can vary by ±5% from the label's 8.2 Ω value.
If the 10 watt 8.2 Ω resistor or the 10 watt 2.2 Ω are the correct values, and they get hot enough to fail, replace them with 8.2 Ω resistors that are rated at 20 or 25 watts. Or, you can use two 16.4 Ω 10 watt resistors, wired in parallel to each other. That will give you 8.2 Ω resistance but with a 20 watt rating. For the 2.2 Ω 10 watt resistor, replace it with two 4.4 Ω 10 watt resistors wired in parallel and you'll get 2.2 Ω rated at 20 watts.

See, this is why I don't add speakers that are the correct specs because finding the speakers with ALL the correct specs can be difficult, even if they are simple resistors to replace it gets difficult.

I made a mistake on one of the specs on first page for one of the resistors. Here is the correct spec of the one resistor I removed per crossover-
10 W 2 Ω 2, [not 2.2 ohms]******WHATS 2 Ω 2 mean?? (2 ohm 2% tolerance????). And would 50 watt resistors be better than 25 watt?

****UPDATE- Seller informed me 2 Ω 2 means 2.2 ohms......ok instead of 50 watt, maby 1000 watt resistors would be the very best, there will be no chance of them getting too hot ever---ok, im joking.

HERE's a 50 watt 2.2 ohm resistor, unless I get 25 watts.-

 

[Alex2507]

would 50 watt resistors be better than 25 watt?

Twice as good.

 

[domicd]

Remind us of anything?

Would wiring 4 super tweeters per speaker box increase life of tweeters?

I bought 8 super bullet 3" tweeters at 8 ohms each and have a 500 watt receiver. I want to wire 4 tweeters to each 3 way crossover per speaker box.(2- 3 way crossovers, 2 speaker boxes[per each box- 1 15" woofer,1 mid range,plus 4 tweeters]). Through the years i always wired just 1 tweeter to a...

forums.audioholics.com

I bet some compression tweeters would have solved Domic's problem with burning out tweeters, hearing, etc.

 

[slipperybidness]

Twice as good.

Can't argue with your mathematics on this one!

 

[highfigh]

Twice as good.

Grammar! Twice as better, not twice as good. Geez!

 

[highfigh]

OK, to end a long thread short, i'll also try 20 watt or 30 watt resistors.(30 watts would be better I think to prevent over heating).
There are 2 resistors per crossover that I have removed that have these specs:
10 W 2 ohm 2
10 W 8.2 ohm J
How do I match specs to 20 watt or 30 watt resistors? Are the specs the same except for the 20 W and 30 W? Thanks for the replies!!!

You still haven't posted the brand and model of the equipment- that's similar to going to a car forum and complaining that you wear out your tires on a daily basis, but don't say anything about the 5000 HP engine in the car.

It matters. If you're sending more power to the speakers & crossovers than they're physically capable of handling, hot resistors will never end. The numbers thrown around by the seller are just numbers and if the capacitors blow, you'll know that they aren't able to handle the power you're sending through them. You haven't mentioned the brand or part numbers of the speaker components, either. Ask a mechanic why your car doesn't start without giving them some pertinent information and they're going to tell you to stop bothering them.

Resistors get hot- it's part of what they do. They can smell bad, too- it's part of the process. If they work, great. If they fail, there's a reason. Starting out by asking questions and neglecting to mention that you hadn't soldered the connections is ridiculous. They were soldered in place before for a reason- why didn't you solder them before using the speakers?

Good speaker systems are designed, not thrown together. That can include using resistors to allow the drivers to do what they do best and to handle the power. You bought crossovers from some random seller and now, you need to drop the midrange by 10dB- that means they aren't the right combination of drivers and crossover. You're trying to make things do what you want, but refusing to believe that the choices made were wrong. They won't magically do what you want, just by using resistors with a higher power rating.

 

[Truthslayer]

See, this is why I don't add speakers that are the correct specs because finding the speakers with ALL the correct specs can be difficult, even if they are simple resistors to replace it gets difficult.

I made a mistake on one of the specs on first page for one of the resistors. Here is the correct spec of the one resistor I removed per crossover-
10 W 2 Ω 2, [not 2.2 ohms]******WHATS 2 Ω 2 mean?? (2 ohm 2% tolerance????). And would 50 watt resistors be better than 25 watt?

****UPDATE- Seller informed me 2 Ω 2 means 2.2 ohms......ok instead of 50 watt, maby 1000 watt resistors would be the very best, there will be no chance of them getting too hot ever---ok, im joking.

HERE's a 50 watt 2.2 ohm resistor, unless I get 25 watts.-View attachment 43080

 

[highfigh]

See, this is why I don't add speakers that are the correct specs because finding the speakers with ALL the correct specs can be difficult, even if they are simple resistors to replace it gets difficult.

I would really like for you to learn more about speaker design so can understand why the bold part of your statement is looking at this the wrong way. The woofer determines the type and size of the box, whether it needs a port and the overall sensitivity (how loud it will be with a certain power input) of the system. The other drivers (midrange & tweeter in a three-way or only a tweeter in a smaller two-way) need to be balanced with the woofer. The level from these can be balanced just by selecting something that's close to what the woofer puts out, or they can be made to balance by reducing the mid/tweeter output in the crossover. This means the crossover will have resistors and resistors get hot, as I posted. There's no reducing the signal without heat. Period. The energy sent through the resistors is wasted and the only result possible from that is heat, regardless of whether it's a resistor, eating food, burning fuel, etc.

Speaker design is far from just selecting resistors.