Tweeter is out. Do Crossovers go bad?

I have Polk db6501 component speakers. My drivers side tweeter is not working. I cut the wire back a bit and reconnected but that didn't help. The woofer still works going through the crossover. Do crossovers go bad for a device (tweeter) or does it fail as a complete unit? Tweeter blown?

 

If your components are into the Polk crossover, its obviously a fail in the tweeter signal either within the crossover box or just the tweeter itself fried (most likely). You can fiddle with wires at crossover with music playing. If you dare open the crossover you can look for broken solder joins or caps that failed or leaked. Look for bulging ends on caps and pasty leakage.

there is slim to zero chance a full range signal could get through to tweeter bc of nature of crossover design with a capacitor preventing low frequency from ever making it to tweeter and risk damaging it if it’s just a loose wire.

lastly an easy test would be to wire up the stock tweeter with a wire at the crossover and see if it makes sound. You could really try any speaker of same impedance for that matter at low volume. You could even hook the woofer up to the tweeter crossover, but don’t try other way around.

 

Since you have an ‘09, I’m assuming your crossover is mounted in the door. I would pop the cover off the crossover and look for rust. This is pretty common

 

If you can get to both crossovers, disconnect them both, and check resistance across all paths and see if one is way off from the other. Tweeter have a fuse in the crossover? Check resistance on the tweeters themselves if you didn't see anything funny there.

If your crossovers are in the doors, maybe consider moving them. They take excessive forces every time you close the door.

 

I have the crossovers secured by velco. I guess I could move them to the kick panels on both sides. I dont think they have a fuse looking at the above pic. Thanks

 

Thanks for the help. I don't think I have the original tweeter but I will remove one from some speakers that I built and test it. What do you mean by wire the crossover before the amp? The crossover is passive.

 

see below

 

That is extremely incorrect. Passive crossovers are intended to be AFTER the amp so they can correctly split a full range signal between the tweeter and woofer.
And ACTIVE crossover (typically in the form of a DSP) would go before the amp if you are running an active system

 

dustin is right i just wired up my own active crossover and reversed it dicklexus on explanation to you. it doesnt change the troublehshoot however. thanks to dustin my bad on that

 

Thanks for clarifying.. I was totally confused..

 

That sorta looks like a self-resetting fuse between the 2 caps at the top

This thing



Doesn't have to be that though. Could be any component in the chain if it's in series.

 

It turned out to be the tweeter. I connected another tweeter for testing and it worked. Ordered a new set of tweeters and crossovers since they don't sell them individually. Had to order a new set.

 

BOOM!

 

please send a close up of that crossover, i cant tell if that cap is bulging like a mfer or is just some bloated uncircumcised shell

 

I will once the new tweeter is installed. Should be here tomorrow.

 

Don’t run the new tweeter til you send that pic. Send pics of both crossovers to compare. The reason is because if that cap is acting as the high pass filter and fails it could be letting full range signal through and damaged the new tweeter (and be the reason the first one failed)

 

Talking about the one closest to the signal inputs? Good eye but I think that's just an inductor with black heat shrink over it which is why it looks lumpy. Also, I think that section is the woofer crossover, not the tweeter. Would be good to see comparison pics though.

Also, one easy way to test a tweeter if you don't have a DMM is to simply connect it to the speaker wires without the crossover on VERY low volume. Just enough so you can hear whether it works or not. The tweeter won't get damaged even with a full range signal as long as it's not loud. Obviously, if you can pick music that's mostly higher female vocals, even better. But of course, a DMM is the easiest first test if you own one.

 

it does looks like a possible ferrite bead but i cant tell on my phone especially if you look at stock image... look at silhouette... like a little can glued down...an input cap in heatshrink maybe... just so glue would hold it down ...dont know why there would be two of em little uncircumsised peeners dont need RF on lpf side