Speaker rubber surround maintenance?

[whazzup]

Like caring for leather, is there anything we can do to prolong the hardworking rubber surround material? Or there's no need to bother?

 

[steve59]

Other than keeping them away from eroding chemicals they should last the life of the speakers.

 

[Katji]

Rubber or foam rubber?
Old-school rubber surrounds last, foam does not - imo it makes speakers semi-disposabl, except that you can get "re-foam" / surround replacement kits.
Problem is UV light, and drying out /evaporation/"de-gassing" of plasticisers. There is stuff that helps with preserving and restoring vinyl and plastics, I have it for motorbike seats and plastic parts...not a consumer product, comes in quite large containers. ...I can't remember the name...
...303 Protectant. I see it's now available in spray bottles, even Amazon.

 

[somebodyelse]

That depends on the types of rubber and foam you're talking about. I've seen cracked 'rubber' surrounds, and foams that have lasted 20+ years without visibly aging. I expect you need to know the details of the material to know best how to preserve them, but that's not information that's often available.

 

[whazzup]

Thanks for all the replies! No I have no idea the specific mix of rubber. The question popped into my head when I was thinking about how I'd like to preserve some speakers I have, but when not in use, do I just wrap them in plastic and reduce exposure to the environment? I did see some online videos on soaking some rubber grommets or something in various substances, but there doesn't seem to be a more general form of maintenance that I could find.

I don't think I have any speaker with foam surrounds, so wasn't thinking about that.

 

[egellings]

I have a pair of speakers that are about 21 years old, and what looks like foam surrounds seem to be in excellent shape. I make it a point of keeping direct sunlight off of them.

 

[Ron Texas]

I had Snell and Phase Tech foam surrounds go out after about 5 years. Surrounds on my large advents lasted a little longer, but less than 10 years. I never bothered to fix any of them.

 

[Killingbeans]

is there anything we can do to prolong the hardworking rubber surround material?

If I was going to experiment, I would probably try Krytox GPL 105. I wouldn't put it on any rare or expensive drivers though

 

[Mr. Speakers]

I have a small subwoofer made by Carver / Sunfire. Honestly I don't know if the surrounds are a very dense foam, or if they're rubber etc. but either way they're stout. In the manual it actually says to treat the surrounds 1-2x / year with Mink Oil. Not sure if that would help with other surrounds, but it's the first I'd seen that called for re: maintenance.

 

[somebodyelse]

It seems an odd suggestion, but a web search confirms it's in their manuals. Are they using leather surrounds?