Fix Computer Speakers! 

To learn electronics in a very different and effective way, and gain access to Mr Carlson's personal designs and inventions, visit the Mr Carlson's Lab Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/MrCarlsonsLab

This is some kind of weird miracle. I am setting up a new office and literally yesterday I found this EXACT model of Logitech PC speakers with the same failure mode. What a strange universe we live in. Love your videos, and thanks for making an episode seemingly just for me! 🤣

The best electronics youtube channel ever. Mr Carlson's eye for detail feeds perfectly in with OCD and perfectionism. This is how you do things right. Love the hot glue tip.

A very practical demonstration even for a non-technical user, very neat.

It doesn't matter what is on Mr Carlsons bench, it's always an interesting watch. Thanks for all you do, sir.

Nice to see a disassembly of these... I have four sets, and always buy them when I see them at second hand. Have handed three of four sets over to friends. Great small speakers that stack up nicely when stored away. Using one set connected to and old phone as a very loud alarm clock. (Edit: none of the sets that have passed my hands have had any failures)

This video gets a like from me just for the fact that you put effort into fixing stuff that most people won't bother with due to the low price of a replacement item. This is really protecting the environment and not that green crap that wants to restrict your heating in the winter.

Thank you, Mr., Carlson. I had a similar issue with my speakers and this demonstration allowed me to fix the problem and not dispose of a perfectly good set of speakers.

Mad respect. Mechanic for 40 years

Paul you forgot to wash off the electronics with a hose first.

You don't really realize how funny Mr. Carlson is until you watch about a dozen videos. Witty and sardonic, what a great combination.

Enjoying your repairs, but what I love the most is the engineering rants! You reached the EEVBlog level on that one :)

Your upload of this video is perfect timing, I have the same set of speakers and been putting up with a hum for past two years. Looks like it will be an easy fix. Thanks for sharing all your knowledge and skills.👍

Nice, easy, inexpensive fix! Thank you for showing us and keeping it out of the landfill.

Unfortunately those kind of "fake" videos get millions of views! I like sticking to genuine non-sped up content :)

Nicely done Mr C👍👍 This repair was interesting and anybody with similar speaker systems will benefit from the solution. I'm surprised you spared some time to diagnose the engineering failure and repair of these speakers as inexpensive as they are. Just goes to show anything related to electronics is showcased on your channel, thank you. 73's

Hello Paul, My first transmission rebuild was a Muncie M22 out of a 1974 Firebird Formula 400 that I purchased used when I was 20 years old (bad 1-2 syncros). I’m glad to hear that you’re also a master in the garage! 👍🏼

18:25 finally someone who know, how to remove dry hot glue, in proper way (using isopropyl alcohol) 😍

I have 2 sets of these speakers. 1 at home and 1 at work. The work ones are quite hummy, home ones are not too bad. Have been putting off fixing them. You confirmed what I figured, bad filter cap. Interesting. I have the same Mastercraft screwdrivers, the same Costco Isopropyl, and a parts cabinet full of Panasonic FM and FC caps.

Take a blow drier and heat the case, this will soften the glue and plastic to make it easier to remove. Thanks for the video. Good luck, Mike

So Paul, the surprise to me after the disassembly of these speakers, we saw that one of the drivers is actually a passive driver. So the "bass" driver is passive. A real surprise.

I'd honestly love to see you do a transmission teardown/repair video. Your attention to detail and ability to explain seemingly anything would be awesome for it. Most of the videos I've come across are just teardown guys fly through everything with even faster explanations.

I appreciate your calm, knowledgeable long-form content. There are days when something like this really helps me to keep pushing.

Bless you for putting that much effort into repairing Logitech anything..😂👍

"Hey Logitec... Need some engineering lessons?" LOL!! 🤣

A fellow gear head! Two of my passions cars and electronics. Yes a transmission has a lot of parts.

Makes me hark back to when I worked at Ohio State. Every Dell, and gateway from the early 90s, to mid 00ts came with speakers that were about like this. They all had the board in one side, and the transformer in the other. I'm sure part of it was for weight, but the bigger reason they didn't separate things was they would have had to spend an extra quarter or two to make the second board. It was always amazing how good a poorly designed set of really cheap speakers sounded though. There were some during that era that had the volume/power switch that cut the AC, so they weren't on all the time. Later in the 00ts they just came with a wall wart. I did the exact same thing for lots of crappy speakers in the departments I worked in so they didn't end up in a landfill.

I bought working second hand active speakers yesterday. By the next morning they're making awful noise. Entirely different model but I'm very happy to see you having a video on that sort of speaker anyway given how well you usually explain things. With this I can at least be a bit more confident in my own troubleshooting since these are not my field, I fix laptops not speakers generally. All the parts are so big in these, and the glues are so much nicer to remove. Same strength but the parts are much more solid, that flathead would've absolutely ruined the things I have to pry apart usually.

I had a pair of these at my former employer back in around 2011! When new, these speakers Rock! The Great thing about your video, it's great to see the things that happen to these as they age and how a simple $1.50 brand new capaciter brings new life and give them a second chance to last another 10 to possibly and maybe 20 more years of use. Great Video!

Nice repair Paul. I have a set of very manky Creative computer speakers that I must have bought about 18 years ago or more for the staggering cost of £30 (brand new). One of those sets with the subwoofer/amp unit and two tiny passive main speakers that was popular at that time. I still use them today and haven't had to so much as replace a cap in them yet. The one time I did have to take them to bits I was actually pleasantly surprised by the build quality. Whole thing is powered by a little class B 4x5w amp-on-a-chip, with two of the channels bridged to drive the sub driver. All things considered, they really do sound surprisingly good for what's inside them.

Love these simple repairs! It gives me ideas on how to fix some simple electronics around the house. I'm wondering how these speakers got into the lab. I'm imagining a beautiful lady politely asks for some help. 😂

6:52 - Magnetism at work (except 'rolling back to their spot'! ) :)

Enjoyed the little video. I fixed two things recently using the check-for-bulging-caps method, a 15 yo flat screen TV and a 35 yo IBM computer monitor. Good tip about the glue and alcohol.

Paul you have discovered what many people know about logitech speakers, when they work they work great, when they stop working properly they are impossible to get into. This is not specific models, it's virtually all logitech speakers. It's amazing how you can fix the most complex electronic equipment Paul, but can be stumped not by the complexity of the device but by not being able to get into them to fix. Some are glued, some have screws under the speaker grill, which deforms the moment you try to pull it out to get at the screws. But as usuall a great fix it video.

I have these exact speakers..I use them for my T.V in my bedroom...I've had them for years and still work and sound great...I find these speakers an excellent quality product

So, it looks like either a wash bottle (125 or 250 mL squeezable bottle with a fine tip that is curved or straight) of isopropyl alcohol should be part of a good repair kit as something to break out hot glue. These wash bottles are readily available from science supply stores. Or you could use an inexpensive 3-5 mL disposable bulb pipettor to suck rubbing alcohol out of the stock bottle and directly attack the hot glue blobs or "fill" in this type of consumer electronics. I really like these tips and techniques on restoration and remodeling/repair of "low cost" consumer electronics items from today and the "classics of yesteryear". And I agree with the engineering comments, as a switchable "wall wart" could have supplied clean DC power to both units and minimized the AC hum on the speakers. But, with rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol or lacquer thinner (or mineral spirits, etc.) be very cautious about using too much, as these products can damage plastics. Even with fiberglass tubing or heat shrink tubing.

Paul build your own pair of speakers that would be very nice to watch and I know they would be overbuilt and sound great.

Wow, this is so cool. Your channel is a gem. I wish this had been available when I was studying solid state physics back in college. We slaved over things like "the h(ie) small signal parameter looking into the base of a common emitter transistor amplifier'" but never really learned to repair real life stuff . It's as if what you do here and what they teach in school are two parallel universes.

My "computer speaker" is a single 100 watt old stereo speaker under the shelf next to my repair bench powered by a 1957 Challenger amp with PP 6V6's that I was able to repair thanks to watching your videos. I'd like to make a wooden box to keep speakers in to protect them when working on vintage radios when the cabinet is not practical to move into the shop. My favorite videos are the one's where the guy runs his water pump, tv, a/c and other stuff from an old 200 watt ceiling fan made into a generator! Or the one's that have "Chinese rock" and no words telling you what's going on. NOW.....Wait a minute! Shango066's tv's may be dirty, but he DOES get them all going! (or blows them up!) Thanks for all you do!

Good show Thank You .I really liked that ESR / Capacitor tester handy tool

Trouble is with those cross point screws they are never the same as the screw driver you have to hand! A lot of older Japanese, and some Cinese units, use JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) screws which are just ever so slightly different to Phillips and Pozidriv - and the driver you need is always the one at the bottom of the tool box anyway!

Brilliant episode, I was listening to you through a set of the very same speakers but without the hum (touch wood).

Must be my lucky day since I too have exactly the same set of speakers with the same "annoying" hum. You saved many of these from ending up in the e-TRASH dumps. Thanks for such meticulous attention to detail even in the opening of the case as well as the release of the hot glue trick. You are like the VIZARD of the E-TRON universe🤣🤣👍👍

I enjoy watching your videos but get lost on the more complicated equipment. This is a job I think I could even tackle. Thank you for taking the time to record this.

Thanks to your great channel and this video in particular I have now repaired a brand new set of pc speakers that have been sat unused for months because I was disappointed to discover the horrendous hum when they were powered up. Was unable to return them due to the time that elapsed between me buying them and actually getting them out of the box. But after watching your video I was pretty certain I was seeing the exact same fault. Opened them up and bingo bulging cap. I even found an exact replacement cap to prove the theory. I would like to upgrade the cap to a higher voltage rating but for now like for like has totally cured the problem. Thanks again for a very well pitched and delivered video. Keep up the good work.

We knew it was a filter capacitor, excellent tip on removing the hot glue.

I love to see older speakers, that use anything, other than foam, LOL! It never fails, that foam surrounds on speakers, no matter the quality, deteriorate quickly, and leave them useless, unless you get a re-surrounding kit, just make sure the new surround is made out of something, like butyl rubber, and not foam.

6:40 loved that comment 👍 Very true. Not even 🪛, fingers also love to poke speaker cones. Especially the old paper cones The first thing I do is remove the speakers and lay them face down, away from the work area and away from danger.

Looks like an easy half mil of test equipment or more in your lab there! It must be nice! I've seen a lot that I used to use daily in my days as a technician and in engineering. I kind of miss it but I have forgotten so much after the 10+ years I've been off the bench! It was fun watching!

Hello Mr. Carlson, I appreciate the fine work you do your videos! You have really brought things together for me on my own. I probably destroyed half a dozen things that I wish I never opened up! If I had your videos 40 years ago, it would’ve come into great help in fixing things around the house and hobbies that I acquired along the way! I completely enjoy and understand all the intricacies that you point out during your repairs of electronic equipment! So thanks! Can I call you, brother Carlson??

I've got these exact speakers i keep for spares because of the headphone socket, they're not the best for clarity to my taste, but still usable, i use a set of Polaroid 2.1 with wireless headphones as a normal setup.

What make is that capacitor checker that works like a tweezers? Great repair, I love simple jobs like this Thank you

so much for the right to repair. Modern society. "Throw it away and buy new". But not with a mr Carlson in the neighbourhood. Everybody needs a Mr Carlson.😁

Very useful for day to day people who do not use vintage audio equipment. Very helpful.

Logitech computer accessories have served me very well. Keyboards, speakers, etc. work as advertised for me and each lasts 4-6 years. For the cost and ease of availability I have no complaints.

I may suggest, to make the world a safer place, you should form a Carson's engineering guild, with quality must do criteria for all manufacturers!

Logitech: No user serviceable parts inside. Mr. Carlson: Oh really….? Thanks for the lesson on simple speaker repair.👍

Nothing like fixing something for a very low cost so you dont have to throw them away! I love those panasonic caps.

I have the same speakers with the same problem, thanks for showing how to fix it!

Interesting that I have the exact same speakers. I have a different problem. The side the power cord goes into is silent sometimes. So I pulled out and pushed back in the stereo plug going into the computer and got a crackling sound from the quite side. I'm betting there's dirty contacts inside the jack! They make smaller diameter Q- tips that will fit in the hole so just dip the end of that smaller Q- tip in rubbing alcohol and clean the insides. Good thing I investigated that first before taking the speakers apart in my case! In your case Paul running an exacto knife blade along the edge to cut the glue away from the wire mesh speaker covers should aid in their removal from said plastic. Nice tip about removing old hot glue from a plastic case. Worthwhile quick and inexpensive repair which gets you to clean up your dusty speakers as well.

I immediately guessed what the problem was with those speakers as soon as you turned them on the first time, due to the way the hum was even MORE excessive upon first turning them on. (A bad filter cap will let even more AC through with a heavier load, as in the momentary surge of current required upon initial start up of an amp, etc.) You had said that the new cap you put in there was not only physically bigger, but also BETTER than the original one, so I suppose, since it is newer than the original cap also, that the new one is not only a better brand of capacitor, but also either a slightly higher uF value, a higher voltage rating, and/or a higher temperature rated one than the original one too... But since you never specifically mentioned WHY the new cap was better than the original, OR if you upgraded any of the values of it, (as listed above), I will ask you if you will please clarify those aspects of it, because I'm curious why you upgraded it also, instead of just replacing it with another cap of the exact same value and voltage, etc. as the original one... Thanks, and hopefully you'll actually see this comment!

Ex mechanic, so true about the transmission part, the newer ones aren't as bad with their bolts in my opinion. Always been a bit of a jack of all trades but my trade was mechanic.

Many of these speakers have this problem. Glad you could show folks how simple the repair is. I have fixed several of these similar to this one in the same way. As long as they don't have a wall wart, the filter cap is a good candidate for hum problems. Thanks Paul.

Well done, I was just itching for you to test those other caps even though you were convincing us they didn't need to be replaced, but like the consciencious man you are you tested them anyway. Sometimes these little inepensive things aren't commecialy viable to repair, but as a home project there is joy in getting them working again. Thnks for the alcohol and hot glue tip.

So true about screwdrivers and foam around speakers! You need expensive screwdrivers with the anti speaker detection feature. Lol

Exactly my philosophy: If something is broken, take it apart. You cannot break it any further, but maybe you are able to repair it and use it again for a long time.

I have the same exact speakers that I put into storage a while back. I think I also had a problem with hum, but if I recall correctly, the main reason I relegated the speakers to storage was due to significant audible distortion with any bass signal, probably due to cone breakup. And the reason for the cone breakup I suspect was some foam rot issues with the driver surrounds. I think the foam surrounds lost a lot of their suppleness and resulted in them either being too stiff or too soft resulting in the drivers overshooting their x max. I have since switched over to a small d class Lepai amp from Parts Express and a pair of small acoustic suspension speakers for my pc audio setup; I have much better sound now.

I never thought I would see you fixing some little "modern" computer speakers. Another thing I found interesting is that you touch the dirty speakers all the time and you only clean them at the end. You could have done that first... Thanks for the video.

My first video ever, was getting that amplifier back to use with decent speakers, and it didn't sound bad either.

I have a 2.1 set of Altec Lansing ACS340 speakers that I bought for my first Pentium computer back in the late 90s. They're powered by a separate 13V, 4A transformer that plugs directly into the sub-woofer. From there a control cable goes to the right speaker and a lighter cable connects that speaker to the left speaker. The audio-input wire connects the computer to the sub-woofer as well. This system has two faults: 1. The transformer cannot be turned off, and 2. the audio-input cable was hard-wired into the sub-woofer body while the other cables were given connectors. That seemed strange so I added a 3-pin Deans connector to the one hard-wired cable so if my feet were to accidentally rip it out of the sub-woofer body it won't do any damage. I left the transformer as is as it only gets mildly warm, and I can always turn it off via a power strip when I plan to be away for any length of time anyway. My computer has been upgraded a few times since I bought these speakers but they still sound great so I've kept them while the rest of my systems have been recycled.

Repairing a not complex device is still fun and satisfying

3M makes a CA adhesive for plastic and rubber called Scotch-Weld and is number PR40. They also have one called PR100, and is made for polyethylene and polyester plastics, and uses an activator. The PR40 will work on ATV tires and the like, but for sidewall repairs, is not suitable for radial tires used on public roads, as there would be a liability issue.

That alcohol trick to release hot glue is really nice! Good to know that!

By experience I know that a lot of "TECH"-products use a filtercap that is under the rated voltage ... for instance using a 1000µF/10V instead of a 25V !!! But the DC is mostly around 12 up to 15VDC. It's working ... for years sometimes ... but in the end, the filtercap is going to the "cap-Walhallah" :) Great explanation about how to open those "non-serviceable" noise-makers and how to get rid of the hot-glue. Thanks for this vid, sir.

This brought back memories of when I had to work on my realistic pro 2005 scanner. After 15 years of service the audio speaker went out in it. So I opened the case up and looked around and found that 1 of the capacitors had blown in it. It actually blew off the ground lead for the capacitor at the board itself. The speaker was making a distorted sound when the volume was turned up and was complex garbled and you could not make out what was being said at all. The capacitor in question was a 25v@2200uf which controls the power flow to the speaker. Since it blew it enough to actually sever the ground lead from the capacitor and the board I removed it and replaced it with a 50v@2200uf capacitor which you can do on audio applications. Some of them anyway not all of them however. The 50v@2200uf is holding the current and the speaker is back in operation again and I can hear everything that is being said as clear as a bell now. What he did in this video is exactly what I did also in the pro 2005, replacing one capacitor on the board and that’s it. A very simple fix and a lot easier and less dangerous then fooling with that old radio equipment from the 1920’s 30’s, 40’s, 50’s that uses high power tubes in them that can hold up to 5,000 VAC ON GROUND. This man has all the necessary equipment to fix equipment like that and won’t sell it? If I had the knowledge that he has to be able to work on equipment like that I would fix it and sell it and GET RID OF IT. Why? Because at some point in time the parts for this type of equipment are going to be extremely hard to find and then he will be stuck with that old equipment unable to get rid of it at all. I would sell it for whatever I could get for it and GET RID OF IT WHILE I STILL CAN BEFOR ITS TOO LATE.

Hey your doing my job. Recently I had a realistic pro 2005 which had a capacitor that blew in it that controlled the power to the speaker in it and it was a 25v@2200uf that blew in it. So I replaced it with a 50v@2200uf and the speaker came back to life and is now clear as a bell. A lot easier and less dangerous then fooling with that radio equipment with tubes that have voltages of over 1,000 vac on them.

Thanx Paul for the Isopropyl alcohol as a release agent for hot glue.

In Europe this model is called Logitech X-140 and S-0264B and they suffer the same problem. The did cost about 29 EUR when they were new.

Super handy; I have a set of Logitech speakers with the same issue that - when I put them away - I didn't know how to resolve the issue. Since learned a lot of electronics and this has inspired me to go back and investigate.

I'd actually love a "Carson Labs Computer Speaker Design". A *competent* homebrew speaker arrangement. At least, I have all these dead 2.0, or 2.1, or 5.1 sorts of speakers that lead towards some microcontroller/firmware I can't adjust and fix. A *competent* brainbox would be delightful.

Mr carlson, thanks for the video, enjoyed it, love the desoldering gun and capacitor tester(what model) you and uncle doug r the best

So simple and so helpful. Thank you

LOL.. I completely agree about screwdrivers having a strong pull straight for the nearest speaker!

Uses a million dollar lab to repair a $30 pair of speakers with a $1.50 part. Gotta love that!

Impressed that you are familiar with rebuilding Chevy GM Turbo 400 transmissions. I gave the rebuild of my Turbo 350 to a well known transmission rebuild company that was local to me because overwhelmed with the rebuild process and bad enough to have had installed transmission to my 1981 Pontiac Grand Lemans to then have to take it back out to fix it again. So decided to have a local transmission company fix the Turbo 350 back in 1997 vs myself rebuild it again and have it not quite right. Wonders what you have for a muscle car with the stronger that Turbo 350, Turbo 400 for a car? I always wanted the Turbo 400 transmission to hold up to the abuse, but budget only allowed a dime s dozen Turbo 350 back in 1997.

I've got 3 sets of these same speakers, and one started buzzing a while back. Now I know what to check! :D

Nice repair and video. I think you should put the speaker model number in your title so anyone searching could find your fix or disassembly info.

Besides repair, also details learned, thank you very much!

Subscribed, you had me at speakers and Big Clive like disassebly and explanation 🤓

Cool ancient speakers and a nice repair job. I am listening to this on my new Logitech speakers. They have an earphone jack which is handy :-)

Oh is this ever one I can use. I love your channel.

I've always called them zip-ties, but I think I like the name zap-strap better!

Ahh man Mastercraft screwdrivers. Man I wish we had Menards over here in Southern NJ

AC current has less voltage drop across the cable. The capacitor should be close to the amplifier. The transformer must be away from the inputs.The thinner and stronger the grounds, the better. I heard these speakers at a friend's house from work, they sound good.

i'm quite amazed to see throw-away-by-design products like this on your desk. i would have thought your time was worth well above what you're repairing here? great video as always, at any rate :)

I learned alot here just from a simple speaker repair

The power amp chip doesn't need many extra components so most of the components are there to give a huge bass boost to those ridiculous tiny speakers. If you bypass that circuitry, which is usually very simple, you can however use that amp as an amplifier to feed more decent speakers. I did that to a pair of very poor quality Logitech speakers, very similar to these. You can usually feed the amp using a regulated 12VDC power supply to get much better sound quality.

The un-switched AC feed into the rectifier is a good argument for putting an accessory like this on a switched power strip or, more conveniently, on a smart power strip.

This was a cool video to watch Professor Carlson and it seems like the glue was more of a problem. Thanks for sharing.

I haven't had computer speakers in over a decade, but I still appreciate learning how to fix them so very much 😂