so i just got a jl 12 w3 from a guy on here. i put it in my box, and it rattles when it hits. is this the sub that's messed up or what? the rattling is coming from what sounds like inside the sub, any ideas?
thanks
sealed box also, if that makes any difference

12/1/2005 2:33:21 PM

Most likely blown. You can take the sub out of the box and see if it sounds the same to make sure that the sub is the only thing that is "rattling". However, to really see whats going on you should hook up a multimeter to the sub and check it.

12/1/2005 2:44:11 PM

ok i have a multimeter, what do i need to do? i'm good at workin on cars, not electronics, haha.

12/1/2005 2:45:58 PM

Go get your money back

12/1/2005 2:50:55 PM

lol i can do that too the guy was really cool and understanding

12/1/2005 2:51:55 PM

Yeah getting money back would be nice, cuz im pretty sure they are blown if thats how they sound (thats not normal). You hook the multimeter up to the positive and negative on the sub and just read the ohms. If you get zero ohms or infinity ohms, that is bad and your subs are bad. It should read whatever ohms your W3's are supposed to be (i think its should be 4,6, or 8 ohms, but you would have to check). Either way, zero and infinity is a blown sub.

12/1/2005 2:55:45 PM

could also check to make sure it is sealed up. my sub started doing the rattling one time and it was because the wire connector in the back of the box had popped out so there was a 2 in hole.

12/1/2005 3:04:51 PM

it's sealed very well. i'm pullin it right now and checkin ohms

12/1/2005 3:14:39 PM

ooooook it's shot, returning asap, haha. thanx for yalls help

12/1/2005 3:27:16 PM

What did you measure. If the sub is playing and making music at all it isn't going to be a problem with the voice coil.

12/1/2005 3:31:11 PM

it was playing, but when it had to hit harder than a soft thump it would rattle/hit

12/1/2005 4:12:22 PM

maybe youre trying to crank it up with some 20w RMS power

12/1/2005 4:16:46 PM

ha, no, it's just blown i really wanted it to work too. damn.

12/1/2005 4:28:40 PM

if the impedance on one coil is an open its the leads where they go into the cone... on my 10w3's the leads ripped right where they go in the cone... but kinda sounds like a mishaped voice coil.

12/1/2005 4:30:27 PM

oook so i'm not a sub guru, so i don't really know what you mean. the wires that go from where you hook the power and ground into the sub weren't ripped out if that's what you mean.

12/1/2005 4:33:16 PM

subs blown, dont think u wanna mess with all the technicalities involved with fixing it prolly

take it back to the dude or let someone on here help fix it if u really wanna keep it

12/1/2005 4:38:51 PM

who and how would be able to fix it and for how much?

12/1/2005 4:40:38 PM

"The sub is blown". Exactly. If your reading was a 0, then your sub has a short, and if it was infinity, then there is probably a wire borke. However, either way, they are not right. My brother has two 10's and they make rattle sometimes, but he still is keeping them for now at least. You cant hear it inside the car, so if it doesnt bother you too much, and you cant return it, then at least you got something. I blew my 2 12w0's before I got my 2 new 12W3V2's

12/1/2005 4:42:18 PM

it rattles more than i can stand, but it still hits harder than my rockford fosgate xlc the search is on for a 12w3 that isn't blown, haha

12/1/2005 4:44:27 PM

I bought my w3v2's from a reliable company on ebay.

12/1/2005 4:48:28 PM

If you think your sub is hitting harder than some other sub, I am still not convinced it is actually the sub that is blown.

I had 3 10w0s in a ported box once made of 3/4" birch with what I thought at the time was some pretty good bracing and had more screws in that thing than I ever care to attempt again. And you could still hear some sort of audible crack or pop sound when they were being driven with a modest 200 watts (PPI). I pulled all the subs out and reinforced the ports and everything and I finally realized that it was the face of the box that was vibrating in such a way that it was making the noise. You couldn't hear it in the cabin, but with the trunk open you could.

12/1/2005 4:54:42 PM

if its louder than your rock it might just be he tinsel wires you dont have connected well, otherwise its blown or you dont have it set in the box well at all, try taking it out ofthe box and hookin it up to the amp and see if it still makes that sound, if it does its blown...make sure the wires are connected well though...if it doesnt make that sound out of the box, its the box.

12/1/2005 5:01:55 PM

it still makes the rattling when the jl is out of the box i think it's done for

12/1/2005 5:07:42 PM

yepppppppp, in that case its done, how old is the sub? if its less than a year old u can return it to the store and get a free replacement, otherwise to rebuild it is gonna be a few $$, possibly get someone on here to rebuild it if they know what they are doing, i dunno if Dumbass knows how or not

12/1/2005 5:11:13 PM

i have no idea how old it is, can i trace the age w/ a number on the sub? i'm guessin it's older than 1 year.

12/1/2005 5:18:33 PM

possibly size of box is not right for sub...?

12/1/2005 5:21:59 PM

I repaired my 10's when they broke... but they weren't the same and only lasted another 3months before breaking again...

so no...

12/1/2005 5:22:03 PM

size of box is correct. i made sure of that when i built it, and how would the size of the box cause rattling. thanx for the advice Dumbass

haha, that made me lol, thanx for the advice dumbass.

12/1/2005 5:27:28 PM

if the box is too big, it would act essentially like an infinite baffle and would bottom out regularly on low notes... the SAME thing will happen if you didn't silicon the shit out of the box.

if the box is too small the sub just won't go low

bottoming out repeatedly is a gauranteed way to warp your voice coil btw... you can feel a warped voice coil if you press on the cone of the sub and it feels like its rubbing on something rough

[Edited on December 1, 2005 at 6:45 PM. Reason : how to check for a warped voice coil]

12/1/2005 6:44:34 PM

the volume is around 1.3 cubic feet. is that too big or too little?

12/1/2005 9:14:50 PM

I have the 12w3v2's so they arent the version 1's like you, but mine say 1.25 cubic feet for a sealed enclosure.

12/1/2005 10:15:37 PM

did you calk the ever living crap out of it? can you feel around the box and feel anywhere where air is leaking out... 1.3 should be right

12/1/2005 11:08:45 PM

man i caulked the shit out of it, every mounting surface got it. that w3 is returned, and i'm trying to get maximadriver's w3.

12/1/2005 11:10:12 PM

Try to make sure its not blown

12/1/2005 11:13:37 PM