Pigtail Trouble With Speakers - How to Handle Them

The Speaker Pigtail

A pigtail is that part that connects the speaker voice coil to the terminal log where the speaker wires is located. The pigtail is what you see usually hanging from the terminals of the speaker going to the center of the speaker cones where the voice coil is located.

Diagnosing Speaker Problems With Pigtail

A pigtail problem with speakers have the same trouble occurrence as that of which you have a dead set or no sound in your speakers. Usually, if the pigtail is causing the trouble, you would most likely have no sound and sometimes an intermittent sound. you can only know if what's causing th intermittent trouble is th pigtail if you try and pull the pigtail a little bit to cause the corroded portion to make a little contact to the voice coil and the speakers sounds normal afterwards.

Corroded Pigtail can Cause a Dead Speaker

The corrosion in the pigtail is that which looks like some carbon deposit or coal like coating in the copper colored pigtail. If you see this in your speaker pigtails, then it is most likely that it is defective or if not yet, wait for a week or two and you'll see the effects of this in intermittent sound or on and off sound especially if the music is too loud. You can also try and push a little bit, the cones of your speaker and let it come back to its normal position while repeating the process and if the sound comes back and disappears again, then you have the pigtail trouble.

Pigtail Trouble Remedy

The only remedy to this type of trouble is to replace the pigtails with a new one. In replacing this part of the speaker, be sure to use a small cloth in holding the copper pigtail because any sweat from the hands or fingers will cause it to corrode in a shorter time possible than avoiding your hand from touching the copper pigtail. If this occurs be sure to wash the pigtails with a little lacquer thinner using a small cloth. Don't overdo it or it will cause the cones to deteriorate earlier than expected. After the repairs, be sure to put some white epoxy to the base of the pigtail to avoid it from corroding again and this will also serve as a stronghold for the speaker cones and also acts as a preventive to the carbonizing and lessening the defects in pigtail in the future.