TIP: Sturdier Aerators for the Skullworx Speakers

[gilbert[TK]]

I'm sure many of you know the "Skullworx" brand of "Complete Helmet Electronics Unit." It's a standard that I've seen in several trooper's buckets and it is the first thing I added to my first bucket.

 

These Mods are simple, and probably a no brainer, but if I'd seen them when I first installed my Skullworx it would have saved me some hassle later on.

 

Let me start this TIP by mentioning that I love this system and have had nothing but good use out of it.

That being said, I have only 2 gripes, both of which are very simple to fix (which a little light modding).

 

The Mesh on the Front is Not Held-in by Anything

As such, one poorly placed grab of the faceplate and your finger will go right through it. Meaning that you have to unwrap your black decal on the outside, unscrew the bottom, etc etc, just to push the darn thing back forward.

 

The Fix

This one is a no brainer. Super-glue. A light amount of all-purpose super-glue around the edges of the mesh before setting them into the Aerator will keep minor taps of the finger from popping them in. It wont stop thumb jabs of a stronger sort, but it's a lifesaver for the accidental touches. Be sure to glue the mesh directly into the little white cap piece (not the metal casing) so you can still remove the whole piece for cleaning or repairs.

 

Now the real problem:

 

The Plastic Washers are Flimsy and Break Easily

These are the guys (picture below). You can see in the image the one on the right is how they're supposed to look, the one on the left is how one of mine looked after my bucket took a small fall and roll.

The problem is that these little buggers hold the whole thing together. If they're broken then the screw has nothing to hold on to. They're very important, and they just aren't up to the task.

 

The Fix

Replace them. Takes a little doing but isn't that hard.

Let me start by saying that modding these speakers is an "at your own risk" issue. I did this because I had to or I was going to lose the speaker all together.

What you'll need is a solid replacement. Fortunately, many of us already have a good replacement. If you're bucket came with separate Aerators (not molded onto the faceplate), like the FX and probably, then the old Aerators actually had two metal disks that did for those what these plastic ones due for the Skullworx Aerators.

These little guys fit just nicely in the Skullworx. They set down in the threaded section just the same as the old plastic ones did.

 

They only have one minor (not really) problem. They have no room for the speaker wires to go through. The plastic ones acomplish the task with a rectangular missing section. These don't. So let's fix that.

Drill two holes into the metal, about where the meal dips. A regular drill will do fine, they're not that overly thick. A 7/64 drill bit is about right, 1/8 might work but seems like it'd be a bit too big. Leave enough room between them so that you don't make the section between weak, but not so much that the wires need to strech to get there. About the same distance as the holes are wide should do the trick. It'll look vaguely like Mickey Mouse. Now be careful, the other side of the hole will have jaged edges that can be sharp. I just took a Dremel with a sanding ring and sanded the edges down in only a few seconds. That's probably the safest.

And of course, they still fit just fine in the threaded section.

That's pretty much the hard part. From here just dissemble the Skullworx Aerators and replace the plastic bits with your new metal ones. Instead of an open section for the wires, you now have two holes to put them through (see pictures below) Let me be clear though, be delicate with the speakers! The Skullworks website warns that taking it apart " is not recommended due to the fragility of the speakers," so as with all Mods, this is at your own risk. As long as you are careful and keep the speakers away from your drilling and other work there shouldn't be an issue. I have minimal experience with speaker innards and I managed to do this three times without ever losing speak quality or sound. But if you break it, I warned you.

The following pics are just a quick rundown of the assembly process (or the disassembly process if you go backwards). I added an extra nut on the other side of the screw to keep the screw in place. Might not be necessary, but I didn't want the screw poking forward and ruining the delicate speaker while I was installing it onto my bucket.

 

 

 

And that's all folks. Borne out of my own necessity, this tutorial might give anyone else with this issue a nice clean fix.

[RogueTrooper[TK]]

Cool tip Gilbert. Thanks for posting it.