Floppy BKS Ribbon Tweeter - best fix?

[Fisionchips]

Hi - as you can see from the photo my formerly taut ribbon tweeter had a mishap involving overzealous use of a vacuum cleaner and needs repairing. This has happened once before and, at the time, we contacted the owner of BKS (I think his name is Benkt ) who kindly fixed it for us. BKS seem to have gone now but we do recall him advising the use of a matchstick to "re-crinkle" the ribbon if it should happen again. Can anyone advise on this or on who best to approach for a fix? 25767

[cyclopse]

I used to have the 128 version so the ribbon was longer. This looks like a 107? Yes I did damage mine with the vacuum cleaner. It’s easy to remove and roll into a 35mm film container and returned to factory who reshaped it for free. I guess he has retired now so sorry I don’t know of any other option if return to base is no longer an option.

[Fisionchips]

Hi cyclopse,

Thanks for your response - yes these are the 107s. I would have thought the problem we have both experienced is fairly common so there must be people out there who know the 'fix' for it.

[Lawrence001]

The maker was called Bent Kåre Sørensen hence the name BKS. I bought a couple of pairs of these ribbons for about £95 per pair a few years ago. I got them off a dealer in Denmark who told me that sadly Bent had passed away. I tried him again more recently for a pair of the longer 128 ribbons but got no response to my two emails. I can try and dig out his details of you want to try.

Sent from my BLN-L21 using Tapatalk

[Fisionchips]

Hi Lawrence,
Thanks - we had a similar experience and had conversed with Bent a couple of times but can find no record, weirdly, of the conversation. However, my husband is certain he mentioned the fix was very easy and could be done refolding the aluminium strip by using matchsticks. I wondered if anyone else knew of this?
I am really sorry to hear of Bent's passing - he was very kind, didn't charge us for fixing the ribbons last time. I find it sad that there seems to be no trace of him at all. I shall ask a Danish friend if they can find more info.

If you aren't getting any response form the people you used last time, no worries, I might simply try ringing around a few companies to see if anyone can help locally.

:)

[walpurgis]

Ribbon pleating tools are available. Employing one may re-tension the ribbon, but it requires great care.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ribbon-Pleater-for-DIY-Ribbon-Loudspeaker-Tweeter-/182166708740

[Fisionchips]

Thank you :)

[Fisionchips]

I bit the bullet and repaired the ribbon myself by removing it from the clamps and using two matchsticks to recrimp it.... it worked beautifully and was remarkably easy. Care needs to be taken not to damage the fragile ribbon but other than that... perfect :)

[cyclopse]

We have seen the before, how about a picture after you have worked on it?

[Fisionchips]

26021 There you go... not absolutely perfect but it's a great improvement and it's got character... and works :)

[Lawrence001]

Looks like a better job than I managed, I gave up and bought new ones though it was the delamination of the plastic on top of the foil that bugged me more as I thought it was most likely to affect the sound.

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[Fisionchips]

I don't think mine was suffering any delamination. My other half remembers conversing with Bent via email where Bent stressed the importance of ensuring the integrity of the strips that run through the aluminium but that he had used matchsticks. The strips are incredibly fragile, I made the initial mistake of walking from one room to another and the air flow over the strip was enough to undo the work I had already done.... back to the board and then transporting with more care.