Topic: Neumann AK40 Repair

[blee421]

Friends,

I am trying to get this Neumann AK40 > LC3 > KM100 setup working again. The issue is that the front of each microphone grill is covered in black poop from flies! These mics were hung up at the Crazyhorse Saloon in Reno. A friend pulled them down and realized that uhhhhh yeah no windscreens to protect them??? SHIT! So he mailed them to me to see what I can do.

I have removed the cap from the middle ring that would attach to the LC3. It looks like you would need some type of special tool to unscrew the capsule out from the housing which is what I desperately need to do! The mics work fine they just need the housing cleaned.

I hit up a guy that does Neumann repairs here locally in LA and he wants $600-$800 to fix them up.

So....anyone have any suggestions for next moves? I was thinking alcohol swabbing just a little bit at a time, if I can't get the capsule out. Which I want to do so it can be cleaned. Id just run them over to this guy and have him do that part if its above my paygrade.

 

[heva]

Perhaps try some (cold/lukewarm) black tea; works in regular cleaning

[GLouie]

I haven't taken apart my KM140s, but have opened (defective) KM84 and Rode NT5 capsules.
Unless you are pretty confident, you probably should just send them out for cleaning. I doubt any external cleaning will be effective; you'll probably just push much of the debris inside the mesh.

Taking these apart is not so much rocket science, but one has to be careful. You'd need a dual-pin ring remover or fashion one. There are usually a specific set of spacer rings in specific order and placement. There's contact pins, discs with vents and milled cavity pieces. The diaphrams seem typically to be preassembled and tensioned. In other words, there isn't one thing to remove to get to the shell/grille, but all of the parts.

I probably don't want to know how you determined the stuff to be fly poop.

[blee421]

I haven't taken apart my KM140s, but have opened (defective) KM84 and Rode NT5 capsules.
Unless you are pretty confident, you probably should just send them out for cleaning. I doubt any external cleaning will be effective; you'll probably just push much of the debris inside the mesh.

Taking these apart is not so much rocket science, but one has to be careful. You'd need a dual-pin ring remover or fashion one. There are usually a specific set of spacer rings in specific order and placement. There's contact pins, discs with vents and milled cavity pieces. The diaphrams seem typically to be preassembled and tensioned. In other words, there isn't one thing to remove to get to the shell/grille, but all of the parts.

I probably don't want to know how you determined the stuff to be fly poop.

It’s fly poop. The mics were up there for years and they didn’t have protection. Thanks for all the info though.

Black tea? For real???

[morst]

Mail them to Sennheiser in Old Lyme CT and they will send them to Neumann in Germany for work... then ship them back to you domestically... I think that's how it works.


https://neumannvintage.company.site/