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Yellowing ceiling speakers

6 years ago

I have a whole house sound system with the round JBL speakers throughout the ceilings. The trim has yellowed and looks awful. I tried cleaning them but no success. They appear to be a plastic trim and the grills are metal and have not yellowed. Any suggestions or advice would be so appreciated!!

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Amber
Original Author

6 years ago

Thanks. I did it and it worked great!

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Comments (10)

PRO
Square Peg Audio/Video
6 years ago
Mostly all in-ceiling/in-wall speaker grills can be painted. It doesn't look like you have magnetic grills, so first remove the grill (try hooking a paper-clip in one of the holes on the grill) pull down gently and evenly around the edge - you can also try a utility knife on the edge to get things started.

On the back of the grill is a cloth which is held in place by an adhesive. You will need to pull this off before painting. This can be a little tricky if the speakers have been in place for a while. It's important that you do this or the paint will soak into the cloth and gum up the works so to speak. Once it's off, I would suggest using spay paint. When completely dry, replace the cloth. If you have problems securing the cloth back in place, try using a little fabric spray adhesive (lightly spray the cloth, not the grill).

As for the speaker trim, paint in place. New speakers usually come with a paint mask to protect speaker driver/tweeter. If you don't have them, you can create a round cardboard mask and tape in place, that should work fine. A foam brush should work fine for painting the trim. Good Luck!

- Frank P.
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PRO
Square Peg Audio/Video
6 years ago
Wow, you're fast - LOL
Amber
Original Author
6 years ago
Lol. I had the paint ready and used the paper clip to remove the grill. Great tip because that grill would not budge! My daughter washed the grill to get the bug gack and dust off (it was not yellowed because it was metal). I painted the yellowed trim (because it was plastic). I have 9 more to go that I’ll tackle tomorrow
PRO
Square Peg Audio/Video
6 years ago
Looks great - keep going!
PRO
Synergy Florida
6 years ago
The touch up looks great!
Jericko filova
5 years ago
Yellowed plastics can be renewed by coating them in a pastey form of hydrogen peroxide and exposing it to ultraviolet light, either an indoor source you buy (UVA bulb)and set up or simply direct sunlight. Regular hydrogen peroxide solution you get at the grocery store is really weak and very liquidy leading to lots of wasted solution.. A stronger and not too drippy alternative is hydrogen peroxide hair dye developer which can be cheaply acquired at a drug store and stays where you put it on the plastic.

You can't use this on anything where you aren't able to remove the plastic parts from other electronic or electric parts.

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Remember the key is ultraviolet light exposure after application of the hydrogen peroxide.

Do this with appropriate gloves, eye protection and ventilation.
Jennifer Chen
3 years ago
Hi Amber - That looks awesome! I'm facing the same problem, but I'm wondering if you remember what paint and brush you used? Also, how has the paint held up? Thanks!
Liang Tanaya
2 years ago

I Have Bosch Philips Ceiling Speakers Using Sticky Double-Tapes And Wires To Install it to stick to my ceiling!!!
PRO
Square Peg Audio/Video
last year
That’s an interesting installation Liang😊

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