# How can i remove this?



## warrenstuart (Mar 3, 2010)

Hi All

This really is totally off topic as it's nothing to do with cars but i need some "thinking outside of the box" help from the many engineering skilled folk on here please 

I have a pair of PA speakers with some steel tube Pole Mount Adaptors fitted into the 35mm hole in the bottom of the cabinets so that 32mm diameter speaker stands can be used.
I want to remove the steel adaptor sleeve but it is seriously tight, i'm guessing it was driven in with a mallet or similar.
I can grip them with my mole grips to the point where the moles don't slip off no matter how hard I pull, twist or turn but the adapters don't move.
The speaker cabinets/holes the adaptors are in are plastic so heating up isn't an option.
You can see the steel sleeve fitted in the pic below.
Any thoughts please anyone??

Thanks in advance


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## Shug750S (Feb 6, 2012)

Can you cut 2 slots in metal at 180 degrees, and then insert something and twist out?


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## brittan (May 18, 2007)

.


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## warrenstuart (Mar 3, 2010)

Thanks guys for the replies so far 

Ideally i'd like to get them out without damaging them but it's beginning to look like that may not be possible.
Someone else has suggested a large rawl bolt but of course i'd have to be very careful with that so as not to swell the sleeve and make it worse than it already is :?


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## mullum (Sep 16, 2011)

Sorry I haven't got any suggestions but I am curious now as to why you want to remove that sleeve ?


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## warrenstuart (Mar 3, 2010)

mullum said:


> Sorry I haven't got any suggestions but I am curious now as to why you want to remove that sleeve ?


Hi Mullum, i want to remove it so that i can use standard 35mm dia speaker stands, it's a bit of a pain at the moment because if i use these speakers i have to take the 32mm stands with me (and i've forgotten them a couple of times!).
Also i can't use them with a standard 35mm pole to sit them on top of a subwoofer at larger functions.

The old 32mm stands for which these adaptors are used are really heavy duty and sturdy but just not very popular and hence i keep getting caught out with them :?

Sorry long waffle answer 

Warren.


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## anthony_839 (Apr 9, 2013)

I could get a 35mm hole cutter and just cut it out


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

The steel tube may be inserted hot so it welds itself to the plastic. If that is the case the reverse process would be to heat it up quickly to melt a thin layer of plastic at the interface and pull it out easily.


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## blz-8027 (Sep 22, 2013)

Get a reducer for the 35mm dia speaker stands to 32


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## brian1978 (Jul 10, 2013)

Drill 2 holes about 15mm down into it, then slide a pin across and pull it out with pair of grips.


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## warrenstuart (Mar 3, 2010)

Thanks for the replies, sorry but i've not had chance to reply over the weekend.

anthony_839 - thanks for that but ideally i'd like to get them out with minimal damage to the sleeve and hopefully no damage to the plastic cabinet.

John-H - the tube is just an aftermarket adaptor so my guess is someone has driven them in hard so that they don't fall out or even glued them in?? Heating up may damage the original hole and make them a sloppy fit on a standard 35mm pole once the sleeve is out :?

blz-8027 - yes getting a reducer had crossed my mind and i may well go for that option but removal is the best option if i decide to sell the speakers on.

brian1978 - someone on the blue room forum has suggested something similar and i'm going to give this a try 

Thankyou very much everyone, i'll post up the outcome 

Warren.


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

IPA is good at penetrating and forming a lubricant of sorts. It will de-bond hot melt adhesive very effectively by capillary action. It won't damage your plastic if that's ABS.

That combined with mechanical force, like an expanding Rawl bolt clamped in and pulled may help shift it.


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## brian1978 (Jul 10, 2013)




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## mullum (Sep 16, 2011)

Sorry if this is a distraction but you mentioned blueroom? As in blueroom loudspeakers? Are they still around? Loved their pods from back in the day;-) they had a good record label too, for those in the know ;-)


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## warrenstuart (Mar 3, 2010)

No blueroom technical forum, not speakers. Those do look funky though 

Thanks for the suggestion too John-H, the expanding rawl bolt is one of the other things i'll try, hoping to give it a go tomorrow.

Warren.


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## Spandex (Feb 20, 2009)

mullum said:


> Sorry if this is a distraction but you mentioned blueroom? As in blueroom loudspeakers? Are they still around? Loved their pods from back in the day;-) they had a good record label too, for those in the know ;-)


I have an old pair of the Blueroom Minipods shown in your picture. The Blueroom Pods were much larger than the Minipods, and made from fibreglass, but they were hand made and very rare.

The original Pods were partly funded by B&W (hence the familiar yellow kevlar drivers) and the guy who designed the B&W Nautilus did some of the acoustic engineering. The designer of the Pods speakers actually used to salvage discarded B&W speaker parts from the skips outside their factory, but was introduced to some of their engineers. After they saw what he'd made, they agreed to help productionise them.

<edit> Oh, and Minipods (plus other new designs) are still manufactured today by Scandyna (http://uk.podspeakers.com/).


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## mullum (Sep 16, 2011)

Yeah I've seen those "current" mini pods, and I know people who own some of the large original pods. I've never had the pleasure of owning any myself, unfortunately. I owned every record their label released though
I actually live near the B&W factory, I should get 'round there and check the bins ;-)

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## warrenstuart (Mar 3, 2010)

Well they're out 

They weren't glued in etc as I suspected just stuck in... HARD!
I drilled 2 small holes 180 degrees to one-another in the short section that was sticking out and run some military spec flex weave type of wire through the holes (thanks Brian for this idea) but couldn't pull them out by hand even with riggers gloves on to stop the wire cutting into my hands and standing on the speaker at the same time.
So a bit of "tat & technology" came up with a wooden lever and some blocks to get the first one out. The second one was stuck fast so got my bottle jack on the job with a piece of wood to spread the load on the cabinet. It came out but I did think at one stage oh dear what's going to give first, the cabinet or the adapter sleeve?!!

Pic below with the bottle jack pulling the second one out, you can just see it coming out but the wood was creaking and I was dreading the wire snapping.
Sorry for poor quality pic but I just grabbed my phone on the spur of the moment.










Thanks for all of the suggestions everyone it's what gave me the ideas so thankyou 

Warren.


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## Shug750S (Feb 6, 2012)

Love that final solution, real Heath Robinson / British Engineering.

Patent it fast.


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

Archimedes would have been proud


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