Taking care of your Tower Speakers

[WaterBullDawg1980]

How often do you guys take these off? I know mine went through at least 3 rain storms this past winter. How much damage could have been caused by this??

Do you normally take these off if the boat must stay outside?

They are not working now, but I am 99% certain it is a simple short from one of the speaker wires, as my amp keeps blowing the 30 amp fuse. But I cannot get up to the boat tomorrow morning to troubleshoot.

What do you say??

[you da man]

Honestly, I couldn't imagine having tower speakers if my boat sat in the driveway, outdoor storage facility, or in a slip/lift. Only way I would go are Exiles since they are by far the easiest to disconnect. I know these tower speakers are supposed to be water resistant NOT waterproof and we are dealing with electrical connections in a moisture environment.

[Razzman]

I had some Rockford Fosgates on my last boat on the tower. When it was in the driveway i removed them, but when camping anything was game to include all the elements. Never hurt them at all. If you had them on under a lift with a canopy your good. Having them uncovered in the elements is another and i wouldn't advise that one regardless of brand. If their blowing a fuse it sounds like a short, maybe the wire stripped it's sheath inside the tower due to vibration or somewhere. Check all your wiring you can see, check amp connections, pull the speakers and check them, last resort would be to check the tower wiring.

[mmandley]

Couple weeks ago we got out and when i got home i left the boat out and just covered her up. A guy was supposed to stop by to hear a 4 some like mine that was talking to Brian about it. He didn't show up. What did show up was 2 day worth of rain. Good hard rain that caused me to keep brushing a puddle off my boat cover LOL.

I couldn't take the towers down without uncovering the boat. SO i said F it lets see what happens im sure Brian would like the feed back.

2 days later i removed the speakers and the connectors had water in them. I dumped it out and turn it on and wham sounds like new still.

The Exile connections were designed to have water in them and get wet. They thought of it all.

As for other tower speakers of there not working after rain, first thought is the connector on the can. Then open the can see if the speaker just has moisture on it.

[jscott]

I have the factory speaker and light bar on my xlv and left mine out in the rain last season for 3 months straight. I leave my boat in the water at my cottage with no problems. We had alot of rain and the everything worked great all season.

[zabooda]

My speakers come off in the winter and I cover them the rest of the time. When I have my solid bimini top on, I put a blue tarp over the top of the tower and around the bimini and it protects the top and speakers from the sun, rain and prying eyes. When the bimini isn't on, I have some homemade covers that snap over the tower bars and encloses the speaker. None of the methods will keep every completely dry but it keeps water from hitting them directly.

[WaterBullDawg1980]

Thanks for all the guys. Looks like my problem was with how my amp was mounted. Right under the front storage locker. Of course it took some water and it looks to be blown. :(

I have figured out how to disconnect the tower speakers for when it rains when it is not under covered storage.

I'm learning a lot under my first year of boat ownership. Dont know what I would do without you all!!

Many thanks!

[jbheuerman]

I unfortunately have to store my boat outside and I've never taken off my tower speakers, and have never had a problem with them so far. I do have some speakersox on them when they are not in use...not waterproof covers, but they do help a bit. I would probably suggest if you have a lot of money into your tower speakers to either remove them or get a waterproof cover for them during times of storage. I'm still waiting for mine to blow so I can get some new ones!! :D

[kaneboats]

I keep mine in the garage but will be taking a vacation when it will sit in the water for most of a week. I think I'm going to make some decent speaker sox that will protect them during the trip and also keep them a little drier if we get some overnight rain.

[sandm]

leave mine one 24/7, but it's garage kept and only sits outside overnite when camping. cleaned and tucked away after every trip :)

[squeeg333]

I'm in the same 'boat' as you JB. Unfortuantely I have to park the boat outside, and haven't had an issue with my speakers yet. BUt, I am also waiting for them to have an issue so I can replace them. I can't justify replacing perfectly good speakers... well, I suppose I can since I replaced the cabin speakers this year, but still...

I'd like to make some speaker socks just to protect them a little...

[mmandley]

I'm in the same 'boat' as you JB. Unfortuantely I have to park the boat outside, and haven't had an issue with my speakers yet. BUt, I am also waiting for them to have an issue so I can replace them. I can't justify replacing perfectly good speakers... well, I suppose I can since I replaced the cabin speakers this year, but still...

I'd like to make some speaker socks just to protect them a little...

Buy the new ones. Then resale the ones ya got now for those who dont have any :cool: