Possible oxidation on Lionel “Baby Fatboy” speaker

[DaveJfr0]

I 2Red this car awhile ago and was going to add voltage spike protection tonight, but saw this possible issue. Curious if anyone here knows if this is the beginning of a failure mode for a speaker?

This speaker has been inside a plastic enclosure, yet has a white substance/powder/dust starting to cover it. I’m guessing the material (aluminum or zinc) is starting to oxidize, but unsure if it will lead to a shorting the speaker, etc. I have never seen a speaker do this. I have seen MTH speakers of a different build quality shed metal flakes and cause a short, but this doesn’t look to be the same phenomenon.

Maybe I clean it up with some chemical and then paint it to keep it from reoccurring. Maybe it needs to be replaced or the last option is ignore and do nothing. I just don’t want this thing to decide to short in a few years and blow the audio amp.

IMG_6755.jpeg (567.6 KiB) Viewed 430 times

Car in question was made in 2019:
http://www.lionel.com/products/southern ... 4-1926660/

I didn’t find much on google that seems relevant to this type of speaker.

Thoughts?

[DaveJfr0]

Tried to clean it up and coat it with some wd40.

Upon wiping off the top of it, the basket now shows spotchy rust. Can’t tell if the oxidation or moisture buildup started in China, while in a container, or stateside.

IMG_6764.jpeg (315.32 KiB) Viewed 354 times

Going to go ahead and carefully clean it with degreaser, then find some enamel paint and give the basket a coat in an attempt to prevent further oxidation.

The cone itself shows no signs of deterioration.