DIY Headphone Repair - How To Identify The Cable Break And Fix It
Headphone cables are prone to damage. These delicate pieces have to experience a lot of stress, especially when used with your Smartphone or other portable media players, while travelling. The cable curl and twist while walking or travelling, and thus one of the speakers stop working.
Repair of headphone is not that difficult. You can perform the magic and bring your damaged speaker back to life. Thus avoid getting frustrated and spendthrift tour to the electronic store for replacement.
Tools
• Electrical tape • Wire strippers (sharp knife) • Soldering device and wire • Sand paper • Metal replacement jack plug
Find the cable break
First you will need to identify the cable break. Plug the headphone in an audio source and put them on. Switch some music and bend cable 90 ° across the thumb top and run it all along the cable length starting from the end of jack plug. On reaching the break location, sound will crackle and stop. Confirm this by twisting and curling the wire, at this point. Mark the cable break with electrical tape.
Fixing the breakage in the middle
Remove ½” of outer shielding with wire strippers or with a sharp knife running around the cable circumferentially. Both the wires have separate exposed earth. If it is a single cable then there will be two lengths of shielded cord and one unshielded (earth). Cable splicing
Two kinds of cable splicing
1. Pigtail splice - Hold two exposed part of wire, you need to join equivalent to one another and twist them together for creating a link. This kind of splicing is easy and quick than in-line splicing but you get an angled fix, which hinders natural flow of signals.
2. In-line splice - The wire needs to overlap from end to end, and then twist in opposite direction to create strong connection. It fits with natural flow. This is more tricky to complete but worthy.
Remember to spice white to white, red to red and earth to earth. You can even blend all the earth wires but the red and white needs to be kept separate.
Solder the connections
After twisting the like wires together, apply a thin solder coating on the wire with the help of solder device. After you complete soldering allow the joins to cool. Wrap both red and white wires with electrical tape. This keeps the wires from touching ground wire or one another, making a possible short circuit.
Slide the shrink tube over 2 taped parts and apply heat. Tube will shrink and snugly fit the repaired section. Thus your newly repaired portion of cable gets protection.
Jack plug replacement
In case the cable breakage is located at the jack plug then you will need to cut it along with an inch of the cable. You will need fine sand paper along with replacement jack plug. You can easily buy them from the electronic emporium.
These days most of the plugs are plastic, so you are unable to see the connections. The white wire needs to be connected to left speaker on tip probe and red wire to right speaker at ring probe. The earth has to be connected to sleeve probe. In case, you are not sure about the probes confirm using a multi-meter.
Conduct the soldering process as given above. With the help of sand paper roughen probe surfaces, so that solder sticks the metal. After completing all the soldering, slide the shrink tube in place and apply heat. After the solder gets cooled screw the jack cover and you are ready to listen to the music.
About the Author
Graham Slee is the founder of HiFi System Components Ltd. Along with his partners John and Leon, the company is always trying to provide better audio system components. Their products make a lot of different you can look through their range of amplifiers, phono, DACs and cables.
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