Repair broken earphones

[jkh13]

I now have 3 pairs of earphones that are only outputting sound out of 1 ear. I tried to repair my favourite pair today (pair of RE0s) and failed miserably.

I managed to identify the problem (bad jack) and got a new one from maplin, but upon soldering I could never get it to separate the channels correctly and ended up with mono sound on both ears. I have now tried three times each time losing some of the cable length and have given up on attempting to solder it . I was wondering if there is any sort of repair service in London that does stuff like earphone repair for a reasonable price? I have all the parts, just not the skill to do it .

[GoNz0]

why not buy a new cable, its easier to solder to the speakers.

[jkh13]

Wouldn't I still have to solder the plug on to the new wire? I have two copper wires, on blue and one red. I braided the coppers together and soldered it to the ground peg of the socket and I soldered the blue to one peg and the red to another. I have tried this multiple times and I still get mono on both buds .

Are you suggesting I disassemble the actual driver part and wire from there? I am hesitant to do that as if I screw up (likely), I cant try again.

[g8ina]

You haven't got one of the "extra long" jack plugs by mistake have you ??

Compare it side by side with another just to be sure.

[jkh13]

You haven't got one of the "extra long" jack plugs by mistake have you ??

Compare it side by side with another just to be sure.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/plastic-3.5mm-stereo-plug-1182

These are the ones I have bought, it should be the correct ones.

[peterb]

4 options:

1. You have wired the plug correctly, but using a mono source

2. You have wired the plug correctly, but the cable has a short or a problem elsewhere

3. You have wired up the plug incorrectly

4. You overheated the plug when soldering it and damaged the insulation so the two channel connections are shorted together

If there is a break in the common connection (usually the braid) you will get the same signal (degraded) in both earpieces (the difference signal between the two channels).

If it is a genuine mono output, but is a stereo input, then it is either plug wiring or a cable problem elsewhere.

[g8ina]

In my exp, No 4 ftw

[peterb]

In my exp, No 4 ftw

Yes! I've just soldered up half a dozen of those cheap plugs (cheaper from RS, but same design) and I think the insulation is polythene - hot iron, quick application!

[art vandelay]

It is very tricky soldering earphone cable. You'll need to scratch off the coating on the wire with some sandpaper or a knife.