How To Fix Earphones/Headphones

It's just a matter of time before your favorite earphones die out, but maybe you can attempt some self repair and extend the life of your earphones. The most popular type of damage attributed with earphones is usually with the wires and jack. This is cause by wear and tear. Here is how to fix this problem...

Repairing the wires and jack

Repairing the speakers

Usually the speakers in the headset aren't prone to malfunctions due to it's protective casing, but sometimes they can get damaged.

 

To get to the speakers open up the headphones (the bits next to your ears). Some use screws to hold the headset together, others use plastic clips or glue. To open the former, use an appropriate screwdriver. To open the latter, use a craft knife. Push the blade between the glued seams and gently lever the two pieces of the joint apart. Slowly work the blade around the joint until the two pieces crack apart. Sometimes the glue will be too strong and you will not be able to open the joint without damaging the plastic case. But remember: you are trying to fix something that is already broken, so don't be too upset. You can glue this back together.

Gently remove the speakers. these are round and face the position of your ear. The speakers will have the headphone wires soldered on to them. Look for any damage or detached wires. A detached wire will be floating around inside the case, and there will be a silver tag on the speaker that no longer has a wire attached to it. Cut back the end of the wire by 5mm and remove the outer plastic insulation using wire strippers.

Apply a little molten solder to the exposed wire, and then attach it to the silver solder tag on the speaker by melting the solder on to the tag with the iron, and touching the wire to the tag before the solder cools. Remember: heat will travel up the wire, so avoid holding the soldering iron in place for any longer than necessary.

Damaged wires that haven't become disconnected should still be easy to spot: they will have kinks in them, or the damaged section will be a different colour to the rest of the wire. The colour change occurs if wires have been stretched. Desolder the wires from the speakers by applying the iron to the solder tags on the speaker and gently pulling the wires clear of the molten solder.

Remove the damaged section of the wire with wire cutters – try to cut an extra couple of inches further back from the visible damaged section, just in case the damage has said.

Strip the wires using wire cutters and tin the exposed ends of the wire with solder. Resolder the wires on to the headphones. It should be easy to spot where the wires need to be soldered, since there will be only two solder connections on the speaker, and there should be two wires connected to it.

Screws should be screwed back in place and headphones that were clipped or glued together should be reclipped and held in place with superglue.