Sometimes your headphones stop working from one side. Imagine! You are enjoying your music and suddenly you realize that your headphones stop working from one ear. It can be very frustrating at that time, even if your headphones are too expensive, and you haven’t used them a lot. This issue occurs might be because of the folding or disconnection of wires. Probably, you are thinking about buying wireless headphones? For that purpose, the wireless headphones didn’t worth it! Because they’ll not provide you with good sound quality as wired headphones do. Hardly saying, you have to bear with these issues like; wire damaging, folding, etc. The only option you have is ‘ repairing them’ because buying a new one might be an expensive option, but at the same time repairing is time-consuming and also need some skill to do it. Besides, there is no guarantee that your headphones will properly work after soldering. Still, it could be fun to try! Read More.
Figure Out the Problem:
Before getting started, make sure to double-check the issue is happening with your headphones, not with your device or with your audio file. Sometimes what happens is, the problem is caused by an audio setting on your smartphone or PC and you think that headphones aren’t working properly. So it’s important to figure out that issue is with your headphone not with something else. To figure it out! Restart your smartphone or PC and if the same problem occurs then move to the next step, which is to check with another pair of headphones. Simply, plug in other headphones to your PC or smartphone, if you hear sound from both ears, it means your headphones are truly faulty!
It’s time to fix them;
All you need is:
- Solder
- A Soldering iron
- A ⅛ inch stereo plug
- Pair of snips or scissors
- A small damp sponge
- A pair of helping hands
Step 1:
It might be difficult for you if you love your headphones a lot and bought them too expensive, but you have to do it. Cut the cable about an inch and a half away from the connection to the plug. Then carefully remove the outer cover of the wire using some sharp tool. It’s normal to lose a couple of inches while trying to remove the insulation from the wire. But make sure not to cut any important thing. After removing, now you can clearly see the wires; one is for the left ear, one is for the right ear, and a neutral wire. There might be two neutral wires, just make sure to separate all of the wires by their colors.
Step 2:
Now, it’s time to tin the wires. Turn on the soldering iron, when it gets hot, take a piece of solder and apply it to the ends of the wires ( keep in mind that before using it, you must have the knowledge to use it). Then take a small damped cloth or sponge to clean the extra solder from the soldering iron. “Note: Solder must be stuck to copper wire because sometimes headphone cord uses enamel coated wires. In this situation, burn the enamel with a hot soldering iron to reach the copper wires It just takes a drop of solder to tin the copper wires. If there are two ground/ neutral wires then simply twist them together before tinning them together with the end”
Step 3:
Solder the wires to the plug by unscrewing the case of the plug and slip casing on the wire and screw the plug back by making sure that the casing faces right away. Use your “helping hands” clips. If the wires are enamel coated then the left signal wire will be green and right one will be red and the ground wire will be copper-colored. But if the wires are rubber insulated then the left signal wire will probably be white and the right will be red and the grounded wire will be either black or bare-metal. Note: there may be a chance of mixing the left and right wires. Just simply switch them around. Then slip the tinned wires into the holes and solder them. Once the solder is cooled down screw the casing back
Step 4:
It’s time to test them. Try your headphones by connecting the cable to your PC. If they are working properly then CONGRATULATIONS! You have done a pretty good job, but if it isn’t then you might have mixed the wires. To solve this problem you can use paper between the wires to separate them from one another. Or desolder them by connecting iron to them and then resolder the wires correctly and try again!
That’s it! Your headphones are ready. Now you can listen to whatever you want. ENJOY:)
