Serious Problem With Headphones

[Man.]

Ok this is my third pair of headphones now that have failed me. They all worked perfectly but then suddenly one of the ear pieces stop working for no reason.

You can sometimes hear through the broken piece but you have keep moving the wire into the correct position and then once that is done you cant move

So is there anyway to fix this problem.

(BTW my current headphones cost $40 so dont say buy better ones)

[iPod Killa]

wow, you must be pretty hard on your headphones if you keep having the same problem. It's obviously not a problem with the Zune since it's a short in the wire that's causing this to happen. Clearly, you have to buy another set of headphones, unless you have skills and can open up the ones you have and solder the connection or splice the wire if there's a break in it causing an intermittent connection. What headphones are these and what other one's have you broken? Do you want earbuds or on ear headphones?

If you want on ear heaphones, the Sennheiser HD 212Pro are gonna be hard to beat and they will only run you about $10 more than your current one's. If you want earbuds, can't really help you there cause I haven't listened to that many and the one's I have listened to aren't anything spectacular, the best one's being the Zune Premium v.2.

[zachnehrenberg]

Since you seem to be rough on your heardphones, buy some that have a thick wire. That way, they wll be harder to break. I can't really recommend an brands thouhg. I use bose, and they're about the best.

[Scrapz616]

this happened to me too, i just taped it together when i could hear from the other side but it doesn't work well
i suggest fixing the wires or just getting new headphones that are a bit more stronger in the wire or be more gentle with the wires

[PoN]

call support. Since you prolly got it from a big company they should send you new ones. good luck

[ar53n]

I just bought sone Senn cx-300 for 20$ on ebay , 2 years warranty !

[iPod Killa]

Originally Posted by ar53n

I just bought sone Senn cx-300 for 20$ on ebay , 2 years warranty !

Please write a review on them once you get your hands on them cause i'm in the market for some quality ear buds.

[AquaToad]

get new ones or solder

[Man.]

thanks for the replies guys, it looks like im going to have to buy new ones as I dont have a soldering kit.

[Gow]

Look for a pair that has a warranty longer than 90 days.

Amazon.co.uk: Sennheiser PX100 Headphones:...
Are a decent pair but if you prefer earbuds it comes down to who made them in the end.

[jackluo923]

It sounds like you wrap your earphone around your zune pretty hard. You could request a free earphone by calling 1800getzune and say your eapphone broke.

When you wrap up your earphones, push the little moveable tab up to the 2 earbuds so they don't move, then wrap the earphones around the zune.

[iPod Killa]

Originally Posted by Man.

thanks for the replies guys, it looks like im going to have to buy new ones as I dont have a soldering kit.

well, soldering kit = $20 or less
new ear buds = $40 or more

you decide

[Bman22]

just so you know, soldiering is impossible on these kinds of headphones. To conserve space, all the wires are coated in a sealent of a specific color. In order to make them soldierable, you would need sand paper, but when you try to sand them, the wires are so fine that they snap off. I say just buy some new ones, and try not to murder these ones too.

[iPod Killa]

Originally Posted by Bman22

just so you know, soldiering is impossible on these kinds of headphones. To conserve space, all the wires are coated in a sealent of a specific color. In order to make them soldierable, you would need sand paper, but when you try to sand them, the wires are so fine that they snap off. I say just buy some new ones, and try not to murder these ones too.

wow, good info, I had no clue

[dark_nes666]

The left headphone stops working all the time for me,
does anybody have this problem too??

[paul4531]

I am getting my free zune ear buds on thursday=)

[Bman22]

Originally Posted by got zune?

wow, good info, I had no clue

yah well i have tried to repair many a headphones, so i have a little knowledge about it.


SWEET! MY 100th POST!!! YAY!

[jackluo923]

Originally Posted by Bman22

just so you know, soldiering is impossible on these kinds of headphones. To conserve space, all the wires are coated in a sealent of a specific color. In order to make them soldierable, you would need sand paper, but when you try to sand them, the wires are so fine that they snap off. I say just buy some new ones, and try not to murder these ones too.

That's why there's a thing called fire. LOL

I've repaired many broken pairs of earphones and this is how the repairing process goes

The coating you've described is enamal or a kind of plastic. You'll first need to burn it off before soldering.

Equipments:
multimeter
Soldering gun
Solder
Preferably burnzomatic torch, but smoke lighter will also work
your nails
A metal grasping device that holds the wires

1) Plug the soldering iron into the wall to preheat it
2) Take apart the earphone so the segment where it needs fixing is exposed. In your case, open up the earbuds.
3) When your soldering iron is finished heating up, make sure the temperature reach the max. To test this, put a little solder on it, if the solder melts instantly, it means its ready.
4) Unsolder the wires from the earbuds and remember which wire goes where.
5) Take the metal grasping device and grasp the wire 0.5centermeter from the end.
6) Swip the torch across the wires so the enamal burns by itself, but not melting the wires.
7) Repeat the process for all the wires that needs fixing
8) Use your nail to scrap the black burnt plastic off the wires, be sure not to pull the wires in half.
9) Solder the wire back to the earbud
10) Close the earbud
11) Test out the earphones by using the multimeter
i) Test out the left channel
a) Place the Black wire on the ground on the 3.5mm jack
b) Place the red wire on the left channel on the 3.5mm jack
c) Record the Ohm reading
ii) Test out the right channel
a) Place the black wire on the ground on the 3.5mm jack
b) Place the red wire on the right channel on the 3.5mm jack
c) Record the Ohm reading
iii) Compare the result.
a) If the 2 readings are the same, it means your earphone is fixed.
b) If the 2 readings are different, one of the reading is almost double the other one, it means you have a short in the earphone
c) If the 2 readings are a little bit different, it means that you haven't properly solder the wires on the earbud or you haven't completely stripped the enamal coating on the earphone


Good luck

[paul4531]

woa nice. I'd just rather keep my free ones though=]

[mr.handsomeman]

do you wrap your headphones up? i mean onto your fingers so that they don't get as tangled and sutff ?If you do, that has a lot to do with it. The chords can handle bending of course. But too much bending and wrapping and stoof can really mess up the wires.