Headphones are an indispensable device that allows you to enjoy your favorite music or listen to audiobooks anywhere without disturbing others. Unfortunately, this irreplaceable electronic gadget breaks down quite often, especially for shell-type headphones. Many consumers, when their headphones break down, throw out the old ones and go to the store for a new accessory. However, this is not at all necessary, because you can try to fix the broken device on your own. Headphone repair is a simple job that you can do yourself.
Probably the most popular problems with headphones are the lack of sound in one "ear" or the appearance of a squeak or rustle in the background of sound. However, such malfunctions, as a rule, can be corrected by hand. The reasons for the appearance of such problems may be different, but in 99% of cases, with the right approach to business, you can cope with them on your own.
Breakage of the inner cores of the cord
“Symptoms” of veins breakage are “rustling” sound and its subsequent complete disappearance. This means that there was a break in the core at the bend. In other words, internal damage to the cord will be located either at the junction in the "ears", or near the plug, with which the headphones are connected to any devices. If such a breakdown occurs, you can repair the headphones yourself. To do this, you need to establish the exact location of the break by rotating the cord. If a crack or sound appears in the earphone, it means that you have correctly identified the location of the breakdown. It is very simple to eliminate such a malfunction - to do this, you need to cut the cord at the break, and then solder the disconnected ends. Then it is necessary to rewind the damaged place with insulating tape.
The gap was at the cord connector. Most headphones have one of two types of connectors. The most convenient way to repair a connector is made up of a hard core and a soft rubber cap. During the repair, it can be easily removed and you can start connecting the contacts. If you are dealing with a monolithic flexible plastic connector, then you will have to cut this part with a knife. Having reached the place of damage, it is necessary to strip the torn wire and re-solder it to the place of the break. Most likely, during the repair, cavities will appear in the plug that need to be filled. This is best done with an instant hardening adhesive.
The gap between the veins is at the earpiece. In this case, you need to disassemble the earpiece. Typically, either plastic clips or screws are used to secure the two largest parts of the earbuds. When it comes to shell headphones, then adhesive bonding is mainly used. After the headphones are open, you need to cut the wire, then strip it and solder it in the same way as before. After making sure that the structure is functioning properly again, you can reassemble the halves of the "ear".
The reason for the damage to the cores of the headphones is very simple - a large fatigue load falls on the small bending radius. That is, with constant bends in different directions, the vein will inevitably break. The time when this will happen is impossible to determine in advance, it all depends on both the quality of the headphones and the careful handling of this accessory.
Headphone membrane problems
Signs of membrane problems include "bouncing" playback timbre and rattling in one or both of the headphones. To troubleshoot this type of problem, it is necessary to disassemble the "ear" and remove the contamination from the membrane. If the membrane is wrinkled, it must be carefully leveled. If necessary, the mesh located at the membrane is cleaned. It is important to remember that membrane troubleshooting is temporary. This situation may be repeated soon. Therefore, having repaired the headphones, you can start looking closely at a new pair.
Clogged headphone channel
If there is no sound in the headphones, but all channels are intact, then the problem has arisen due to a clogged channel. Earwax, which coats the mesh every time you use the device, can cause clogged earpieces. To eliminate this malfunction, it is necessary to disassemble the "ear" and clean the mesh, and it is desirable to do this with alcohol. Please note that in no case should you pour alcohol into the headphones, since this will simply damage the membrane, which is unlikely to be restored.
How do I store my headphones?
Now the breakage of the headphones is not a problem, because when using one of the above methods, you can independently return them to their former functionality. However, you must agree that it is better to do everything so that they do not break, than then waste time repairing the headphones. To do this, you must adhere to the rules for proper storage of headphones.
The easiest and most effective way is to store the headphones in special cases or purses. Before hiding the "ears", it is necessary to carefully roll them up without tightening or bending the wire too much.
And so that the headphones not only do not break, but also do not get entangled, you can use improvised means, for example, wind them on a spool from under the threads. It is advisable to use a coil with a wide inner part, where not only the "ears" themselves, but also the plug could fit.
Music lovers are often faced with the problem of failure of one earphone. Mechanical damage is more common in Chinese products. Branded headphones may simply fail due to driver mismatch. In any case, don't throw away your headset right away. Now we will look at how to fix the headphones if one does not work, and methods for identifying the cause of the breakdown.
Determine the cause of the breakdown
Headphones are a rather fragile headset. If one speaker fails, you should not immediately start disassembling it. To repair the product, it is necessary to identify the cause of the breakdown.
If the headset has not fallen into water, fire, or under a strong blow, the problem is looked for in three places:
- Mismatch of drivers on laptop, computer and other electronic device. For this reason, one or two speakers may not work and the sound may be distorted.
- Broken wire. This happens in places of frequent bends or from a sharp jerk. In cheap Chinese models, a poor-quality wire "crumbles" without good reason.
- A crack has appeared on the speaker membrane. This reason is considered first if the headphones are dropped to the floor or hit with a hard object.
When the cause of the breakdown is identified, they begin to eliminate it.
Recommendations: If water gets on the headphones or inside the mobile phone jack 
How to fix earbuds yourself if one has stopped working 
Do-it-yourself headphone repair 
Working with drivers
Each electronic device has a sound driver installed. If the software is outdated, "crashed" or damaged by user intervention, then the sound does not come to the earphone. An easy way to spot driver problems is to have another working device on hand. We connected working headphones to the laptop, but there is no sound. So, you need to reinstall the sound driver:
In the case of a computer or laptop, first check the native sound driver of the installed Windows system - Realtek. There are many sliders in the program settings, by moving which they change the volume, sound inputs and outputs, channels. There are situations when, for some unknown reason, one of the sliders switches on its own. The result is one channel operation or no sound output at all. The problem is solved by moving the sliders until the sound appears in the headphones.
The second problem is related to the incorrect operation of the native headphone drivers. Over time, the software becomes outdated and requires updating. The driver may just crash. To solve the problem, go to the headset manufacturer's website. The model driver is selected from the list, and then the software installation file is downloaded. The uninitiated need to know that there is only one sound driver, and it is responsible for the operation of both headphones, and not each speaker separately. The downloaded driver is installed into the system as a normal program. A reboot is performed to activate.
If the restoration of the drivers is not successful, then the headphones are mechanically damaged.
Broken wire
Broken wires are a common cause of one earpiece failure. The copper vein "crumbles" in places of frequent bends. This area needs to be found and repaired.
Finding the place of the cliff
Wire breakage is searched mechanically. The headset plug is connected to a mobile phone, computer or MP3 player. They turn on the music file and begin to carefully wrinkle the wire with your fingers along the length from the plug to each earphone. When a crack or sound appears in a non-working speaker, a section on the wire is marked with a marker. There is a cliff at this point.
When diagnosing the wires, carefully probe the cable entry, the plug, to the speakers and the branch on the jumper. Here, most often, a bend of the wire occurs and an open circuit is obtained.
Soldering wire: instructions with step by step photos
If the wire fell directly near the earpiece or plug, then the problem area is simply cut off. To solder the cable, you have to get to the speaker. The earphone is disassembled and a cut piece with a spilled wire is soldered from its contacts. The end of a working cable is stripped, the copper core is tinned with flux, and then soldered to the speaker contacts. Perform similar actions with the plug.
The way to disassemble the earphone depends on its design:
- The branded headset is connected with screws, often hidden under decorative covers. They just need to be found and unscrewed.
- A computer headset is usually assembled with snaps.
- The droplet headphone housing is glued together. The junction is cut with a knife. The body can be lightly pressed with pliers. Pressing the gluing will burst.
It is better to buy a collapsible plug. The old element can only be picked out of the rubber sheath. After soldering the wires, the plug is glued into the rubber socket with epoxy resin.
If the damaged area is in the middle of the wire, the break is cut with a knife and the cable is restored:
The first one is to clean the upper insulation - the braid. Three conductors 3–5 cm long are freed so that it is convenient to solder. Copper wire is also coated with different colors. It is impossible to confuse them. All three cores must be soldered in accordance with the colors, but first, the insulation is removed at the ends with a length of 5 mm. The stripped ends of the wires are heated with a soldering iron and tinned with flux.
When all the ends of the wires are ready for soldering, a heat shrink tubing is put on the cable. Similar tubes of only smaller diameter are pushed onto each core. The wires are laid on a board for a firm stop and soldered with a soldering iron in accordance with the colors of the insulation.
A heat-shrinkable tube is pushed onto the soldering point of each core, heated with a lighter, and then squeezed with fingers. To prevent the connection from breaking, it is reinforced with a harsh thread, tying all three cores together.
Now it remains to bring beauty. A thick heat-shrinkable tube put on the cable is pushed onto a bandage with a harsh thread, heated with a lighter and squeezed.
The wire has been repaired. You can plug in headphones and enjoy music.
Membrane problem
The lack of sound in the earphone may be caused by a broken membrane. This element in the form of a thin plate stands on the speaker. There are two malfunction options:
1. Deformation of the membrane. The element is gently bent with your fingers, giving the original shape.
2. The membrane has burst. There are no repair options. Buy a new speaker or completely headphones.
The membrane can make a bad sound if the earpiece mesh is clogged with earwax. This problem is typical for a closed headset - plugs. The dirt is washed out with alcohol, but the earphone will have to be disassembled so that the dirty liquid does not get on the speaker.
How often it happens that recently purchased headphones start to "junk". The sound in one of them begins to be supplemented with wheezing, interference, and over time it may disappear altogether. Can the headphones be repaired or should they be taken to a service center, or maybe it's time to buy new ones? You can try fixing them yourself first.
How do I fix my headphones myself?
So, before we tell you how to fix the headphones if one of them stops working, here is a list of the necessary tools and materials for this.
If your headphones require small screws, you will need the correct size screwdriver. In addition, you need a clerical knife and a lighter. You will likely need electrical tape or epoxy glue to bond the broken wires together. You can also connect parts with a soldering iron and heat shrink tubes. Also, a multimeter will not hurt to help locate the break.
So how do you fix your headphones if one doesn't work? Most often, breakage occurs due to a break inside the cord or simply poor build quality. To fix these problems, special skills and knowledge are not required. You need to find out the exact location of the problem first.
If the sound in the earphone is accompanied by noise and interference, and over time the sound in it completely disappears, you need to walk along the cord with your fingers, connect the earphones and turn on the sound. Especially carefully feel the folds and the area where the wire enters the earphone. When you stumble upon a problem area, you will hear a characteristic sound.
Depending on where the breakdown is located, your further actions can develop in several scenarios. If there is a breakage inside the earphone, you need to open it. If the earphone has screws, loosen them. Small earbuds are often simply glued on the sides, so that they can be opened with the tip of a regular knife.
To locate the break in an open earpiece, walk along the cord while listening to the sound. When you find a spot, cut the wire below it, strip it to wire, and solder to the original junction.
Many headphones are tied inside a knot, so tie them up before soldering the wires. Before assembling the headphones, check the sound again. You can glue them back together using epoxy glue.
If the reason that one ear does not work is a breakage inside the plug, before you repair the headphones, you need to find the breakage point. Likewise, run your fingers along the wire and listen for the sound. When you find a problem area, you will need to get to the inner wire to cut it.
Pre-strip the plug from the rubber, find the junction of the connector and the wire, cut off the inoperative section and reattach it with. Restore the cleaned area with epoxy glue. You can additionally wrap the plug on top with threads or put on a thick plastic sheath from another wire.
How to use a multimeter?
If you could not find a breakdown by probing and 
bending wires, use a special device. You can buy it at an electronics store or borrow it from someone you know.
Set up the multimeter as follows: set it up for a conductivity test, insert the black probe into the hole marked COM, and the red one into the hole marked Ω, mA or))).
Test the wires with a multimeter: it will squeak in places where there are no breaks. Only you need to apply it to wires without winding. You need to carefully remove it in two small areas - next to the plug and next to the earphone. If the multimeter beeps near the plug, then the problem is in the earpiece, and vice versa.
Not everyone has a soldering iron these days. But almost everyone has headphones, or even more than one. And as everyone knows, any headphones tend to die ... And, as always, at the wrong time. So today we will get out and you will learn how to fix headphones without a soldering iron. Of the tools you need just a knife, lighter and tape :)
Of course, such a renovation can hardly be called ideal. But it is ideal, for example, if you are waiting for many hours on the train, and the headphones suddenly died in the most vile way.
Donor needed
Alas, it will not work to solder the headphones without a soldering iron. Of course, if you wish, you can also solder with a red-hot nail. But for this you already need to be able to solder. And tin and rosin will still be required ...
The only difficulty that may arise along the way is that you will need a known working AUX - cable or connector from other working headphones with a piece of wire.
An AUX cable is cheaper to buy than headphones, but it does not have a microphone, so if you have a headset, you will have to accept the fact that it will be cut in powers and lose the microphone and buttons.But how nice it is when non-working headphones start singing, and you can survive the absence of buttons.
AUX cable now sold in any stall and transition for absolutely ridiculous money. You usually need it to connect your audio device (phone, player ...) to a subwoofer or car radio.
Thanks to the Chinese brothers, now there are quite bearable laces starting from 0.5 $... The wire used in the article cost about a dollar. Well, a paper knife, a lighter and scotch tape, I think, are lying around in closets at every house.
So they scratched the bottom of the barrel, well, in the sense of the cabinets, found all the tools, drove to the stall for ( beer) lace, what's next?
The first step is to unceremoniously cut the AUX cable.
We cut it 5-7 centimeters from the connector, or better still further. Do not cut it off shorter. if you screw it up, then there will be no way to fix it later. And it is better when the connection point is located farther from the connector.
Now remove the rubber sheath
Especially for this article, the dumbest knife was found in order to try everything on yourself).
It is most convenient to cut the braid exactly as in the photo. You don't need to press down on the blade too much. Bending will cause the braid to separate itself. We turn the wire, making cuts and, when we have passed the circle, remove the braid. The main thing is not to cut through the wiring.
It is better to bare about 2 centimeters of wires, it will be easier this way, and the contact area is larger. Which will increase reliability.The wires are covered with varnish, which must be cleaned off. First there was an attempt to clean the varnish with a knife.
Not the best way. The wires are very thin and with such rough mechanical stress they come off together with the varnish. Which is well facilitated by the dullness of the knife. In principle, this can be done easily with a sharp knife. But we don’t have a sharp knife, so we will uselighter. Well, or at least with matches.
We clean off the varnish
To strengthen thin copper wires, manufacturers intertwine them with nylon thread. And nylon, as you know, burns well. It is possible, by the way, that the varnish also burns. Therefore, for a split second, we bring the end of the wire into the fire. It flashes quickly and lights up slightly. When 1-1.5 centimeters burns out, you need to blow on it, if it does not go out.
Varnish and nylon leave a small deposit, which in most cases can be easily removed with a fingernail. As a result, we have undamaged wires cleaned from varnish.
The main thing is not to keep the wiring on fire for too long, because they can simply burn out and fall off ((Someone may find the option with a knife more convenient.
It finally came to headphones.
We cut the wire with them. Usually, the headphone wires break right at the output of the connector, and in order to be sure to cut off the broken part, we cut it off 2-3 cm above the connector. It is possible and even higher - as you like.
We strip the wiring for them and strip them of varnish as well as the wiring of the AUX cable.
Determine which wires to twist
There are obviously more than three wires in the headset - there are five of them. Two wires are responsible for the microphone, and three for the headphones. A loose gold wire (ground) was wound over a thin white microphone wire.
Now we are faced with a daunting task - twist the necessary wires together ... Actually everything is simple! Three AUX - wiring to three headphone wires. In this case, it turned out that the colors of the internal wiring matched and, twisting the same colors, the headphones worked.
Read about how to determine the colors of the required wires in the article:
You can also use this simplest way: we plug our connector into any audio device that is at hand. The cassette player was closest.
The most common color
earth - golden (yellow)
left - blue (green)
right - red
But like any other rule, this one also has exceptions, especially when it comes to typefaces. For example, it happens that the right is green, the left is blue, and the red is a microphone, or there are also mixtures of colors. But GOLD is always EARTH. Mixes of flowers with gold, in most cases also earth.
Gold goes to both headphones, therefore it is common, through it the current seems to flow out of each speaker, and through the other two the current flows into the speakers. Well, that's if ooooo rude :-)
Therefore, first of all, we twist all the gold pieces together. Now we twist the wires of the repaired headphones one by one with the wires of the AUX cable. The bottom line is that the red wire of the AUX-cable connector must be twisted with the red wire of the headphones, and then the right earphone will sing. In your case, the colors may differ and it may be that red needs to be twisted with blue or somehow differently. The main thing is gold to the ground, and the rest is screwed like this. so that both headphones are playing.
Have you identified? Fine! Now we cut off the unclaimed wiring or twist it with a common wire. I preferred to cut it off.
Twist
In order to ensure maximum contact, it is better to first loosen the two twisted wires, put one on top of the other, and then twist tightly. This option is preferable to twisting each separately and then together.
So the wires are twisted, the headphones are singing - there is a smile on my face).
We insulate the wiring
Since we cleaned the varnish from the wires, now they have no insulation. If you close the twists with each other, then either you make yourself mono or chop off one channel. Therefore, you need to isolate them in order to exclude a short circuit with each other.
First, we insulate each twist separately. In addition to the insulation itself, this will also strengthen the connections. For some reason I did it with masking tape, probably lying closer. It does not matter.
Now we will wrap everything together with wide tape, layers of 3 - 4. Or 5 - a matter of taste)
Usually, in such cases, I prefer to spread the places of the twists away from each other so that they do not touch each other.
READY!
This is the long-awaited result of all our efforts :-)It may have looked like a long time, but it is not at all! The whole process is enough for 15 minutes. The main thing is to understand what you are doing. And I hope that now you understand how to fix headphones without a soldering iron.
Improving technology:
It's not kosher to use scotch tape. Therefore, I propose to slightly improve the technology, again without a soldering iron.
We'll have to buy a heat-shrinkable tube in an electronics store or a housekeeper, it's also a thermocambric. This is such a cunning tube that, when heated, is able to shrink at least twice in diameter. This miracle costs about $ 0.1 - $ 0.5 per meter.
We need two thermocambric with diameters of 1-2 mm and the second 4-5 mm.We put pieces of a thin thermal tube on our twists. Cut off the pieces with a one and a half stock.
Now you need to heat the thermocambric. I usually did it with a soldering iron, but since We agreed that I did not have it, and the story about how to fix headphones without a soldering iron, I had to get out.
The method proved to be quite effective and the thermotubes shrank. You can use a halogen or iron. In principle, the people and the usual hairdryer heats them.Usually, while they are still hot, I additionally flatten them with my fingers. there is not always a tube of the required diameter on hand, and even at the same time they slightly stick together inside.
Before twisting the wires, remember to put a 4mm thermal tube on the headphone wire. This thermotube must subsequently be put on the joint and also squeezed with the heat of the lamp. In general, you can squeeze lighters on fire, but you can accidentally melt or set fire to excess.
I used a piece about 8 or even 10 cm long. To strengthen the end of the heat pipe was put directly on the rubber band of the connector.
The view has clearly changed for the better.
As you can see, this is not as difficult as it seems, and now you know how to fix headphones without a soldering iron. Such a repair cannot be called complete, it is rather an alternative for emergency cases.
Of course, it is possible that your headphones will work for a long time after such a repair.In any case, it will be safer to solder the twisted headphone wires. Making this one is not at all difficult. Read How:
Material prepared exclusively for the site
When my headphones broke five or six years ago, I just threw them away and bought new ones. In his student years, he did not dream of high-quality sound, and did not even bother with repairing cheap Chinese consumer goods - it would have cost more than the price of new ones.
But today, when it became possible to let your ears listen to less high-quality sound, I wondered: what if the headphones broke? I'm just not ready to throw it out - not the price of the issue.
To deal with the repair of our favorite headphones, we turned to the standards of one well-known company with the letter P. This is a popular manufacturer that is known. His headphones are sold in every electronics store and cover all categories: expensive and cheap, wired and not. This is a great example.
Headphone warranty repair
The term of the warranty service. Manufacturers are ready to repair wireless headphones and speakers free of charge for one year after sale.
At the same time, the company's wired headphones usually generally do not serve. Some manufacturers make exceptions for specific models, so it's better to check the warranty conditions on the official website.
Example of a warranty card. Keep it in addition to your receipt.
How to find out the exact date of purchase. The date of sale is indicated in the warranty card attached to the product.
Be sure to check the correctness of filling in this document upon purchase. It must contain the name of the device and its serial number, which must match what is written on the package.
What do you need besides the warranty card. In order not to encounter any misunderstandings, we recommend that you keep:
- headphone or speaker box
- sales and cashier's checks
- operating instructions
- other documents that came with the headphones
Where to go. If the headphones are broken, you need to contact one of the authorized service centers, which are available even in the smallest cities of Russia.
A detailed list of such organizations must be indicated in the warranty card.
And additional information can be obtained:
- by phone numbers indicated on the package
- from authorized service partners, whose list is always available on the manufacturer's website
- if no one helped, it's time to google ...
Non-warranty cases. After purchasing headphones, be sure to check the rules for their use. If you break and break the device, you will be repaired at your own expense.
They will necessarily include physical damage, extreme temperatures, interaction with moisture, and so on.
Post-warranty and non-warranty repair
Repair in official service center is the best solution for most users who have broken headphones.
In this case, you can be sure that nothing will happen to the headphones. This is especially important if they cost more than one thousand rubles. And after replacing components that are out of order, continue to enjoy excellent sound without pitfalls.
Plus - you won’t understand tons of DIY repair guides or look for a suitable one. basement workshop. And you will definitely get the expected result.
Self-repair or basement renovation. When it comes to self-repair, each of us presents an agonizingly long search for components on questionable Chinese sites and months of waiting.
This is often the case. But some manufacturers include Bowers & wilkins, Philips- allow you to order specific spare parts (cables, ear pads, sometimes a case or a bezel) for replacement, if it is technically provided. On average, they are driven for 2-3 weeks.
In my opinion, it's easier to go to the service.
But in this situation, you cannot be sure that you will correctly detect and fix the problem with your own hands or in an unofficial service. Therefore, perform all manipulations at your own peril and risk.
Too bad Apple has a different policy
If EarPods, AirPods or other Apple headphones are broken, it's easier to throw them away and buy new ones. Fortunately, in the case of the latter in the service center, you can at least separately purchase each earphone for half the price of the set.
Apple simply does not supply original replacement parts to Russia - in general. According to the latest decision of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the manufacturer must change the situation by May 1. But this is hard to believe.
Eventually Before buying headphones of a brand new to you, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the warranty conditions, as well as the possibilities of post-warranty and out-of-warranty repairs - just in case.
