Hi, I'm having problems fixing a headphone's jack connector (replacing it). First I bought a nice jack from Neutrik:
...to replace the jack from a good pair of headphones, $50 wort. So I wanted a good jack connector, that's why I bought a Neutrik connector (like a month ago). Well, I soldered the cables and it worked flawlessly for a week or so. Then, one day, suddenly, the left headphone stopped working, and I was shocked.
I soldered it myself, how it could be that a manual soldering had broken in just a week!
I expected it to last for years. I tried the headphones in my mobile, then in another mobile, same problem. Then in a PC, and suddenly, worked again. It's lasted another week without a single problem, until a few days ago when it started to happen the very same problem. So, I disassembled the jack connector and checked the soldering joints and the jack's different parts with my multimeter. It was in "beeping mode". And there it was, it beeped when I touched the left channel in the jack (tip) and the ground pin (copper). I thought the jack connector was defective, so I thrown it away.
I ordered another one, but meanwhile, I had these $10 headphones I wanted to repair too, so I used a chinese jack connector:
I burnt the cables, and you know, all the process I did with my expensive headphones. After all was done, before trying them out, I checked the connections with the multimeter. These are the measurements:
Left channel in jack (tip):
To ground pin (copper): 17.6 ohm
To left headphone pin (green cable): 1.0 ohm
To right headphone pin (red cable): 34.4 ohm
Right channel in jack (middle):
To ground pin (copper): 17.6 ohm
To left headphone pin (green cable): 34.4 ohm
To right headphone pin (red cable): 1.0 ohm
Ground in jack (upper):
To ground pin (copper): 1.0 ohm
To left headphone pin (green cable): 17.6 ohm
To right headphone pin (red cable): 17.6 ohm
So, what I expected to be completely isolated, is actually just 17 ohms, or 34 ohms. Nevertheless, I tried out the headphones and they worked just fine, I twisted them and all, but not a single noise or audio interruptions. I'm inspecting the connections and all, and they all seem pretty isolated and well joint. Here are some pictures:
The cables actually go through a hole and are mechanically attached to each pin. Also, these cables are coated with an isolating layer. I made sure this layer was burnt just before the solder joint, so even if the red, green and copper wires are touching, there's no electrical connection. You can clearly see the green coating in this last picture, that is there until the solder joint.
So, first question:
1. Why am I getting short circuits between the channels and cables if, as you can see in the pictures, all seems to be well isolated?
Is it a problem if I get than many ohms? How is it working anyway, if both headphones are touching ground?
Would a well done job at this have infinite ohms between the cables?
2. The metal clamps avoid the joint receiving all the pull in case of a cable pull. How do you really clamp it? Is there a guide or something? Or you just press with a pliers the most you can and that will do it?
And finally, I want to know if I'm using my soldering iron correctly. After 13-15 times used in a year aprox., this is how it looks:
3. Is it alright? Is that black zone indicating I'm not using it correctly (not tinning it well or heating it up too much)? Or that black zone is normal?
I try not to over-heat it, and always put it at minimum temperature when I'm not using it. But I'd like to see the opinion of an expert and tell me if that's a good maintained iron tip. The black zone is over the white layer, solder won't stuck in the black/white zone.
Thanks!
...to replace the jack from a good pair of headphones, $50 wort. So I wanted a good jack connector, that's why I bought a Neutrik connector (like a month ago). Well, I soldered the cables and it worked flawlessly for a week or so. Then, one day, suddenly, the left headphone stopped working, and I was shocked.
I soldered it myself, how it could be that a manual soldering had broken in just a week!
I expected it to last for years. I tried the headphones in my mobile, then in another mobile, same problem. Then in a PC, and suddenly, worked again. It's lasted another week without a single problem, until a few days ago when it started to happen the very same problem. So, I disassembled the jack connector and checked the soldering joints and the jack's different parts with my multimeter. It was in "beeping mode". And there it was, it beeped when I touched the left channel in the jack (tip) and the ground pin (copper). I thought the jack connector was defective, so I thrown it away.
I ordered another one, but meanwhile, I had these $10 headphones I wanted to repair too, so I used a chinese jack connector:
I burnt the cables, and you know, all the process I did with my expensive headphones. After all was done, before trying them out, I checked the connections with the multimeter. These are the measurements:
Left channel in jack (tip):
To ground pin (copper): 17.6 ohm
To left headphone pin (green cable): 1.0 ohm
To right headphone pin (red cable): 34.4 ohm
Right channel in jack (middle):
To ground pin (copper): 17.6 ohm
To left headphone pin (green cable): 34.4 ohm
To right headphone pin (red cable): 1.0 ohm
Ground in jack (upper):
To ground pin (copper): 1.0 ohm
To left headphone pin (green cable): 17.6 ohm
To right headphone pin (red cable): 17.6 ohm
So, what I expected to be completely isolated, is actually just 17 ohms, or 34 ohms. Nevertheless, I tried out the headphones and they worked just fine, I twisted them and all, but not a single noise or audio interruptions. I'm inspecting the connections and all, and they all seem pretty isolated and well joint. Here are some pictures:
The cables actually go through a hole and are mechanically attached to each pin. Also, these cables are coated with an isolating layer. I made sure this layer was burnt just before the solder joint, so even if the red, green and copper wires are touching, there's no electrical connection. You can clearly see the green coating in this last picture, that is there until the solder joint.
So, first question:
1. Why am I getting short circuits between the channels and cables if, as you can see in the pictures, all seems to be well isolated?
Is it a problem if I get than many ohms? How is it working anyway, if both headphones are touching ground?
Would a well done job at this have infinite ohms between the cables?
2. The metal clamps avoid the joint receiving all the pull in case of a cable pull. How do you really clamp it? Is there a guide or something? Or you just press with a pliers the most you can and that will do it?
And finally, I want to know if I'm using my soldering iron correctly. After 13-15 times used in a year aprox., this is how it looks:
3. Is it alright? Is that black zone indicating I'm not using it correctly (not tinning it well or heating it up too much)? Or that black zone is normal?
I try not to over-heat it, and always put it at minimum temperature when I'm not using it. But I'd like to see the opinion of an expert and tell me if that's a good maintained iron tip. The black zone is over the white layer, solder won't stuck in the black/white zone.
Thanks!
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