Difficulty
Difficult
Steps
10
Time Required
30 minutes - 1 hour
Sections
1
- 4-Pole 3.5mm Jack
- 10 steps
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Introduction
The use of a soldering iron is required in order to complete this repair. Since the wires used in headphones are often very small, this repair is only recommended for individuals with decent amount of experience in soldering.
Extra precautions should be taken while using the soldering iron, they are extremely hot and you will be working in very small spaces. The use of an Electrician’s Helping Hand tool is highly recommended.
What you need
Step 1
4-Pole 3.5mm Jack
- Cut the headphone cable near the old headphone jack. Leave some cable attached to the jack.
Cut the headphone cable near the old headphone jack. Leave some cable attached to the jack.
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Step 2
- Cut open the outer insulation of the cable connected to the old jack to expose the internal wires.
Cut open the outer insulation of the cable connected to the old jack to expose the internal wires.
Step 3
- Apply a small amount of solder to the tips of each of the internal wires.
- Make use of the Helping Hand tool to hold the wires while you apply the solder and iron.
- Do not touch the soldering iron to the wire for a long period of time, you may melt through the wire.
Apply a small amount of solder to the tips of each of the internal wires.
Make use of the Helping Hand tool to hold the wires while you apply the solder and iron.
Do not touch the soldering iron to the wire for a long period of time, you may melt through the wire.
Step 4
- Turn on the multimeter and set it to measure resistance.
- Select a wire and touch one of the multimeter leads to the soldered tip.
- Touch the other multimeter lead to each of the segments on the headphone jack until the multimeter indicates that the wire is connected.
- Make sure to record what wire is connected to what pole of the jack.
- Repeat the process for each wire.
Turn on the multimeter and set it to measure resistance.
Select a wire and touch one of the multimeter leads to the soldered tip.
Touch the other multimeter lead to each of the segments on the headphone jack until the multimeter indicates that the wire is connected.
Make sure to record what wire is connected to what pole of the jack.
Repeat the process for each wire.
Step 5
- Cut away the insulation on the wire connected to the headphones.
Cut away the insulation on the wire connected to the headphones.
Step 6
- Select an appropriately sized piece of shrink tubing.
- Slide the tubing over the wire.
Select an appropriately sized piece of shrink tubing.
Slide the tubing over the wire.
Step 7
- Select a wire and apply a small amount of solder to the tip of the wire.
- Repeat this for every wire.
Select a wire and apply a small amount of solder to the tip of the wire.
Repeat this for every wire.
Step 8
- Position a wire to the corresponding connection point on the jack.
- Carefully apply a small amount of solder to hold the wire in place.
- Repeat this for each wire.
- Make sure to reference the mapping of wires to connection points that you created in Step 4.
- When soldering the wires, be patient and meticulous about getting the right position to make a good connection.
- If the internal wires do not have their own insulation, use a small bit of shrink tubing on each wire. This will prevent them from shorting across another wire.
Position a wire to the corresponding connection point on the jack.
Carefully apply a small amount of solder to hold the wire in place.
Repeat this for each wire.
Make sure to reference the mapping of wires to connection points that you created in Step 4.
When soldering the wires, be patient and meticulous about getting the right position to make a good connection.
If the internal wires do not have their own insulation, use a small bit of shrink tubing on each wire. This will prevent them from shorting across another wire.
Step 9
- Slide the shrink tubing back over the base of the jack, covering the soldered connections.
Slide the shrink tubing back over the base of the jack, covering the soldered connections.
Step 10
- Use the flat side of the soldering iron to apply heat to the shrink tubing until it tightens on the wire.
- Alternatively, you could also use a heat gun or hair dryer.
Use the flat side of the soldering iron to apply heat to the shrink tubing until it tightens on the wire.
Alternatively, you could also use a heat gun or hair dryer.
You have now completed the replacement process. Plug it into an audio source and play some music to test your work.
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Matthew Vaught
Member since: 03/30/2016
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Team
Michigan Tech, Team 1-25, Lauer Spring 2016
Member of Michigan Tech, Team 1-25, Lauer Spring 2016
MTU-LAUER-S16S1G25
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8 Guides authored
Wes Hartman - Mar 9, 2017
Reply
This is a plug replacement, not a jack replacement.
Jonathan Harper - Apr 23, 2019
This is a jack replacement.
Sujith Kumar John G - Jun 7, 2017
Reply
can you please tell me which color wire and where to solder !
Bert490 - Dec 14, 2017
Reply
Wire colors are not standardized. They even differ among models of the same manufacturer. The only way is to test against the plug that is being replaced. Hopefully most wires still connect to the plug contacts, so a process of elimination can be used. Typical colors are red, blue, green and no color. Ground is usually no color, and sometimes there are 2 grounds (e.g. for ‘zipper’ style wires). The contacts for most phones are as follows (from tip to outside barrel): Right, Left, Ground, Mic. My Samsung S3 cord was very strange: red, green, no color and 2 black wires. One black was Ground, the other was MIC. Soldering requires a magnifier and a fine tipped iron.
Old Liquid - Oct 4, 2018
Reply
No pinout, seriously?
