Headphone strain relief?

[003]

I am going to recable a pair of headphones and I might need to make a new strain relief? What is a reliable and easy method of doing this? I don't have much specialized tools or equipment.

[Pars]

Internally you can either tie a knot in the cable or use a tywrap (small one)?

[warrior05]

I personally don't like tying the cable. What I use is adhesive lined heatshrink right above the exit hole of the ear chamber. You also want to use some heatshrink where the cable exits the ear chamber to give it some added protection.

[003]

Ok, so the heatshrink is pretty much affixed permanently to the cable? If I have heatshrink that is not adhesive, could I just add a bit of superglue under it?

[Punnisher]

Where are you needing strain relief? If it's inside the cups of grados, you can either put a couple layers of heatshrink where the cups come together or put a small zip-tie before the cable exits the cup.

For the HP jack, simple heatshrink will do. no need for glue.

[Gino]

When I recabled my IEMs, I tied the cable into a knot inside the earphone pod. To strengthen the segment where I soldered a couple of resistors in line, I used a small dab of 5 minute clear epoxy on the tips of the two cable segments that had insulation. I then shrunk shrink tubing over the spliced and epoxied area. This I do quickly before the epoxy set. The result is a cable that can survive reasonable tugs.

[warrior05]

Originally Posted by 003

Ok, so the heatshrink is pretty much affixed permanently to the cable? If I have heatshrink that is not adhesive, could I just add a bit of superglue under it?

Epoxy would work a bit better if you have to go that route. You need thickness since you are trying to make part of the cable bigger than the hole. Superglue is pretty thin stuff as is regular heatshrink. You can even use electrical tape if you cut down the width. Not as elegant of a solution but this is inside the ear chamber so you won't see it.

[003]

I've got epoxy as well, I may do that. Oh, if I didn't make it clear, this is for where the cable exists the headphone earcup.

[Gino]

You can put a bulb of 5 minute epoxy at the tip of the cable after it goes through the earphone housing. Keep it long and loose. Then build up the epoxy so that it forms a lollipop. Of course it will look like a lollipop with a pair of thin wires for the speakers. When the epoxy cures, you can draw out the cable until the epoxy bulb is snug on the housing. Solder up and you now have your strain relief.