Head-Fi.org › Forums › Misc.-Category Forums › DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Discussions › How do I solder headphone leads together?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

How do I solder headphone leads together?

post #1 of 5
11/20/06 at 6:22pm
Thread Starter 
I have a friend's canalphones (some cheap chinese knockoff; he got them for free with a Sandisk player of some sort) which have developed a bad contact in the jack.
I cut the jack off and I'm trying to replace it with one of the countless jacks I've accumulated in the course of the years, but the solder won't stick to the wires.
The canalphones have those funny isolated coloured wires. I've been told I need to burn off the isolation, and I did just that.
The jack has the old-style plastic-isolated cables, to which the solder sticks better but still not in a satisfying way.

Any ideas?
Reply
post #2 of 5
11/20/06 at 10:24pm
You either haven't got the insulation off or the iron isn't hot enough. A soldering iron won't burn it off either, you need FIRE!
Reply
post #3 of 5
11/20/06 at 11:14pm
Thread Starter 
I have a butane soldering iron. I used the flame tip to roast the insulation off the wire, and believe me, FIRE is what I used. The insulation itself caught fire.
Then I put the soldering tip on, and got it hot enough to melt the solder as I do usually... then I tried applying the solder, but it seems to like the tip more than it likes the wire. *sigh*

I'll try running the iron at full blast.
Reply
post #4 of 5
11/21/06 at 12:14am
I suggest flux or some variant of cleaning acid.
Reply
post #5 of 5
11/21/06 at 10:05am
Thread Starter 
Hmm. I managed to replace the jack, but the problem persists.
I'll have to take apart the phones themselves and resolder the contacts on the transducers... if it's at all possible.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Misc.-Category Forums › DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Discussions › How do I solder headphone leads together?