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HELP ASAP, Replacing Broken Plug

post #1 of 11
3/19/08 at 9:47pm
Thread Starter 
I recently bought a Switchcraft 35HDNN plug to replace the broken plug on my AKG K81 DJ headphones, and when i went to replace the plug i was unsuccessful. Can anyone explain to me exactly were i have to solder the wires, to get my headphones to work? Im going away on friday and NEED my headphones, so if anyone can help ASAP that would be greatly appreciated.

Again im trying to use a Switchcraft 35HDNN plug and the standard wire on my K81 DJs.
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post #2 of 11
3/19/08 at 10:12pm
Haven't done the item specific repair before, I'm guessing that the procedure shouldn't be all that different from connecting a wire while making an interconnect.

The thread is here:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f6/how...ep-pics-50729/

Before you attach the plug, you might want to make sure that you can get sound from both drivers. (To ensure that the wire is undamaged.)

Then you simply locate the locations corresponding to the TRS of the connector, and solder the left/right/ground wires to the connectors.
(Optional: Test the resistance between the solder point and the T/R/S of the connector if you're not sure which is which.)

If you're looking for basic techniques for soldering wires, here's a brief tutorial.
Soldering Preparation

Hope it helps.
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post #3 of 11
3/19/08 at 10:27pm
The key is to get the orientation right. On the plug, the middle post is for the tip or left channel. The part kind of surrounding the post is for the ring or right channel. Then you have ground to the main part of the plug.

You have to ID the wires so you make sure you solder them up correctly. Typically with OEM wires, red is right, green is left and copper is ground.

If you got all the above correct, maybe you didn't get all of the lacquer off that is used on OEM wires for shielding.
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post #4 of 11
3/20/08 at 9:21am
Thread Starter 
The problem is when i stripped the wire, i only have two, not 3 like you guys are saying. I also noticed that when i open up the actual ear piece, there are 2 wires in each ear, leading me to believe that at the y-split it goes from 2 wires to 3. So does anyone know what this means, or what i have to do to get a right and left channel and a ground? Thanks for all the help.
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post #5 of 11
3/20/08 at 4:18pm
Thread Starter 
BUMP, does anyone know what to do if i only have 2 wires and not 3?
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post #6 of 11
3/20/08 at 4:24pm
i think k81 has 4 wires. 2 ground 1 left 1 right.

check again.
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post #7 of 11
3/20/08 at 7:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scab_Wounds View Post
BUMP, does anyone know what to do if i only have 2 wires and not 3?
I'm not familiar with those headphones, but the wire may be coaxial, (triaxial?) which would have two conductors with the shield around them being ground.
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post #8 of 11
3/20/08 at 10:14pm
Believe me, there are at least 3 wires. Perhaps when you stripped the rubber casing you cut one of them. All standard dynamic headphones will have 3 or 4 conductors.
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post #9 of 11
3/20/08 at 10:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by beerguy0 View Post
I'm not familiar with those headphones, but the wire may be coaxial, (triaxial?) which would have two conductors with the shield around them being ground.
Actually I do seem to remember this being the case with the K81. It used regular PVC insulated conductors, with a bare copper shield around each one. Or I could be thinking of a different phone I repaired for somebody, but I'm pretty sure I'm thinking of the K81 because I remember having to open the earcups to verify that the colors used for left and right were backwards (left was hooked to the red wire, right to the white wire, go figure )
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post #10 of 11
3/21/08 at 7:03pm
K81s have a discreet, two wire two ground cable all the way to the plug. I'm guessing the OP is just not "seeing" the grounds as a separate entity because the wires are so small. My right was red and my left was blue, IIRC.

Just tie the two grounds together down at the plug. Tear the old plug apart and take a look if that doesn't make sense.
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post #11 of 11
3/22/08 at 2:21pm
On one side, the signal and the ground wire have the same color. you might want to check that.
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