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Remedy for a jammed 1/8'' jack?

post #1 of 9
1/7/10 at 7:24pm
Thread Starter 
The little nub on the end of a 1/8'' cable broke off inside my soundcard. Does anyone have a handy way to get it out? It's an onboard card, so I can't take it apart.

I tried putting fun-tack on the end of the broken 1/8'' prong and pushing it in to see if it would adhere. I also tried getting a dab of hot solder on the broken prong and shoving it in before the solder hardened, but it was too tricky.

I'm thinking my only hope would be a set if very thin tweezers, like the kind that come with a swiss army knife, but I don't have any on hand.

I know this is an esoteric problem, but surely it's happened to someone. Can anyone recommend a suitable tool or trick for fixing this?
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post #2 of 9
1/7/10 at 7:27pm
I would try opening up the computer to try to get at it from the inside. Depending on what type of jack it is, you may be able to shove it out from the back side with a pair of tweezers or something. Just take care not to damage anything else on the board.
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post #3 of 9
1/7/10 at 7:32pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the suggestion, but I tried that. All the jacks are housed in a small metal box which is affixed to the MoBo. All the sides of the box are solid metal allowing to access to the jack. The only way in, it seems, is through the front.
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post #4 of 9
1/7/10 at 8:51pm
slightly risky but you might want to try putting a (very) small amount of fast setting epoxy on the end of the part you pulled out, then put it back in and allow it to set against the stuck part. Then pull it out when you're sure the epoxy is set. Just make sure not to put too much on, or you'll have a permanent edition to your sound card
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post #5 of 9
1/7/10 at 9:20pm
superglue might be better for something like this. the super thin liquid kind, squirt out a tiny bit onto a plastic lid like the kind you get from a bottle cap, and use a toothpick to apply a tiny drop of that to the broken off jack, and it should do perfectly.
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post #6 of 9
1/7/10 at 11:22pm
stuupid suggestion deleted.
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post #7 of 9
1/8/10 at 2:02am
This is what I did

the end of the socket is in a metal box but its only thin, I used a dremel to drill a 1mm hole in the rear where I thought the piece would be and used a paperclip to push it out, very carefully and it worked.

BUT remember I was desperate nothing else had worked and if I stuffed the socket I was prepared to throw it away or replace.

Good luck
FRED
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post #8 of 9
1/8/10 at 3:00pm
If you only have access to the front, I would try putting a small amount of JB Weld (I prefer it to superglue for metal parts) on the broken plug like others have suggested. Let it set a few hours and try to pull it out. Put as much on as possible without it contacting the sides of the jack.
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post #9 of 9
1/8/10 at 4:04pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the suggestions. Using a toothpick to precisely apply super glue is a good idea. This trick will prove helpful in the future.

I tried it a couple times with the glue. The bond just wasn't strong enough to pull the tip out. It broke off each time. The tip is held very tightly in by the metal brackets, so I don't think I'll have any luck with glueing.

I've officially given up. I'll just get a cheap internal soundcard on eBay, which will probably be a worthwhile improvement over the onboard sound anyway.
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