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Techflex Sleeve for Westone 3?

post #1 of 7
6/27/10 at 3:10pm
Thread Starter 

Hi everyone! This is my first post to a site that's been extremely helpful to me.

 

First off, I apologize if there is a blatant answer to my question somewhere out there. I did spend a few hours looking around the forums before posting..

 

I own a pair of Westone 3s. The consensus on the cabling is that generally, it's very good. However, I'm a pretty anal retentive guy about memory and kinks developing in the cable (among other things), and I'm just interested in taking preventative measures to protect my investment to a great product.

 

I am planning on just using Techflex and heat shrink tubing throughout the cable. A few questions and concerns:

1) What size Techflex and what size/ratio heat shrink tubing should I use?

2) Will installing a sleeve make the entire thing altogether too rigid for practical use?

3) The place where I see the slightest, slightest, slightest bit of a kink is the wire coming out of the earpieces where it is supposed to wrap around one's ear whether one decides to have the cable behind them or in front of them while wearing it. That makes sense, I suppose, as that is the only place where any sort of wrapping (around the ear) could occur. Now, if I installed Techflex/heat shrink tubing there, would it be too rigid and hinder the wrapping of the cable around my ear?

4) How does one deal with the y-split area as well as the sliding adjustable bit (hope readers know what I'm talking about)?

 

Thanks so much everyone!

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post #2 of 7
6/27/10 at 4:57pm
Thread Starter 

Also, I don't want to remove the wires from the monitors themselves. Does that mean I need 3:1 or 4:1 heat shrink tubes?

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post #3 of 7
6/27/10 at 5:52pm

My suggestions:

 

1) I'd use nylon multifilament over techflex anyday (decreased microphonics and neater appearance). You can purchase it at wirecare, BUT there is no way you'd be able to slide it over the jack or the drivers without taking the cable off. Even if you use techflex.

2) No.

3) No with sleeving, yes with heatshrink.

4) You're going to have to take it apart.

 

The Achilles' heel in this problem is that your sleeving doesn't expand enough to maintain a nice appearance without any slop to slide over the drivers and the plug. So, IMO, you're going to end up taking them apart.

 

Brendan

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post #4 of 7
6/27/10 at 6:13pm
Thread Starter 

Has anyone taken Westone 3's apart and put them back together successfully? If so, please let me know how it's done. I am not going to dive into anything blindly.

 

Thanks.

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post #5 of 7
6/28/10 at 7:19am

I'm no expert but I successfully recabled my my D1001 last weekend - that's new cable, techflex, heat shrink etc.

 

My advice:

 

IS IT WORTH IT? Are you under warranty? This may well void the warranty (even though the below only modifies the cable....

It will be fiddly as hell, especially with smaller plug and nylon multifilament.

 

You must remove the jack/plug - you won't find anything as compact but it doesn't have to be massive - there are nice, small ones out there.

Slide up a slightly bigger (diameter) piece of heatshrink upto the Y-split.

Now slide up techflex/nylon multifilament (this stuff stretches so go as small as you can - even that may be too big, upto the Y split, where the heat shrink is waiting.

Tuck the techflex/nylon multifilament into the heatshrink and heat it so it shrinks and holds.

Pull down the techflex/nylon multi so that it's half an inch or less longer than the cable. Now push it up and hold it there with a rubber band or tape.

Now slide up some more bigger (diamater) heatshrink.

Slide up the 3.5mm plug cover. Strip wires and solder ono plug. Pass heatshrink and multifilament through plug cover and bond the heatshrink with the techflex so it's tight and at the bottom of the cable and will be covered when you...

Slide the cover back down and screw in.

 

-----------

Do not break the Y-split - you won't be able to use techflex on that section of the cable, but so what. To strengthen the strain areas, use some heat shrink - split one 1" length (or smaller) tube lengthways so that you you have two peices and then reattach and hold with tweezers while heating - they should stick back together.

 

After 18 months of very heavy use (including running) my UM2 cable (exactly the smae) had one small 'problem' - the slider was loose. So ask yourself if this is worth the bother.

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post #6 of 7
7/1/10 at 3:55pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:

Originally Posted by aameerp View Post


To strengthen the strain areas, use some heat shrink - split one 1" length (or smaller) tube lengthways so that you you have two peices and then reattach and hold with tweezers while heating - they should stick back together.


So, if I get heat shrink tubing, I can cut it length-ways to "wrap" around the strain areas? Will the heat shrink tubing stick together like that when it's heated (if I wrap a tube around the strain right under the drivers)?

 

Also, do you see how for the UM3X's, there's a plastic or silicone type tube thing that supports the strain of wrapping around your ear, but it still looks flexible?

yhst-94024159501758_2112_1250309

 

Anyone have suggestions for doing something like that (materials/method)?

The hardest part is the issue that I don't know how to take apart the drivers for this thing. The ideal solution would be one where I didn't tamper with the hardware, but if anyone does know how to safely take these babies apart, let me know!

 

Thanks.

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post #7 of 7
7/2/10 at 5:07am

What are you referring to as drivers?

The components (inside the shell) or the IEM/earphone units?

 

The tube thing on the UM3x cable is just silicone I think (I have 2 Westone ES2 cables and they're exactly the same) to house some memory wire. The memory wire holds its shape, for a tighter fit if you don't use the cinch/slider. Some people hate it.

I don't think it offers signifcantly more strain protection.

 

As for cutting and reattaching heatshrink, I can't say I've tried but with a heat gun I'd expect it to work, but I might be wary of using heat so close to the IEM units - make sure it's fine-nozzled.

 

Again, I would advise doing nothing - the W3 joint is solid (some people prefer it to removable cables with 2 pin connection), the cable is solid and loved everywhere (it must be the number one cable for customs at every level, and they're all - UE, Westone, JHA, very similar).

This isn't an 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' philosophy, but advice from experience.

 

I missed the kink (at termination at earpiece) comment in your first post - it's normal, every single Westone cable I've seen has that (I have 2 ES2 cables, have used UM1, UM2, UM3x). Ignore it. You have a two year warranty.

 

At worst, you can reshell into customs for as little as $80 - you'll be able change cables then.


Edited by aameerp - 7/2/10 at 5:09am
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