[nemesis045]

Hello, I got a new pair of Sony headphones (zx-310). I am clumsy and usually tend to tug on the wires. For example, sometimes I forget I'm wearing the headphones and walk away from my desktop and the headphones get yanked from my head. This applies a large force on the point where the wires connect to the ear pieces. I spoiled my last pair of headphones this way. I was thinking of applying some glue to the point where the wires connect to the earpieces without dismantling anything. This way the hardened glue might be able to take some of the load (force) if the headphones are tugged. I was wondering if any of you done this or if you think there are any red flags in doing so. Also what kind of glue might be appropriate? Thanks.

 

[rantng]

I think any type of glue strong enough to handle that kind of pulling force would be damaging to the plastic of the ear cups and possibly the cables themselves. The ZX310 are cheap enough that if you were to damage them they'd be relatively inexpensive to replace. If/when you need to replace them, you may want to spend a little more and look into a set of headphones with removable cables.

 

[nemesis045]

Thanks for replying. I think the glue would take part of the force if it deforms during the 'pulling', thus decreasing the force on the wire-earpiece solder joint. If it doesn't deform it would take all of the force. What kind of damage do you see the plastic potentially taking? I see your point about the removable cables.

 

[rantng]

Most glues with that kind of holding strength tend to be corrosive to plastic. I've actually used silicone self fusing tape to repair phone, USB & earphone cables that have frayed or come out of their sleeves. You may be able to use it to reinforce the cables around the rubber sleeve under the earcups, but the tape will not bond to the plastic of the earcups. The tape is meant to wrap around itself to form the seamless bond. I've used Gorilla glue on rubber flip flops, but in my experience it doesn't really hold well.

 

[nemesis045]

Thanks. Yeah, I've used krazy glue on flip flops as well. Doesn't hold for long.

 

[ClieOS]

Instead of glue, get one of these:

 

[rantng]

You may want to consider Bondic plastic welder. I just used it to repair an IEM cable.

 

[nemesis045]

Thanks. This looks interesting. Got to watching some videos online about this stuff. It seems most effective for shear forces (forces parallel to the glued surface) than for forces perpendicular to the surface.