[mjmar]

Hi everyone,

My trusty pair of in ear headphones has been going strong for over a year now, but recently there has been a tear in the insulation on the right side. None of the wires inside of the insulation appear to be broken, but one of them looks like it is close to breaking in half. I don't know much about the way that headphones are wired, but I did some research and I'm pretty sure that the wire that is about to tear is the ground wire (bringing the electrical signal back to the headphone jack). I'm wondering - what would happen if this ground wire were to tear, but the wire carrying signal to the speaker remained intact? Would the headphones sound the same? Could it damage them? Again, I don't know much about this stuff, so sorry if this is a silly question.

Thanks

 

[billybob_jcv]

Depending on exactly where that break is, either one or both sides would go dead.

 

[mjmar]

So even if the signal made it to the coil inside of the headphone speaker, it wouldn't move if the ground wire was broken? Why is this?

 

[billybob_jcv]

A circuit must be complete for current to flow. Both the signal and ground wires have to go from the amp to the driver.



The yellow wire is the ground. If you break the yellow wire before the "T", then both sides go dead. If you break it after the "T", then whichever side has the break goes dead.