[tufflitestudios]

The headphone jack on my wife’s 5th generation 30gb ipod appears to be loose. She thought that her headphones were broken because one channel was not working. I swapped out the headphones and had the same problem. If you push the headphone cable to one side where it enters the pod you can hear both channels. I remember having this problem with old walkmans. But with a walkman I just threw it out and got a new one.

Anyone else have the same problem? Will apple fix this? Any idea how much it costs? Any info would be great.

 

[Aevum]

there are tons of ipod disassembly guides around, i suspect its one of 2 things, the jack usualy is C shaped on the inside, the main problem is that when a cheap jack is used or too much stress is applied to to the jack, that C expends and dosnt manage to get a decent grip on the headphone jack, solution : press on the C shaped grip to compress it a bit, should solve the issue,

or bad soldering/constant stress have damaged the solder points of the part, so you will need to repass the solder points and make sure theres no cracks in the pcb,

 

[tufflitestudios]

Does apple do these types of repairs or is it a DIY project?

 

[mrarroyo]

See: How to Fix a Broken Headphone Jack for a 5th Generation iPod Video, 30Gb or 60Gb - wikiHow

 

[sonnyjim]

Yes I had *exactly* the same problem with my 5.5gen 80gb iPod.

You can send it to Apple, they will fix it for $250.

Or you can do what I did, and buy a new OEM headphone jack from ebay (I paid $5.49 + shipping). It's very trivial to install.

I'm happy to answer any further questions you might have about this.

 

[Starsky5000]

I am having this SAME EXACT problem with my Cowon U3 Player & i've only been using it for a month.

 

[Juggularity]

If you are within the warranty period Apple will replace the iPod.

 

[tjvg300]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tufflitestudios /img/forum/go_quote.gif The headphone jack on my wife’s 5th generation 30gb ipod appears to be loose. She thought that her headphones were broken because one channel was not working. I swapped out the headphones and had the same problem. If you push the headphone cable to one side where it enters the pod you can hear both channels. I remember having this problem with old walkmans. But with a walkman I just threw it out and got a new one. Anyone else have the same problem? Will apple fix this? Any idea how much it costs? Any info would be great.

i went to the ipod store and they will not fix it but they said to look online for the piece then i would have to do it myself or bring it somewhere else to get it fixed

 

[Low Fidelity]

iFixit: iPod, iBook, & PowerBook Parts and Accessories

Its a great place to pick up replacement parts as well as "how to's" to install the parts.

 

[jumbo34]

I had been having the same problem with my Ipod headphone jack. One worked, the other worked sometimes, especially when I forced it to one side.

I have solved the issue rather simply, (hopefully it continues to work) by putting a little bit of tin foil in the jack and shoving it down to the bottom with my head phone cord. My guess (hope) is that it creates a much better seal with the tip of the plug. Needless to say, it is working as it should!

Tomorrow I will give it the true test in the moguls and terrain park...

... definitely do this at your own risk, but with a tiny screwdriver you can get the foil out if you don't want it there ...

 

[jonnyreagan1]

Helllo,


I am having the same problem with my 30gb ipod. I went to the apple store, but all they told me was that they could replace my ipod with another from the same generation. It would have cost $120, because my warranty has been up for over two years now. What I am going to do is find a replacement input jack and do it myself, because i don't $120 to waste. If your wife's ipod is still under warranty than you can get another ipod for free, but it will be from the same generation. They won't give her a new generation ipod. peace

 

[ZoNtO]

I don't get why you guys aren't getting the same $60 dollar "battery replacement" price I did with my 30gb 5g? Paid 'em 60 bucks at the Apple Store, they took my old 30gb ipod (I left rockbox on there as a present to them) and then gave me a brand new 30gb from the back.

 

[Nausicaa]

Why not just connect a LOD?

 

[tjohnusa]

I would highly recommend you not do this! You will short the jack out and blow the amplifier. If you are not adapt at soldering I would recommend you have this fixed by a technician. If you apply too much heat to the pads on the board you will "lift" the pad from the board and you may be left with a LOD only player.



Quote:

Originally Posted by jumbo34 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I had been having the same problem with my Ipod headphone jack. One worked, the other worked sometimes, especially when I forced it to one side. I have solved the issue rather simply, (hopefully it continues to work) by putting a little bit of tin foil in the jack and shoving it down to the bottom with my head phone cord. My guess (hope) is that it creates a much better seal with the tip of the plug. Needless to say, it is working as it should! Tomorrow I will give it the true test in the moguls and terrain park... ... definitely do this at your own risk, but with a tiny screwdriver you can get the foil out if you don't want it there ...

 

[sputnik13]

No offense intended to tjohnusa, but you don't need a soldering iron for this problem and you can totally do it yourself.

Depending on where you are, if you check craigslist chances are you'll find someone willing to repair it for you for $30 - $50. You can go the DIY route and fix it yourself like some others mentioned above (not the tin foil one though).

At first I thought this was the same problem I had and was going to offer to fix it for you, but my problem is, I guess, rarer where the headphone out wasn't working because the solder joint on some part on the main board was bad.

If you can get sound just fine by pushing the headphone connector, as you say it's probably just the headphone jack needing to be replaced. It's super easy, you just have to be careful with what you do, and be extra careful when you open it. The 4G has a single cable attached to the back, but the 5G has 2 cables on opposite sides, so you have to carefully open it a little and remove one cable before opening it completely. It's not hard at all, just a little daunting if you've never done things like these before. But the worst thing that can happen when you're opening up the unit are

1. You break one of the cables, ~$10 for a replacement cable.
2. You scratch the heck out of the front plastic, ~$10 for replacement plastic if it's deep gouges, otherwise you can get a plastic polish for $10 and smooth it out (and have it around for other things you scratch)
3. You scratch the heck out of the front plastic (deep gouges) and you bend the heck out of the rear panel, ~$20 for replacement front plastic and rear panel.

It's really easy to do yourself, and the part you need is about $8 - $10 off ebay shipped. I have one because I initially thought I had the same problem as you but it turned out not to be the case.