rexkwondojo
New Head-Fier
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- Jan 24, 2013
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[size=9pt]Hey guys, brand new here. Have been looking around the past week or so, searching extensively for some info on a small replacement jack that would be suitable for an phone/player in the pocket to fix an older pair of superfi's I have that broke. Most replacements are big and bulky and look like they might create a bit too much torque if snagged. I've noticed numerous other threads with people asking the same without much info. Most people just say try the neutrik or switchfoot and leave it at that. A few people have posted slight modifications to these without a ton of thorough explanation as to how they accomplished this or haven't made them durable enough to be tossed around.[/size]
[size=9pt]I have accomplished a fairly decent reduction in size to the neutrik plug pretty easily. I might as well explain how I did this for others who might arrive to the site with similar needs. This is just version 1, future attempts I could definitely go smaller and definitely clean up the aesthetics.[/size]
[size=9pt]Things I used besides the obvious solder equipment, 3/8 inch heat shrink ($1.97 home depot) cut to about .5 inches and hot glue.[/size]
[size=9pt]The plug comes in multiple parts. Looking at it, the long barrel portion is unnecessarily huge but this piece is important in that it clasps the two right angle pieces together tightly that glue simply wouldn't be capable of. Most of the modification is done in the long barrel portion that screws on. If you look inside you can see that the threads go down fairly deep. What I did was use a dremel (could be accomplished with a vice and a hacksaw) to cut the piece down to leave only 1/3 of the threading (still plenty enough to hold, you could probably get away with even less) There is also an inner plastic piece that is important in that it tightly secures the plug inside the housing. Shortening the barrel does not leave enough room for this plastic piece to fit inside anymore. There is a taper in the back of the barrel, so cut just beyond the notch on the back to enable the plastic piece to stick out. This further shortens the plug. I then used a utility knife to cut away a decent amount of the plastic but still left a bit on the end to stick out. Leaving a bit on the end is useful because it leaves a nub that the included rubber cap can rest on. The rubber cap doesn't stretch enough to go over the barrel. You could probably leave off the rubber and just use heat shrink to make even smaller, but on a thinner cord, this leaves a nice taper and heatshrink wide enough for the metal probably won't shrink enough for the cord.[/size]
[size=9pt]When assembling, BEFORE soldering the wires to the jack, put the cord through the cap first then put the modified metal ring and 3/8" heat shrink through the cord as well. I tried to strip as little of the wire as possible, less than half an inch, so it fits nicely inside. Wire up (solder tip: don't bother trying to remove or burn the coating on each of the wires, tinning the wires strips the wires and gets it ready for solder at the same time), assemble per instructions. Add some hot glue to the plastic area to secure the cord and quickly move the rubber cap in place over it so that the glue secures it as well. To further seal, place the heat shrink over the cap and the barrel and you are done.[/size]
[size=9pt]Final thoughts... The design can be further shortened by cutting down the barrel as short as possible. Trimming some of the threads on the right angle portion would shorten even more. You could cut the plastic all the way down so that it doesnt stick out from the bottom and skip the rubber cap and go with heat shrink instead to shorten again. Also, try to use clamps with rubber, the metal ones I used scratched up plug pretty good.[/size]
[size=9pt]I have accomplished a fairly decent reduction in size to the neutrik plug pretty easily. I might as well explain how I did this for others who might arrive to the site with similar needs. This is just version 1, future attempts I could definitely go smaller and definitely clean up the aesthetics.[/size]
[size=9pt]Things I used besides the obvious solder equipment, 3/8 inch heat shrink ($1.97 home depot) cut to about .5 inches and hot glue.[/size]
[size=9pt]The plug comes in multiple parts. Looking at it, the long barrel portion is unnecessarily huge but this piece is important in that it clasps the two right angle pieces together tightly that glue simply wouldn't be capable of. Most of the modification is done in the long barrel portion that screws on. If you look inside you can see that the threads go down fairly deep. What I did was use a dremel (could be accomplished with a vice and a hacksaw) to cut the piece down to leave only 1/3 of the threading (still plenty enough to hold, you could probably get away with even less) There is also an inner plastic piece that is important in that it tightly secures the plug inside the housing. Shortening the barrel does not leave enough room for this plastic piece to fit inside anymore. There is a taper in the back of the barrel, so cut just beyond the notch on the back to enable the plastic piece to stick out. This further shortens the plug. I then used a utility knife to cut away a decent amount of the plastic but still left a bit on the end to stick out. Leaving a bit on the end is useful because it leaves a nub that the included rubber cap can rest on. The rubber cap doesn't stretch enough to go over the barrel. You could probably leave off the rubber and just use heat shrink to make even smaller, but on a thinner cord, this leaves a nice taper and heatshrink wide enough for the metal probably won't shrink enough for the cord.[/size]
[size=9pt]When assembling, BEFORE soldering the wires to the jack, put the cord through the cap first then put the modified metal ring and 3/8" heat shrink through the cord as well. I tried to strip as little of the wire as possible, less than half an inch, so it fits nicely inside. Wire up (solder tip: don't bother trying to remove or burn the coating on each of the wires, tinning the wires strips the wires and gets it ready for solder at the same time), assemble per instructions. Add some hot glue to the plastic area to secure the cord and quickly move the rubber cap in place over it so that the glue secures it as well. To further seal, place the heat shrink over the cap and the barrel and you are done.[/size]
[size=9pt]Final thoughts... The design can be further shortened by cutting down the barrel as short as possible. Trimming some of the threads on the right angle portion would shorten even more. You could cut the plastic all the way down so that it doesnt stick out from the bottom and skip the rubber cap and go with heat shrink instead to shorten again. Also, try to use clamps with rubber, the metal ones I used scratched up plug pretty good.[/size]
