[wormsdriver]

Hey guys, the pins/connectors on the cable of my Westone UM3X RC broke off inside the iem and only very little(and I do mean VERY little) of the pins is sticking out.Any suggestions on how to deal with this? any special pliers out that might work? Any DIY'ers that you know of that might be able to help me out? Any advice on how I should approach Westone when emailing them?
Any useful advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[wormsdriver]

Bump!

 

[Dragunov-21]

If you have to ask, I'd suggest leaving it to the pros.
 
Email Westone, tell them your situation and ask if they are able to help you out.  If you think the phones are still <2yrs old (or whatever tehir warranty period is) tell them that, but that you don't have the receipt because you bought them used.
 
They won't screw you over, though you'll likely have to pay for a new cable.
 
On the other hand, you could buy a cable on ebay and try your luck, carefully, with a pair of tweezers (I'd go tweezers over needle-nose pliers to start off with)
 
Are you able to chuck up a photo?

 

[Spyro]

Sounds like micro-surgery required.  Leave it to the pros.  May be something they could do in a few minutes with the right tools versus you screwing with it and damaging the internals.
 
Heck, Westone C/S is so good, if they charge you $60-$70 and can't fix it they may still just send you a new pair.  Like Dragonuv21 said, they won't screw you over.

 

[goodvibes]

If there is a bit still exposed. I'd try a razor blade on both sides of a pin and lever from there. You'll need something to hold the iem. Don't push them down and be careful not to force down the neighboring pin when prying. Basically something sharp thin and strong enough to grab from the side without worrying about pushing further down.

 

[wormsdriver]

I wrote an email to Westone and they sent me an RMA number, once they receive them a technician will contact me with the cost of the repair. I really hope it's under $100

thanks for you replies/suggestions, I will update this thread when they get back to me.
 
BTW, I did try tweezers and some needle nose jewelers pliers but no luck, it seems the pins kept eroding away more each time I tried to get them out.

 

[goodvibes]

And why I said razor (box cutter) blades from the side. I'm sure they will be fine with a quick turn around from Westone.

 

[Spyro]

Westone does repairs like this in their sleep...
You will be back to pure listening soon!

 

[wormsdriver]

Quote:

And why I said razor (box cutter) blades from the side. I'm sure they will be fine with a quick turn around from Westone.

I value my life/fingers/arms too much to try this(knowing me)

Quote:

Westone does repairs like this in their sleep...
You will be back to pure listening soon!

I sure hope so my friend

 

[wormsdriver]

UPDATE!
Westone got back to me today....here's their response....unfortunately...they're charging me an arm.....and a LEG!

 
Good Afternoon,

I hope this email finds you well today. We have looked at your unit(s) and it(they) need(s) to have a new cable which is $40, and two new drivers which is $200 and shipping is $11.95. We can repair this and have it out to you as soon as I can collect the following payment information. I have also included Paypal instructions if you would like to pay using that method. Thank you very much for trusting our service and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
 
I am having them send me back my UM3X, as far as the two new drivers, well, they were working perfectly fine even after the pins broke (I was able to touch both broken pins together and the sound was the same balanced sound as before).  I sure hope my iems are still in one piece!

 

[kookoo]

$200 is the cost of remolding the unit.
You thinking of going that direction or buying a new one?

 

[wormsdriver]

Quote:

$200 is the cost of remolding the unit.
You thinking of going that direction or buying a new one?

not sure yet, I'll see in what shape they're in when I get them back. My number one choice would be to keep them stock. If that doesn't work, second choice would be to sell them. If I can't get a DECENT price for them, then I'll make them into Custom iems.
I might try Brian @ BTG Audio to see if he can fix them first.
I'm in the US so re-shelling them through Inearz is like <$120 including shipping to and from, but I'm not too crazy about custom iems.

 

[kookoo]

Quote:

not sure yet, I'll see in what shape they're in when I get them back. My number one choice would be to keep them stock. If that doesn't work, second choice would be to sell them. If I can't get a DECENT price for them, then I'll make them into Custom iems.
I might try Brian @ BTG Audio to see if he can fix them first.
I'm in the US so re-shelling them through Inearz is like <$120 including shipping to and from, but I'm not too crazy about custom iems.

Great idea, I saw that service when I was buying his iem cable. sucks to have expensive gear break down.
Did Westone elaborate why they felt 2 drivers needed repair when you say it still works fine?

 

[wormsdriver]

Quote:

Great idea, I saw that service when I was buying his iem cable. sucks to have expensive gear break down.
Did Westone elaborate why they felt 2 drivers needed repair when you say it still works fine?

I'm assuming they were probably gonna replace both monitors as opposed to repairing them, but I'm not sure. They still sounded just fine when I sent them to them

 

[MuZo2]

200$, I would get them back and either remold them or have them re-cabled. I saw a thread here where they re-cabled a westone 3 and made it removable version.