How to Fix Broken Headphone Cables

Like us and have a pile of broken earbuds and headphones? Learn the easy way to fix your broken headphone cable. You can go fancy connector-wise, but a simple Radioshack "1/8" Stereo Phone Plug" will do the trick.
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DIY Tryin is a brand-new show about do-it-yourself solutions and maker culture from the Tekzilla team! Here on DIY Tryin, we live by the motto; "Why buy when you can make?"

[@homerun443]

My left ear really enjoyed this video.

[@matthewsbailey_1894]

homerun443 same

[@NastyCity619]

+Bob Fisherman3 same

[@haroldi.6450]

homerun443 my right ear

[@lancemaulion831]

homerun443 mine too

[@bigbadwolfflurryface3246]

homerun443 me too

[@davidjjlionel]

The whole thing should have been filmed close up

[@olfmombach260]

David Lionel I know right? Couldn't see shit in the beginning

[@casper3655]

Word!

[@user-ye2ob9yl2g]

Gotta build a brand with some faces

[@ElegantJames]

Both sides of my headphones work again! Thank you, I soldered it myself and it worked. No more cutting out on the left side. First time soldering too.

[@jamiehouten911]

This is a good video but they forgot to mention a fundamental point. When you strip your cables you will essentially be left with four wires (for a set of standard headphones without a mic). Before burning off the coating cut your red 'pair' a little bit shorter so that you know which is which. The two uncoloured wires are grounds and will eventually be soldered to the gold leg. It makes it easier to burn the grounds first so that you can twist them together ready to be soldered onto the gold leg. Then burn the coloured wires and then length of the wire will let you know which is red and which is green. I originally burnt my wires and twisted the red with its ground and did the same with the green and had little to no sound which is probably what a lot of people here are finding. Hope this helps 👍

[@IdiawesKara]

thx

[@CptAvenger]

Nice catch!

[@MJ5Rox]

Every video. "Very easy to fix it." Totally

[@anarkilp]

oh wow, didn't realize it was this simple. I have a headset with a broken jack sitting in my drawer for over 4 years now. There was this white fiber type thing inside with the different wires. This video has inspired me to attempt to repair it once more!

[@diytryin]

Ignore the fiber, it will burn right off!

[@lukeskywalker6755]

the fiber is a nylon or cotton reinforcement for the wires so that flexing the wire doesn't break it

[@Rexhunterj]

@@lukeskywalker6755 Except that shit never seems to do anything other than get in the way of fixing broken wires or intimidating newbies away from trying to self-repair.

[@Big-Papa-Smurf]

I watching this with no sound. Guess why.

[@beahburnhar6813]

LOL ME TOO

[@jkterjters]

Idk, why?

[@michellegarcia8738]

me too dude i need to use my headphones BUT its broken

[@itsvoodoo7050]

AIDS?

[@chemical-x8745]

Same 😆

[@Wanderlust]

the link to the jack doesnt work guys

[@redalert2605]

Watch this video repairing skullcandy earphone: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d4LWY5J8j9uneNE

[@hamtaroyt]

watching this in 2020 and watching him sneeze caused a "corona" scream in my head.

[@aryanswiichannel4667]

oh wow this comment brings me right back xd

[@ThisismychannelXD]

I an watching this with broken headphones so I couldn't hear no shit.

[@sandx]

I am hearing this from only left ear :(

[@breezy_xoxo3673]

+Saad same

[@MashiroShiina]

+Saad me too im hearing this on my left ear

[@ThisismychannelXD]

lol

[@manz007]

me too. lol

[@AntonAdelson]

Wow. After all these years I stumble upon Patrick Norton again, yey! So happy that the TechTV crew is still kicking it strong on youtube!

[@LightOblivion]

I just fixed my favourite earplugs with my first ever soldering. Thanks for the video :)

[@Synthpoptroubadour]

good job solder! ... i mean soldier! hahaha

[@EuphoriaPlanet]

@@Synthpoptroubadour😂

[@charliebrownau]

Gday. Why is it 99% of ALL headphone repair videos lacking the wiring information to connect the wires on the EAR BUDS , they all spend time at the end that connects to the source, but no video shows the wires from each ear bud, espically for studio headphones

[@guineapig55555]

because that's much more complicated

[@pavmx703]

@@guineapig55555 Which is exactly why there should be more videos on it. No one needs a bunch of videos on simple shit. That's like looking up videos on math an having 10,000 on addition and two on calculus. We don't need this many videos on the same simple thing.

[@axipixel5811]

@@pavmx703 Totally agree. I'm looking for resources on how to wire up a total cable replacement for headphones, and where to buy the parts to do so. Really would like to do an all-around upgrade the quality of the cables from stock/oem.

[@gorgi991]

its easier than to replace the jack you just replace the cable up to the speakers each speakers is marked with - + brown its the ground and red is R green L

[@lalu225]

The tip about using a lighter to burn the coatings is very useful, thank you. I just cut a different cable with a good jack and tied the wires together - no soldering :)

[@samwells5797]

is this patched?

[@sudnejskqbdeksnsndnfskdmam4559]

It would help if I could hear what your saying

[@jessiesomething9932]

+Brutus Magnus IKR xD Same

[@sheluvmarco8626]

You're

[@RoastedPasta]

+Brutus Magnus Even i cant hear anything so use captions

[@thewatermelongamer6874]

Why don't you just remove the earphones then you can hear better

[@prakhar9998]

+Brutus Magnus subtitles bruh..

[@brianbrewster6532]

Thanks guys - gonna give this a shot. Now have - count them - 3 broken headphones and I'LL BE DAMNED IF I'LL BUY ANOTHER SET UNTIL I FIX AT LEAST ONE OF THESE!

[@zzzontag]

Guys, I, while living, have achieved greatness at fixing headphones. Advice: after soldering & testing, REINFORCE the place where wire attaches to the plug! How? Superglue/liquid cement. Those glues are runny when you squeeze them out of the tube, but after a few minutes become gooey and like spiderweb. USE that 'spiderweb'. Wrap it around the spot you soldered plus half an inch onto the wire (many layers, generously). Before that (before even soldering, put a spring from a pen onto the wire. Once first batch of 'spiderweb' solidifies, pull (screw) the pen spring onto the spot and add more spiderweb. Wait 24 hours for joint to become hard as a rock, slap some black insulating tape of shrink tubing on top - the end. You get headphone jack that NEVER breaks off.

[@fallenangel042010]

zzzontag Can you help me in fixing my headset wire? I have no idea with the color codes.

[@abdessamadelhossaini4806]

Felmea Mercado u should test them using yr phone Keep changing the spots of the wires till u hear good and correctly then solder them and add super glue and tape and u are all ready to go :D

[@are-fh3vi]

Is that a challenge

[@LittleKrystaliz]

Lol, my headphones broke and I cant hear the video.

[@ninorattaa7514]

sorry, i cant hear ur comment

[@fabianortiz5087]

Sorry what ? I'm blind

[@inansillum1892]

@Polite Gordon Ramsay then why are you here for a Headphone fixing video?😑

[@redalert2605]

Watch this video repairing skullcandy earphone: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d4LWY5J8j9uneNE

[@FormatoX]

You guys need more subscribers! Thanks for the info. Great stuff!!

[@CarlosDeVilla]

Thanks! I was trying to fix my headphones and removing the wax from the cables was the thing I was missing. This really helped

[@poneill65]

The burned enamel residue and, if you burn for a long time, the copper oxide are very good insulators AND very good at preventing solder adhesion. It's therefore best to GENTLY use some fine grit sandpaper to remove it. Either press the wires gently onto the sandpaper and drag OR fold the sandpaper over the wires and pull. Try to rotate the wires between swipes to expose as much copper as possible. Be gentle!

[@MrIONgamer]

Thank you for the lighter tip! All smooth sailing from there.

[@MrChngyian]

really helped when I was trying to repair my earphone jack, thumbs up!

[@pezmustang]

Your tips and the fix worked like a charm, thank you both very much!

[@andrewb9180]

Nice work guys - easy to understand, good delivery, wise counsel.

[@jastern949]

What soldering iron model do you recommend? Or, at least, what minimum wattage? And I notice you use a tip with a fine point instead of a flat head -- does that help keep the tip hotter? Also, do you use solder with or without lead in it? I know the non-leaded kind is safer/healthier, but for the life of me, I cannot get it to melt and work, so I just resort to the leaded kind. What do you use? I would love it if you guys would do a short vid just on soldering and soldering irons (I did not see in your video list but I might be blind). Thanks for the tip today! I am running out to my Radio Shack (the last one remaining in my area before they go the way of the carrier pidgeon) to pick up a 1/8" jack and do it!

[@Rexhunterj]

non-leaded seems to need more heat. I modify airsoft toys so I've got a bit of experience when the leaded wasn't available, I too had a bunch of problems getting it both to get hot enough to melt and stay that hot long enough to get whatever I was doing done.

[@MrQuinn231]

Great Walk through! First time soldering and this definitely helped.

[@TomJohnson_idratherbewriting]

Thanks for making this video. I followed it step by step and was able to successfully replace the jack on my headphones. Thanks!

[@DomeTM49]

How the fuck am i supposed to hear when my headphones are broken?

[@georgestewart8790]

KZbin CC option

[@LattzGz]

Dominik dont USE URE HEADPHONE IDIOT

[@chibitrish7670]

Dominik take the headphones *out*

[@grimsonforce7504]

I tried this and went from sound coming from my left ear to no sound at all. Thanks guys.

[@clintoncook6082]

As far as standards, I was repairing my headphones with a 3.5mm connector that had some pre-cut wire on it. (The headphones had a short cable that I didn't want to make any shorter.) The headphones had red, white, and green and the replacement connector had red white and black. I ended up doing some research to see what wires did what depending on the wiring scheme.

[@n1njap1xel]

Thanks! I had a cable/soldering lose inside my k701 and didn't know how to take them apart so I could fix them. Thanks to your video I have yet again working headphones.

[@parranoic]

For those that have the Steel Series Arctis with their proprietary cable and random disconnects, audio only on one side or phone adapter not working without fiddling with the cable you can take a hammer and tap lightly the tip of the male connector (not the jack, their weird usb like cable) so that when you insert it in the female connector the metal housing pushes the contacts properly. This is how I fixed mine.

[@MAXIMUSspiders]

I can save millions with this

[@kyleknight9686]

Awesome. Very helpful! Would love to see a video of you guys repurposing a cheap amplifier for a helmet. Currently working on this for a Halloween costume.

[@davidwallace6527]

Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!

[@herozayn9133]

How else is watching this with one side headphones 😂

[@CMDRSweeper]

Next vid project... How to REINFORCE your headphones so they withstand this kind of breakage :P

[@TheOutdoorsGeek]

Plasti dip the area of the cord that has the most wear, made my phone charger last months longer

[@HassanSelim0]

TheOutdoorsGeek What's plasti dip? :)

[@patricknorton]

Hassan Selim Plasti Dip is a rubbery coating, people use it for everything from tool handles to custom cars. www.plastidip.com/

[@HassanSelim0]

patrick norton oh I know that thing, I just didn't know it had a special name (I thought it was just "rubber" :D), and I didn't know you could easily apply it on something at your home/garage, I thought it was a very industrial process, interesting :) (also thanks for being awesome and replying to me :D)

[@derbigpr500]

Buy good headphones. It's better buy 200 dollar headphones once per 5 years than 20 dollar headphones every month.

[@YoungVeteran2023]

Thank you! I just ordered 5 trrs connectors to fix my broken headphoneS! Great channel

[@yuridecastro9496]

One time I was fixing my good old Philips she9000 then I finished soldering I realized I didn't put the plug cover on the cable before. ALL OF MY HATE.

[@rajafaisalhanif9276]

So funny and annoying at the same time

[@crazycookfyrelomenot]

Right after I threw away my broken headphones, I see this.

[@vestorflipsters6491]

You guys may have saved my $100 studio headphones! I will be DIYing this when Radioshack opens ~Thanks :D

[@ludwigkopp8130]

Very good and easy. You can take it to the next level with shrink tubes before soldering or moulding into tiny amount of hotglue.

[@H3L4]

How the fuck am I supposed to do ALL of that myself?!

[@MyWillyboi]

FUCKIN HATE ADS

[@diytryin]

Sorry :(. But it's how we get paid to make videos.

[@MyWillyboi]

LOL ITS OK LOVE YOUR VIDS! HATE KZbinS POLICY!!!! GET THAT $$$$

[@patricknorton]

MyWillyboi Thanks!

[@nickhansbauer]

+MyWillyboi hey don't think it has anything to with a "KZbin policy". Curators can choose to monetize their content with ads, and therefore earn money.

[@brysonmorris8816]

+MyWillyboi USE AN ADBLOCKER!! Unless you're on mobile because that's too much work for watching a 30-second ad.

[@dev639]

I gave you a like for teaching me to burn the headphone cable! That's gold!

[@jadrien6ify]

Thank the heavens I found this! I just got new headphone yesterday, good ones too, and they are already broken. I'm gonna do this soon so I can get back to what I was going to do.

[@aarongould3538]

This COULD be a good video but MY HEADPHONES ARE BROKEN SO I CANT HEAR!

[@freeatlas3551]

Aaron Gould unplug them

[@rczg]

Captions

[@ujang3288]

I would prefer watching what they are doing, not who they are

[@oscartravis5740]

Excellent vid, the first one I found on the subject that actually tells you which wires go to which terminal on the jack!

[@jonfreeman9682]

But it's very hard to solder such tiny wires. You need surgeon hands for this kinda work.

[@MattHowlett]

Well done video. Thanks guys. Have you ever replaced the in-ear/bud piece? I need to take the buds from one set and attach them to the cord for another set. I'm assuming this is possible as I believe the internal wiring is all the same.

[@Daphneamy360]

I don't have those tool at all to fix my cheap $5 head phones

[@MrStatical]

Daphneamy360 Then buy new headphones bum

[@techflix6175]

or buy tools bum

[@jacobb9531]

or dont buy $5 dollar headphones and they wont break bum

[@shaggings]

+jacobb really? i bought ones that cost 149e. and guess why im here

[@techflix6175]

MAX-TastiC cause you take shitty care of your headphones bum

[@trinitysmate]

Excellent!!! I get through so many headphones due to this problem! All you need to do now is pronounce soldering correctly :P

[@diytryin]

Our British coworker is convinced that we pronounce it that way just to mess with him.

[@patricknorton]

DIY Tryin Sol-Der-Ing sounds so odd compared to Sah-der-ing, lol.

[@trinitysmate]

patrick norton Do you guys also spell in wrong? :D

[@trinitysmate]

English English that is all :P

[@TheCitedAviator]

But Britain came first they are right

[@philssouth]

Nice one guys. I love the disclaimers thrown in. Very funny...

[@christopheG.]

Thanks to you, I finally repaired my 1984 Sony MDR-70 headphones ! Works like a charm :-)

[@Konnie88]

i cant hear anything IF MY HEADPHONES DOESNT WORK

[@xpmule]

The joke is funny no matter how many times you all keep posting it. Do you look up how to fix a broken cell phone screen while surfing on your broken cell phone ? Besides who the fuck doesn't have some speakers ?

[@rczg]

*C a p t i o n s*

[@gigicaly]

I inhaled... what now? do I hold it in?... please respond quick :)

[@rosa.00_]

Uhhh...are u alive?!

[@shawnkay5462]

I know im 3 years late but if youre still holding, dont worry it should come out of your ass

[@andydot]

@@shawnkay5462 i mean he hasnt responded yet..

[@rajeshwaris9822]

This is what I was in search of. Thanks a ton.

[@blushingfrieza]

Love this, love the vibes. Thanks for the simple instructions. Subbed!

[@edyt4125]

Wtf am I doing here, I'm listening to this with my headphones

[@rcrbrewster7840]

*GREAT So I can go out today and spend $30 on a pair of good earbuds or I can go spend $15 on a cheap soldering iron $25 on a magnifying micro clamping contraption and $5-7 on pckge of jack input ends and spend an hour + swearing and cursing and burning my fingers😃*.

[@AlwynnDE]

R Curtis this might be for those of us with $100+ headsets. In which case, yes, its a very cheap fix.

[@rcrbrewster7840]

Justin Foreman Good Point

[@ElisandroDeLeon]

The tools would be used for future projects, hopefully.

[@otacon1024]

Yeah, but you have those earbuds only until those break down too. You get one soldering kit and can use it to repair your headphones and whatever else countless times, only rarely needing to buy some new solder for a buck or two.

[@ninepuchar1]

R Curtis 😂😂😂, the cooked smell of your flesh😂😂. I know man.

[@Erfa]

This video was the first thing that popped up when I search to figure out why one of my wires looked so weird. Fire solved it, thanks!

[@TheDeathmachine13]

This is saving me a fortune, Thank you.

[@suntrail4860]

Or just buy a new headphones wire.. more expensive to get the equipment in the first place.

[@kmx5992]

Sun Trail Not all headphones can do that..

[@fu_ck1]

What's the point of buying a new wire if the original wire is SOLDERED TO THE HEADPHONES in the first place. You can't just rip it out and expect to find a 3,5mm jack underneath it. To fix non-modular headphones, you have to do some soldering.

[@BlakeTechnology99]

Currently as of age 15, I have destroyed and gone through 70 pairs of crappy headphones.

[@LaggyLuke]

Blake.TV with the price of those headphones you could have bought one awesome pair of headphones :P

[@pejazya]

Dude you're 20 now, how weird is that?

[@sincerelyjen5182]

When your earphones are so fucked up you don't even know what they are saying

[@scp-redacted6148]

I love how I search this video up to fix my earphones and I'm wearing them

[@Zexa11]

worked for me,thank you!

[@sillygooseenergy]

I like how everyone with broken earbuds are watching like "lol wut"

[@lexconor8498]

I have a mic'd gaming headset. I cut off the 1/8" connector, stripped the wire to replace the faulty connector, and found one blue and one green wire, both very fine, and a fatter stranded black wire. Can you tell me what's up with that?

[@samyu3130]

People, after years of experimenting, I have finally found the BEST way to solder these tiny headphone wires 1)Firstly strip the plastic wire housing. 2) Next apply PAINT THINNER on each of the tiny wires. Wait for it to dry(2 mins). 3) Then grab a soldering iron, put some solder on it, and run the tip of the iron through the wire in a DOWNWARDS DIRECTION -the wire should start bubbling - this actually gets rid of the enamel coating as it sticks to the solder. Let this solder drip on the table/remove this solder. (If you use lighter to burn the enamel, you don’t actually remove the enamel - you just melt it, which is why people find it so hard to solder these wires. ) Now, you have actually REMOVED and TINNED the wire (which is impossible if you use fire to melt the enamel) At this stage you just need to connect the tinned wires together and solder.

[@nicholaslynch7651]

Thanks im gonna do this this week end, plus entertaining banter liked and subbed

[@jz5748]

i forgot his name but i used to love their computer tv programmes.very educational.i wonder what happend to those shows.

[@RoxannLarson]

It would be helpful if you labeled your video to include the word jack since you actually fix the jack and not the cable. I happened to come across this, thank God, as it was just what I needed. Great instruction, very detailed and easy to follow.

[@DamnDarien]

Super helpful and super simple for a first video.

[@MrConnorTV]

OMG I did forget the cover piece once (had to put it the wire first ) so glad I was not the only one.

[@AmbrosiaAggarwal]

thanks a lot ,worked for me i didn't know about the insulated coating :)

[@mrfreeman1763]

Bingo, tried to fix my Sennheisers by just replacing the bad end that plugs into the headphone with another one from a previous cable that also had one go bad. I tried just twisting the bare wires together to see if that would work and was surprised when no sound came out at all. I didn't realize they had a coating on them, just assumed the color was anodized. Now I got it working just like new, thanks for saving me $20.

[@ChrisMichaelsChicago]

Obviously you never heard the original mix of Nowhere man, but Kudos for digging the greatest band of all time!

[@ravihlb]

Thanks! Helped a lot, headphones working like new :)

[@Romaelzo]

I dont know how to THANK u really i needed to know how to uncover that material which coating the 3 wires of the headphone but i connected them with something more easy it was a READY cable a ready plug(a 2 male Plug Cable) i cut one of them and used it with no need the soldering stuff

[@Crazy___Ginger]

My giant over-ear headphones with 50mm drivers had an inline mic, but all the headphone wires went through the mic's circuit board, and the wire for the left channel broke off the circuit board. After a few hours of trying to solder the tiniest wire to a circuit board, I gave up, desoldered all the wires, chucked the circuit board into my parts bin, and just directly soldered all the speaker wires to one another. It works wonderfully now! I did that 2 years ago and it is still holding up to this very day. however, by doing that, they don't have a mic anymore, but the mic was crap anyways so I didn't really care. Sadly, I might have to get new ones as the plastic diaphragm is starting to get crinkly and whenever I put it to max volume, I get terrible distortion as a result (it gets unbearably loud for me, and I always listen on medium volume). On medium volume though, it still works wonderfully. Also, they sound way better than beats and I got them for about 50 bucks 3-4 years ago. (if you are curious, the model # is JVC HA-MR55X). Ah, isn't diy fun?

[@cult.leader]

YOU SAVED MY LIFE THANK YOU😭😭😭

[@Johnny-rx4hs]

What are some good places to look for tech odds and ends now that radioshack is gone?

[@93ladyjoker]

Hi im new to this and dont know how to soder , but i have a question .... Instead of fixing the bottom tip of the wires and adding a new jack to it ... How can i add an aux input to the headset?? Instead of having to fix the tips, so whenever my wiring breaks i can just buy a new aux cable like the dre beats headset idk if i explained that correctly . Cause i have a jbl headset that i love but there so hard to find n expensive but the wiring keep breaking n i dont want to throw them away I want to recycle them. N add a aux

[@shawnminor8226]

Great lesson! Thanks!

[@netsurfer10000]

Thanks for pointing me to TRRS! Never knew what these are called.

[@suzetterichardson1345]

Man I’ve wiggled mine so much both ends are unwired and tapped up but hopefully this will help. I sooo am afraid 😱 to do the example your showing. I’ve been shocked one to many times. Thanks was helpful still.

[@SaleBrutale]

Excellent video!

[@joeburhoe8748]

Thank you So much... I have a $300.00 Pair of studio head phones I thought I just fried... I'm listening to your video with them now!! I don't ever comment on anything... Ever... Thank you sincerely. !!

[@Forconstructionpros1]

How does this repair change if the wire is broken at the mic/control pod hanging on the headphone wire? I never use the mic/control pod, and I'm perfectly OK with just cutting it out.

[@KhmerH20]

what soldering tool do you recommend? thank you for the video.

[@robertmattison1282]

WOW just found your channel. Are you doing this at a public access station your area. Great job you two. ____ Busters here you come.

[@zipzap1662]

Sad to see such good channels die :(

[@curiousnomadic]

Danng so radio shack was still around 9 years ago. I miss it now. What a pain.

[@unniannair5880]

I chanced upon this video. Excellent presentation! Keep going guys!

[@bobicrni1284]

Ok, for people who have headphones with mic usually blue and green wire are + for the 2 headphones and red and gold twisted together is - for the headphones, separate clear red and clear gold are + and - for the mic, I find it easier than soldering to cut off the wire and connect to another wire with good plug.

[@IberianCraftsman]

In case anyone wondered, the big one is the ground and for the brown cable(there could be 2 brown cables for mic ones), where do i connect the red, blue and green ones?, well there are 3 smaller pins, left one for blue, middle one for green (microphone) and right one for the red cable.

[@MelodyMaker]

The most important task of the whole performance.....building / buying contraption with alligator clip to stabilize space to enable iron, solder and wires to come together if doing this alone without a buddy to help.

[@TGIFrank]

Watching this on wiggly one sided headphones after I Hulk smashed my Audiotechnicas. Instant sub.