Headphones rarely last more than a few years before the wires snap due to the constant movement they have to endure. Is there a way to stop me having to get out the soldering iron, or worse, buy a new pair?
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1Snap in the middle, or by the connections?– ShokhetCommented Jan 18, 2015 at 23:48
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Anywhere along the wire upto and including the plug– DeepCommented Jan 18, 2015 at 23:50
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6A few years is a long time! Failing anywhere along the length represents good distribution. Having failure focused in one area might be addressed, but not over the whole cord. The effort involved for a preventative measure would probably take the same effort as repairing a worn out cord, which means don't worry about it.– subjectivistCommented Jan 19, 2015 at 0:09
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5How about not letting the dog or a toddler play with the headphones?– subjectivistCommented Jan 19, 2015 at 4:23
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4Buy better ones. Ok, not really a hack, but thats what you get for your bucks. Mine are from the late 90s and I use them daily, and what broke was the leather casing over the ears, never the cable. Why? Because it is 1) thicker than what you usually get these days and 2) the conducting cables are helically wound around a strong nylon strip; together with good cable anchoring this means that the stress on the conducting part is minimized. Of course I try to be nice to the cable too and never step on it or roll over or make knots..– PlasmaHHCommented Jan 19, 2015 at 13:52
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6 Answers
I use cheapish Sony earbuds - great sound, but they tend to break every couple of years because the soldering inside the earbuds is pretty shoddy. Here's a quick summary of all the advice I've found on keeping headphones safe; most of it is pretty obvious, but sadly I tend to ignore it because HARD WORK IS HARD.
- Unplug the jack from your player when you're not using it. If you have small earbuds, don't wrap the cable around the player and stuff it in the case or in your pocket, as this puts strain on the jack and may even damage your player at the socket end.
- Get a headphone case that lets you wind your cables around something. (Here's a list of ideas, some better than others). Don't want to buy one? Take a stiff piece of card and cut two notches in it, one for the jack and one for the earbud/headphone connection.
- Avoid huge flapping lengths of cable - it'll get caught on things and be painful, embarrassing, and eventually expensive. Pass the cable through your shirt, or under your coat or scarf.
- For the same reason, always secure your player: either clip the case to your belt, trousers, etc, or zip the pocket tight.
- Unplug headphones by pulling on the jack rather than the cable itself.
- Do not sleep on, sit on, fling, or absent-mindedly nibble headphones.
- Don't follow my example and get headphones with good quality soldering.
- ...Or just throw in the towel and go wireless.
Tl;dr: most failures occur at the jack end or at the connection with the earpiece. Protect these parts from tugs and strain and you protect your headphones. (And I imagine mid-cable breaks will be less likely as well.)
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I recently found applying some hot glue to the points of failure and then shaping it using a sharp knife works somewhat like Sugru. Looks like it will make the joints last much longer.– bPratikCommented Jun 13, 2019 at 15:56
Take the spring out of a clicky-top ballpoint pen and twist it around the jack end of the cable to prevent extreme bending.
I first saw this on Crazy Russian Hacker.
Use zip-ties across a loop at each end to prevent tugging. These cables fail because of tugging and bad rubber on the wires. The bad rubber will now not tear, and tugging at the weakest spot is not going to happen. Looks silly though. I do this with AC wiring after I've used heatshrink tube to the solder joints... Just works.
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Can you explain what you mean by 'zip ties across a loop'? I don't get it - do you mean to zip tie the cable to the jack? What does that solve - now the cable will break at the zip tie instead of the jack...– alexeyCommented Apr 16, 2017 at 1:15
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Loop the audio cable, and use a small zip-tie to lock the loop. Any tugging will now place load there, instead of at the 3.5mm TRSS jack. Commented Apr 22, 2017 at 18:30
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Can you post a picture or video of this method? It is not clear. Commented Apr 2, 2018 at 1:12
The best method I've thought of requires a bit of hot glue to stiffen the end of the cable, and some heatshrink tube in the color of choice. First apply a thin layer of glue at the end, from wire onto connector ~2mm. Then push the heatshrink (which should be 2-3cm / 1 inch) over the glued part, and carefully heat it until it fits perfectly.
There are multiple ways. Both are done at end of the jack.
- Liquid glue. Check this link: https://youtu.be/ORGNatk5JOc
- Using tape and blower. Check this link: https://youtu.be/uzUKOKnSVnc
You could try buying one with Kevlar fiber coating. I have been using this type for about a year and have had no issues them at all. Sound quality is great too.
