Wiring a 3.5mm Jack..

BennyC

BennyC

BennyC

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Joined
25 Sep 2006
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Hi guys,

Did a search but couldn't find a thread with answers.

Have searched google but have had no luck there!

The mini jack on my headphones has begun to pack in. Leaving only sound in the left headphone, and the right if i wiggle it right and press it certain ways.

So I wandered down to a local electronics store brought some new headphones, and also the stuff to try and repair my old ones. I have a soldering iron, solder and a 3.5mm stereo jack.

Now I have no idea what to do. I was thinking it was going to be simple, two wires to two solder points, but I have a red wire with a copper wire in one of the sleeves, and a green wire with a copper wire in the other sleeve.

Any help would be great! or links that could help :)

Thanks in advance

Benny C
 
Ideally, I'd use a 2 core with screen.

Twist the black (neg) with the screen and solder to one point (bottom point), and the red (positive) on the other point (nearest to the tip).
 
I think he is only replacing the jack, the cable is attached to the headphones
 
You may have difficulty soldering them. They like to put a laquer finish on the individual strands of copper . . . . sometimes. Hopefully, yours will work.

Just cut off the plug, and use a multimeter to identify the correct pins.
 
Old thread I know :o, but it turned up on googling & I'm a member here ;)

EVH said:
Ideally, I'd use a 2 core with screen.

Twist the black (neg) with the screen and solder to one point (bottom point), and the red (positive) on the other point (nearest to the tip).
Click to expand...

My jack lead is 3 core & the ground doesn't screen either of the channels.
What/how much difference does that make vs a cable with each channel screened?
 
PhillyDee said:
You may have difficulty soldering them. They like to put a laquer finish on the individual strands of copper . . . . sometimes. Hopefully, yours will work.

Just cut off the plug, and use a multimeter to identify the correct pins.
Click to expand...

This can be burnt off with a lighter/match.
 
Had to rewire the plug on my AKG's yesterday. Here is a diagram for rewiring a stereo jack plug. (3.5mm is the same config as 6.3mm)

Unscreened cable may allow pickup of interference, but since my AKG's aren't screened and they don't seem to suffer from interference you shouldn't have any trouble. The grounds were separate so the cable has 4 cores, two of which join together at the gnd.

K601-Plug.jpg
 
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AKG are a company that make headphones and microphones, my headphones are AKG K601. (which have been discontinued now, it was the model below the K701) Someone tripped over the cable which damaged the connections in the original moulded plug causing the sound to crackle and cutout every so often which is why i had to chop the plug off and solder a new one on.
 
Assimilator1, blimey, long time no see!

Anyway, to echo the above, not all will be screened, but each speaker requires 2 connections - on a 3.5mm jack, one from each speaker will be shared.
 
Wow! Hi Gary :) (didn't know you're registered here), longtime no speak! How ya been?

Anyhow, yea thx for that :), I've hooked up speakers before so I knew about speakers having 2 wires, I just wondered how much it mattered on a jack lead for the positive wires to be screened.
Well I'll find out soon as I've made & fitted the aux input 'hack' lead for my 330d's stereo. So far I've only briefly tested it with the engine off.
 
RS, farnell/cpc, canford audio and hhb are the main places where you can buy decent connectors like neutrik or deltron.
 
Make sure you get a decent plug though, neutrik being the about the best you can buy. (maplin do sell them)

Blackjack Davy said:
Soldering something that small is darn fiddly. I've done it but it's not fun. Hot iron , burnt plastic... and burnt fingers.
Click to expand...
Not a problem provided you have a fine tip soldering iron and something that clamps the plug. (vice grips do nicely here) You want difficult, you should try soldering a hirose plug. They make 9/15 way D type plugs look easy. (this is 6 pins in a plug that is no bigger than a 1/4" jack)
cbe9caa5_6e22b791_d3e9_49b3_aed3_a03e409ad2de.jpg
 
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