Can Headphone Jack Be Repaired? (How to)

Everyone loves to listen to music throughout the day for various purposes. The most common method of listening to music is by using you 3.5MM headphone jack headphones or earphones. What would you do if your headphone jack stopped working? Can it be repaired?

The answer is yes, it can be repaired. It will depend on the severity of the damage and how much effort you are willing to put into fixing it. There is not a single method to repair your headphone jack so you can choose the method that’s easy for you and that suits you the most. The best method is to buy a jack replacement and replace it on the go.

If the damage is not too serious, you can try to fix it by yourself. You will need some tools and supplies that can be bought from your local hardware store. If the damage is more serious, you might have to take it to a professional to get it fixed.

Things You’ll Need

You can find the tools to fix your headphone jack just at home if the jack is not severely damaged. If you need to fix your jack professionally than make sure that you have gathered the following tools:

3.5mm Jack Replacement
Soldering Iron
Soldering Wax
Soldering Wire
Wire Cutter

How to Fix Headphone Jack

As we have already suggested that replacing the headphones jack is the best way to get your headphones jack fixed so we’ve chosen to go with this method. If your headphones jack has been ripped off or bent you can follow the steps given below to replace your headphone jack in a short period of time:

Step 1: Cut The Old Headphone Jack Off

The first step is to cut the old headphone jack off using wire cutter. This can be a little difficult so make sure that you are careful with it. If you do not have wire cutter, then use a sharp knife to cut it off. But use of knife could be dangerous if you’re not using the safety gloves and glasses. Cutting the headphone jacks seems to be easy but in fact it isn’t as easy as it seems. Some people might damage the entire wire while cutting the headphone jack so be careful while performing this step.

Step 2: Flatten the Wires

Flattening the wires is more easy than the previous step as it doesn’t requires too much sensitive work. To proceed with this step, simply apply a little bit of force with a screwdriver on the wires or twist the wires with you fingers to flatten them.

Step 3: Strip the Wires

The next step is to strip the wires and remove their insulation. This can be easily done by using a wire stripper. If you do not have a wire stripper then use a sharp knife to strip the insulation off but make sure that you’re doing it safely. Be careful while performing this step as it is easy to cut yourself with a sharp knife.

Step 4: Solder the Wires

Now it’s time to solder the wires. For this, you will need a soldering iron and some soldering wax. The wax is used to protect the metal while soldering it so make sure that you have applied it on all the parts where you have soldered the wires.

Once you have applied the solder wax, it’s time to start soldering the wires. First, you need to check for the colors of the wires, and the terminals of the headphone jack. You’ll see a bottom terminal, a right terminal and a left terminal on the headphone jack. The Right way is to solder the ground wire to the bottom terminal, red wire to the right terminal and the green wire to the left terminal.

Step 5: Taping Up The Headphone Jack

After you’ve soldered up all the wires It’s time to check the audio connection of your headphones. Simply plug-in your headphones to some device and check the audio connection and if the headphones are working perfectly than you should proceed with the taping process.

You can either use an electrical tape, or heat shrink tubing to cover the soldered connection. The most recommended thing in this case is the heat shrink tubing as it is more reliable and lasts longer.

Conclusion

We have come to the end of this article and we hope that you have found it helpful. If you follow the steps given in this article, then you will be able to fix your headphones jack by yourself. If you’re still facing some problems while doing so, then feel free to ask us in the comments section below.