Ipod mini ghetto headphone repair

My ipod mini headphone socket had gotten so worn and loose that none of my cables fit snugly any more. This caused an annoying crackle if I dared even breathe near it and at its worst, would activate the pause action. Since I am too tight to pay for a replacement part, pne which would wear out in the same way anyway, I decided to ghetto fix it.

Since I use a ghetto headphone amp with my ipod, I only need a 3.5 mm jack to come out of my ipod and plug into the amp. If you want your headphones to plug straight into your ipod then you'll also need a female to female 3.5 mm stereo adapter.

WARNING! You are about to void your ipod's warranty. I accept no liability for damages caused in following this instructable.

Step 1: Requirements

1) One pair of cheap (preferable free) headphones to butcher.
2) One pair of broken headphones to steal the jack from.
3) Fine tipped soldering iron.
4) Thin, rosin cored electronics solder (optional).
5) A steady hand (mandatory).
6) Multimeter (optional).
7) Nail varnish (optional).
8) Small round file (optional).
9) 3.5mm female to female stereo adapter (optional).

Comments

[Max Headroom]

I don't get it. Buy a cheap jack-to-jack cable,and spare time and the possibilities to destroy the sound panel too.

[CtrlAltNinja]

Hi Max Head Room

Have you read the "intro" page? It explains why a cheap jack to jack cable was not working.

Thanks for commenting,

Regards,
Ctrl-Alt-Ninja

[Max Headroom]

Okay, sorry, I get it now. But this is really ghetto indeed

[bigredxyz]

instead of using the broken cable in the jack, could you not have bypassed the circuitry by seeing what contacts were made when the cable was in and then hard wired it? i just ask cause you had it opened anyway unless you really like the ghetto look. either way, great idea and 'ible!

[CtrlAltNinja]

Thanks for the feedback bigredxyz. I wanted to go with the quickest and most ghetto solution (and I had plenty of broken cables). Maybe if it starts pausing again I will have to try and find out how it works and bypass it.