DIY Injection Moulding to Repair Headphones *UPDATED*

BIG THANK YOU for everyone who voted on me in FIX IT contest. Thanks to your votes I won second prize. It was suprising to me because i've never won anything abroad (only locally) it means a lot for me that I won something. Again thank you. Follow me for more Instructables in the future ;)You won't be disappointed.


Everyone had this time in life- broken headphones jack... again.

I came up with idea that help me repair my headphones and make them stronger after repairing.
Just using some hot glue and basic skills.

After following my instructions you will be able to finish with plug show on the photo.

Step 1: Hey! What Happened to My Headphones?!- What Would You Need to Repair Them?

No! My headphones jack is broken again!

What to do?
There is some posibilities:
-Buy new headphones- What a waste of money! I like my headphones! Why would I change them ?

-Repair broken jack using new plug- Ok... headphones are working correctly... but my headphones isn't as pretty as before! I want them to look good!

-Use this instructable to make your headphones plug look good- hey! I can save some money using old plug!

I don't know what option would you choose, but definitly I'll chose third possibility ;)
I wanted my headphones look good, and I didn't want to use ordinary replacement plug from electronic store.
Just using some hot glue and plexi i made something that will help you repair your jack pretty way!


So... your headphones are broken again.
What would you need to bring them back to life and give them non-zombie look?
-Broken headphones (very useful when you repair them)
-HOT Glue! or sugru (chose your weapon!)
-Some 1cm thick plexiglas
-Some screws
-Drill - preferably with drill pres
-Silicone oil

There is other posibility, you can 3D print the mold, I've prepared *.stl files for those who have acces to the 3D printer.
I don't have any posibility to print my own mold ( you know... Poland...) 3D printing of that small object would cost me as much as 1KG of PLA filament so...

File named "split" is for making joints on headphones cable like the spots where cable splits on two.

Step 2: Making the Mold!

Now you want to make the mold, it will be reusable so you can fix as many headphones as you want.

You need two pieces of plexiglas taped together. Then you have to drill a 3 mm diameter hole through the all mold.
And use 9mm drill to make the first hole bigger (look photos)
I drilled two holes for screws to make the pieces easier to line up.
It's good to smooth the inner using 1000 grit sandpaper.
Thats all for making the mold :D

*UPDATE*
 I made second mold, uploaded some photos, works better than first.

Step 3: Repairing the Plug

When you make your mold there is time to repair some plugs!

I bought red hot glue, just beacuse it looks better, you can use regular transparent or black, yellow, blue... whatever color you find in shop.

I know that instructables like GIF animations so i made two showing process of making plug.

At first you need to spray some silicone oil on the both parts of the mold, then apply some glue to one side of the mold and place mini jack plug with all wires soldered at their place. Cover this with another layer of hot glue, but not too much! and then put on second part of the mold and press strongly. Now you can just wait when the hot glue get cold.

When the mold and the glue is cold (you can speed up the process by putting it into freezer) try to carefully remove the mold, cut any excess glue  and enjoy your new pretty plug!

Step 4: It Was Easy, Isn't It?

That's all. You've just repair your hedphones and didn't make them look like zombie - working but ugly.

I hope you enjoy my instructable.
Leave me a comment what you think.
Post photos of your work, I'd love to see them!

Thanks for reading!

By kondzio29
 Thanks to Kiteman who help me make this instructabe better.


You can follow me on G+ I'll post my work there sometimes:
http://adf.ly/780049/gplus

Step 5: UPDATE ;)

This instructable will be updated every time I make something to improve my idea.
For example- If I 3D print a mold for making plugs I'll post photos and the description in this step.
Feel free to check sometimes if there is something new here ;)

Few days after I post This instructable I have to fix plug from my USB charger and I realised that my mould is useful for fixing plugs different than audio plugs. It can be used with many different plugs like power plug or even for an USB plug if you prepare new mould correctly.

Look at the pictures I took when I was fixing my charger plug.

Comments

[Overlord_Laharl]

if you 3d print a mold and are using sugru, try undiluted dish soap as a release agent (i used it and it worked well.) brush on the soap before just before use and the mold should release fairly easily when fully dry.

i printed a custom PS vita usb mold on a maker bot replicator 2. i then brushed on some dawn ultra, them made the replacement sleeve, worked well and it fits the stupid vita charger like a glove.

[dglp]

Nice idea - may use a variant to deal with odd sized mains adaptor for my Acer laptop.      Have previously used hot glue - but as that softens even at room temp, some other more rigid material is called for.       Also *hot* glue can affect the wire casings. So it's nice to have an alternative cold plastic.      Never seen sugru, but if it can be removed fairly easily it's a better option than say epoxy.       Would also consider using some material other than plexi as the mould. Some decent ply or MDF would suit. Maybe form the channel w plunge router or dremel.      Not fussed about plug/jack/socket terminology. We're on the internet, & they're all connectors...

[georion]

plug..........................is whats on end of

[georion]

jack..........................is on device (you plug into)

[Kiteman]

The term "jack" does officially mean the part of the connection that is not on the cable, and the part on the cable is the plug.

However, in common parlance, both parts of the connection tend be called "jack".

[cube000]

Those misunderstanding is an effect of 1:1 translation from language that kondzio speaks natively. There, "jack plug" is correct term, commonly used in electronics branch.

[kondzio29]

Hi, thanks for leaving comment.
Before you start commenting you should read wikipedia:
"In the UK, the terms jack plug and jack socket are commonly used for the respective male and female phone connectors.[2] In the US, a stationary (more fixed) electrical connector is called a "jack"

I'm not a native english speaker but I'm learning british english currently so I don't see any misteke in what I write in my instructable.

cheers!

[armstk180]

Nice instructables ,
could you please give me further information about that universal silicon spray ?
where can i buy that ?

[cube000]

Silicon spray, kondzio had wrote about is nothing more than silicon oil. This oil is used for lubricating seals or plastic mechanisms. Every shop with spare car parts should have something similar. Also, airsoft players are using it for cleaning barrels and lubricating magazines.

[kondzio29]

Hi,
This silicone spray it's kind of lubricating oil or grease, it's similiar to WD 40 but it gives nice and frictionless movement because of silicon.

I bought universal silicone oil in "LIDL", but they are only in europe :(
I don't know how about Iran, but you should propably check nearest hardware shop.

Hope I help you ;)
cheers!

[armstk180]

Hi
you are really good guy :) that you very much for your attention about my location
it looks like LIDL are a chain supermarket in Europe , probably they has international selling , i hope
I will contact you through PM !

Merc

[wardwouts]

Great idea! I'll keep this in mind for the next time a plug tries to die on me.

[kondzio29]

Thank you,

dont forget to post a photo of your fixed plug ;)
I think everyone here want to see it ;)

[diykiwibloke]

This is great, thank you! Your solution looks much more durable. But...the problem I have with headphone jacks, headset (phone and mic combos) and often studio headphones, is how to work with that awkward tiny flexible copper/string wire most of them use (presumably for a longer lasting product) to connect to the plug. Soldering, even with a good flux doesn't work.

If anyone with the same wire problem reads this and has a solution please do an 'ible.

[kondzio29]

I have the same problem with one of my headset wires ;) (see photo)

Try to heat end of wire with lighter, probably they are coated with special kind of paint, after this scratch some of it and it should "catch" the solder ;)

Thnks for comment, you can also vote on me in Fix it contest

cheers!

[djscott79]

once you have the mould you could use it on new/working headphones to make them last longer so they don't break at that point ever