Subj: stereo earphone plug "widens" jack: how to fix (replace=impossible)

Problem with mini-jacks (TRS) for headphones: after a bit of use, seems like
the female part ("jack"?) widens-out inside somewhere, making for a lousy
connection between the radio or walkman (ancient word) or mp3-player
and the earphones. Off on off on bzzz off etc. HORRIBLE LISTENING (if you can
call it "listening"!)

Possible analogy:n

With standard screw-in lightbulbs, that springy copper strip in the
back of the socket, which, when the bulb is fully screwed-in, touches
the center-of-base-of-lightbulb connector; wonderful!

But, sometimes that strip is no longer sprung-forward
enough to make the connection.

How to fix? Off the circuit, then with
some needlenose pliers you pull the end of that copper strip away from
the base a wee bit, and presto, bulb bottom now touches it again when fully screwed-in:

Let there be light -- and (again) it was so.


QUESTION: is there some similar fix for the socket for headphone plugs?

FWIW: picture of a jack (wrong size maybe, but shows the principle of the thing):
http://www.suite101.com/view_image.cfm/823549

What might be the problem? Perhaps (see photo) the metal thingie that
sticks out and touches the "ring" (TRS - tip ring sleeve) of the plug
-- perhaps that got pushed back a bit, via wear. (More likely, by
being CHEAPLY made, ie you know where, and for cheapest possible
price)

What kind of device might fix this?

Maybe some kind of cork-screw-like plug that you plug into (at a
certain rotation-angle?) the jack, and by *carefully* and with *sensitive
nerves on the fingertips", you can tell when the tip of the corkscrew-thing
hits that ring-toucher, and a SLIGHT extra twist will bend it a tiny bit
back towards the center.

Surely there is SOMETHING like this existing?

Or at least some other way to fix it "in situ", *without* having to replace
it.

------

Note: what I have is a Sansa "clip" mp3-player; it's like one inch by
2/3 inch by 1/5th inch thick, with the jack on the side of the thing.
Ain't no way either you or I will be able to open it up and replace
that thing, not unless you are a watchmaker.

The Sansa Clip costs between $50 and $70, depending on the num gigabytes;
sure don't want to have to toss one each time that el-cheapo jack wears out!

Ideas?

THANKS!


David

In article ,
(David Combs) wrote:

Subj: stereo earphone plug "widens" jack: how to fix (replace=impossible)

Problem with mini-jacks (TRS) for headphones: after a bit of use, seems like
the female part ("jack"?) widens-out inside somewhere, making for a lousy
connection between the radio or walkman (ancient word) or mp3-player
and the earphones. Off on off on bzzz off etc. HORRIBLE LISTENING (if you
can
call it "listening"!)

Possible analogy:n

With standard screw-in lightbulbs, that springy copper strip in the
back of the socket, which, when the bulb is fully screwed-in, touches
the center-of-base-of-lightbulb connector; wonderful!

But, sometimes that strip is no longer sprung-forward
enough to make the connection.

How to fix? Off the circuit, then with
some needlenose pliers you pull the end of that copper strip away from
the base a wee bit, and presto, bulb bottom now touches it again when fully
screwed-in:

Let there be light -- and (again) it was so.


QUESTION: is there some similar fix for the socket for headphone plugs?

FWIW: picture of a jack (wrong size maybe, but shows the principle of the
thing):
http://www.suite101.com/view_image.cfm/823549

What might be the problem? Perhaps (see photo) the metal thingie that
sticks out and touches the "ring" (TRS - tip ring sleeve) of the plug
-- perhaps that got pushed back a bit, via wear. (More likely, by
being CHEAPLY made, ie you know where, and for cheapest possible
price)

What kind of device might fix this?

Maybe some kind of cork-screw-like plug that you plug into (at a
certain rotation-angle?) the jack, and by *carefully* and with *sensitive
nerves on the fingertips", you can tell when the tip of the corkscrew-thing
hits that ring-toucher, and a SLIGHT extra twist will bend it a tiny bit
back towards the center.

Surely there is SOMETHING like this existing?

Or at least some other way to fix it "in situ", *without* having to replace
it.

------

Note: what I have is a Sansa "clip" mp3-player; it's like one inch by
2/3 inch by 1/5th inch thick, with the jack on the side of the thing.
Ain't no way either you or I will be able to open it up and replace
that thing, not unless you are a watchmaker.

The Sansa Clip costs between $50 and $70, depending on the num gigabytes;
sure don't want to have to toss one each time that el-cheapo jack wears out!

Ideas?

THANKS!


David

It wouldn't surprise me if the jack contacts were bent and no longer
make good contact with the plug. But it's also quite possible that a
drop of contact cleaner and a few insertion/extraction cycles will clear
up the symptoms.

As far as being a watchmaker, well, when something already doesn't work,
I'm not intimidated to take it apart. Your skill set might surprise you.

Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
(David Combs) wrote:

Subj: stereo earphone plug "widens" jack: how to fix (replace=impossible)

Problem with mini-jacks (TRS) for headphones: after a bit of use, seems like
the female part ("jack"?) widens-out inside somewhere, making for a lousy
connection between the radio or walkman (ancient word) or mp3-player
and the earphones. Off on off on bzzz off etc. HORRIBLE LISTENING (if you
can
call it "listening"!)

Possible analogy:n

With standard screw-in lightbulbs, that springy copper strip in the
back of the socket, which, when the bulb is fully screwed-in, touches
the center-of-base-of-lightbulb connector; wonderful!

But, sometimes that strip is no longer sprung-forward
enough to make the connection.

How to fix? Off the circuit, then with
some needlenose pliers you pull the end of that copper strip away from
the base a wee bit, and presto, bulb bottom now touches it again when fully
screwed-in:

Let there be light -- and (again) it was so.


QUESTION: is there some similar fix for the socket for headphone plugs?

FWIW: picture of a jack (wrong size maybe, but shows the principle of the
thing):
http://www.suite101.com/view_image.cfm/823549

What might be the problem? Perhaps (see photo) the metal thingie that
sticks out and touches the "ring" (TRS - tip ring sleeve) of the plug
-- perhaps that got pushed back a bit, via wear. (More likely, by
being CHEAPLY made, ie you know where, and for cheapest possible
price)

What kind of device might fix this?

Maybe some kind of cork-screw-like plug that you plug into (at a
certain rotation-angle?) the jack, and by *carefully* and with *sensitive
nerves on the fingertips", you can tell when the tip of the corkscrew-thing
hits that ring-toucher, and a SLIGHT extra twist will bend it a tiny bit
back towards the center.

Surely there is SOMETHING like this existing?

Or at least some other way to fix it "in situ", *without* having to replace
it.

------

Note: what I have is a Sansa "clip" mp3-player; it's like one inch by
2/3 inch by 1/5th inch thick, with the jack on the side of the thing.
Ain't no way either you or I will be able to open it up and replace
that thing, not unless you are a watchmaker.

The Sansa Clip costs between $50 and $70, depending on the num gigabytes;
sure don't want to have to toss one each time that el-cheapo jack wears out!

Ideas?

THANKS!


David

It wouldn't surprise me if the jack contacts were bent and no longer
make good contact with the plug. But it's also quite possible that a
drop of contact cleaner and a few insertion/extraction cycles will clear
up the symptoms.

As far as being a watchmaker, well, when something already doesn't work,
I'm not intimidated to take it apart. Your skill set might surprise you.

I'll second that. OP is already in 'nothing to lose' territory. And I
sure wouldn't replace it with the same brand and model, if I couldn't
fix it.

--
aem sends...

David Combs wrote:
Subj: stereo earphone plug "widens" jack: how to fix (replace=impossible)

Problem with mini-jacks (TRS) for headphones: after a bit of use, seems like
the female part ("jack"?) widens-out inside somewhere, making for a lousy
connection between the radio or walkman (ancient word) or mp3-player
and the earphones. Off on off on bzzz off etc. HORRIBLE LISTENING (if you can
call it "listening"!)


Has this happened with more than one MP3 device? With more than one set
of headphones?

I've spent a lot of time listening to walkman stereo for nearly 30 years
and don't recall any trouble with a jack. Once I thought I had a loose
sleeve because the plug fit a little loosely and the sound would
sometimes get faint and monophonic. It was months before it dawned on
me that it was not the jack but a broken ground wire in the plug.

The headphone I used with my cordless phone got noisy. I thought it was
the jack and tried contact cleaner. Eventually I looked at the plug
with a magnifier. The shiny plating was chipping off. A new headset
fixed the problem.

Cheap devices have low quality electroplating on the metal inside the
jack. The paper stick of a Q-Tip cut in half is excellent for cleaning
the contact points. If that doesn't work, the electroplating probably
peeled off at the solder joints. Flow some fresh solder of the joints
and it should work again.
--
I won't see Goolge Groups replies because I must filter them as spam

"Kevin McMurtrie" wrote in message
...
Cheap devices have low quality electroplating on the metal inside the
jack. The paper stick of a Q-Tip cut in half is excellent for cleaning
the contact points. If that doesn't work, the electroplating probably
peeled off at the solder joints. Flow some fresh solder of the joints
and it should work again.
--
I won't see Goolge Groups replies because I must filter them as spam


Often caused by broken solder connections iside the device, right there at
the headphone jack. Seen it many times on Walkmans and the like.

Mark Z.

On 15 Dec 2009 20:46:28 -0500, (David Combs) wrote:

Subj: stereo earphone plug "widens" jack: how to fix (replace=impossible)

Problem with mini-jacks (TRS) for headphones: after a bit of use, seems like
the female part ("jack"?) widens-out inside somewhere, making for a lousy
connection between the radio or walkman (ancient word) or mp3-player
and the earphones. Off on off on bzzz off etc. HORRIBLE LISTENING (if you can
call it "listening"!)

Possible analogy:n

With standard screw-in lightbulbs, that springy copper strip in the
back of the socket, which, when the bulb is fully screwed-in, touches
the center-of-base-of-lightbulb connector; wonderful!

But, sometimes that strip is no longer sprung-forward
enough to make the connection.

How to fix? Off the circuit, then with
some needlenose pliers you pull the end of that copper strip away from
the base a wee bit, and presto, bulb bottom now touches it again when fully screwed-in:

Let there be light -- and (again) it was so.


QUESTION: is there some similar fix for the socket for headphone plugs?

FWIW: picture of a jack (wrong size maybe, but shows the principle of the thing):
http://www.suite101.com/view_image.cfm/823549

What might be the problem? Perhaps (see photo) the metal thingie that
sticks out and touches the "ring" (TRS - tip ring sleeve) of the plug
-- perhaps that got pushed back a bit, via wear. (More likely, by
being CHEAPLY made, ie you know where, and for cheapest possible
price)

What kind of device might fix this?

Maybe some kind of cork-screw-like plug that you plug into (at a
certain rotation-angle?) the jack, and by *carefully* and with *sensitive
nerves on the fingertips", you can tell when the tip of the corkscrew-thing
hits that ring-toucher, and a SLIGHT extra twist will bend it a tiny bit
back towards the center.

Surely there is SOMETHING like this existing?

Or at least some other way to fix it "in situ", *without* having to replace
it.

------

Note: what I have is a Sansa "clip" mp3-player; it's like one inch by
2/3 inch by 1/5th inch thick, with the jack on the side of the thing.
Ain't no way either you or I will be able to open it up and replace
that thing, not unless you are a watchmaker.

The Sansa Clip costs between $50 and $70, depending on the num gigabytes;
sure don't want to have to toss one each time that el-cheapo jack wears out!

Ideas?

THANKS!


David



I think your diagnosis is simply wrong. It is FAR more likely that the
connections of the jack to the circuit board are cracked. I'd say the
chances are very close to 100%.

On 15 Dec 2009 20:46:28 -0500, (David Combs) wrote:

Subj: stereo earphone plug "widens" jack: how to fix (replace=impossible)

Problem with mini-jacks (TRS) for headphones: after a bit of use, seems like
the female part ("jack"?) widens-out inside somewhere, making for a lousy
connection between the radio or walkman (ancient word) or mp3-player
and the earphones. Off on off on bzzz off etc. HORRIBLE LISTENING (if you can
call it "listening"!)


Power connectors to that too. I've had cell phones and laptop
computers that became unusable because of that.

[snip]
--
10 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us

"How could you ask me to believe in God when there's
absolutely no evidence that I can see?" -- Jodie Foster

E Z Peaces wrote:

David Combs wrote:

Subj: stereo earphone plug "widens" jack: how to fix
(replace=impossible)

Problem with mini-jacks (TRS) for headphones: after a bit of use,
seems like the female part ("jack"?) widens-out inside somewhere,
making for a lousy connection between the radio or walkman (ancient
word) or mp3-player and the earphones. Off on off on bzzz off etc.
HORRIBLE LISTENING
(if you can call it "listening"!)

Has this happened with more than one MP3 device? With more than one
set of headphones?

I've spent a lot of time listening to walkman stereo for nearly 30
years and don't recall any trouble with a jack. Once I thought I had
a loose sleeve because the plug fit a little loosely and the sound
would sometimes get faint and monophonic. It was months before it
dawned on me that it was not the jack but a broken ground wire in the
plug.

I recall way back in the 1970'ties that minijacks came in two sizes.

Kind regards

Peter Larsen

What is goolge?

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Kevin McMurtrie" wrote in
message ...
--
I won't see Goolge Groups replies because I must filter them
as spam

In article , "Peter Larsen" wrote:
E Z Peaces wrote:

David Combs wrote:

Subj: stereo earphone plug "widens" jack: how to fix
(replace=impossible)

Problem with mini-jacks (TRS) for headphones: after a bit of use,
seems like the female part ("jack"?) widens-out inside somewhere,
making for a lousy connection between the radio or walkman (ancient
word) or mp3-player and the earphones. Off on off on bzzz off etc.
HORRIBLE LISTENING
(if you can call it "listening"!)

Has this happened with more than one MP3 device? With more than one
set of headphones?

I've spent a lot of time listening to walkman stereo for nearly 30
years and don't recall any trouble with a jack. Once I thought I had
a loose sleeve because the plug fit a little loosely and the sound
would sometimes get faint and monophonic. It was months before it
dawned on me that it was not the jack but a broken ground wire in the
plug.

I recall way back in the 1970'ties that minijacks came in two sizes.

Kind regards

Peter Larsen



2.5 mm
3.5 mm

I have problems with plugs and jack all the time. I fixed an Apple laptop
this year with bad connections to board. It all had to come apart
to fix. I plug a cheap set of phones into the computer the other day
and no sound. Wet the plug with saliva and it worked fine.

greg

"Mark Zacharias" wrote...
"Kevin McMurtrie"wrote...
Cheap devices have low quality electroplating on the metal inside the
jack. The paper stick of a Q-Tip cut in half is excellent for cleaning
the contact points. If that doesn't work, the electroplating probably
peeled off at the solder joints. Flow some fresh solder of the joints
and it should work again.

Often caused by broken solder connections iside the device, right there at
the headphone jack. Seen it many times on Walkmans and the like.

I had to take my iPod Touch back for exactly that problem. The
connector is soldered to the PC board, and one of the solder
connections broke loose. If I could have opened it up, it would
have taken literally seconds to re-touch the connection and fix it.
Of course, it would have also voided the warranty and presented
a significant possibility of damage to the case, glass panel, etc.
But Apple preferred to exchange it for a brand new one. Perhaps
that's why they charge premium prices.

wrote ...
I think your diagnosis is simply wrong. It is FAR more likely that the
connections of the jack to the circuit board are cracked. I'd say the
chances are very close to 100%.

I agree.

"Richard Crowley" wrote in message
...
I had to take my iPod Touch back for exactly that problem. The
connector is soldered to the PC board, and one of the solder
connections broke loose. If I could have opened it up, it would
have taken literally seconds to re-touch the connection and fix it.
Of course, it would have also voided the warranty and presented
a significant possibility of damage to the case, glass panel, etc.
But Apple preferred to exchange it for a brand new one. Perhaps
that's why they charge premium prices.


Nope, it simply costs far less for them to make a new one than to repair it.
They charge premium prices because they can. Someone has to pay for all the
advertising and huge profits.
Just be thankful it was still under warranty, they usually last just long
enough for the warranty to expire. And let's not even mention battery
replacement!

MrT.

On Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:07:47 -0500, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:

What is goolge?


Does it have something to do with the Chinese?

[snip]

In article ,
aemeijers wrote:
Smitty Two wrote:

It wouldn't surprise me if the jack contacts were bent and no longer
make good contact with the plug. But it's also quite possible that a
drop of contact cleaner and a few insertion/extraction cycles will clear
up the symptoms.

As far as being a watchmaker, well, when something already doesn't work,
I'm not intimidated to take it apart. Your skill set might surprise you.

I'll second that. OP is already in 'nothing to lose' territory. And I
sure wouldn't replace it with the same brand and model, if I couldn't
fix it.

--
aem sends...


This thing is a Sansa Clip -- like I say, the thing is maybe just under
2 inches tall, one inch wide, and maybe 1/4 thick.

It's a NEAT device!

And THAT sems to work ok -- the electronics, sound quality,
FM, etc.

Taking it apart looks non simple, indeed!

I mean, no obvious place to unscrew something.


Thanks,

David

David Combs wrote:

This thing is a Sansa Clip -- like I say, the thing is maybe just
under 2 inches tall, one inch wide, and maybe 1/4 thick.

It's a NEAT device!

And THAT sems to work ok -- the electronics, sound quality,
FM, etc.

Taking it apart looks non simple, indeed!

I mean, no obvious place to unscrew something.

Glued or ir welded together perhaps. Chances are you couldn't solder on
anyway because everything is quite tiny.

Thanks,

David

Kind regards

Peter Larsen

"David Combs" wrote in message

In article
,
aemeijers wrote:
Smitty Two wrote:

It wouldn't surprise me if the jack contacts were bent
and no longer make good contact with the plug. But it's
also quite possible that a drop of contact cleaner and
a few insertion/extraction cycles will clear up the
symptoms.

As far as being a watchmaker, well, when something
already doesn't work, I'm not intimidated to take it
apart. Your skill set might surprise you.

I'll second that. OP is already in 'nothing to lose'
territory. And I sure wouldn't replace it with the same
brand and model, if I couldn't fix it.

--
aem sends...


This thing is a Sansa Clip -- like I say, the thing is
maybe just under 2 inches tall, one inch wide, and maybe
1/4 thick.

It's a NEAT device!

And THAT sems to work ok -- the electronics, sound
quality,
FM, etc.

Taking it apart looks non simple, indeed!

I mean, no obvious place to unscrew something.

Right - my MicroTrack was made that way. They are held together by catches
molded into the plastic case. Cracking the case takes skill, patience, and a
tool that can apply enough pressure to the seam, without scratching up the
plastic.

"GregS" wrote in message


I have problems with plugs and jack all the time. I fixed
an Apple laptop
this year with bad connections to board. It all had to
come apart
to fix. I plug a cheap set of phones into the computer
the other day
and no sound. Wet the plug with saliva and it worked fine.

I suspect a goodly number of the USB audio interfaces in use exist are used
simply to bypass a mangled earphone jack.

One thing I've found is that right-angle plugs put less stress on those
minature headphone jacks. Neutrik has a right-angle 3.5 mm plug that is IME
one of the best around. Less than $5.

"Mr.T" MrT@home wrote in message


Nope, it simply costs far less for them to make a new one
than to repair it.

A natural consequence of high levels of automation.

They charge premium prices because they can.

That's a fundamental rule of business. Buy low, sell high.

Someone has to pay for all the advertising and
huge profits.

Nobody is forcing people to buy techno toys. Furthermore the asking prices
for a lot of this stuff is pretty low, all things considered.

About 6 years ago I paid about $300 for a NJB3 (Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox)
with 20 GB of storage that weighed the better part of a pound and was bigger
than of a big stack of CDs. Today the same basic funcionality runs only a
fraction of the price, size and weight;, is far more durable, plays longer
on its batteries, and sounds just as good. All that, and there were 6 years
of inflation in-between.

Just be thankful it was still under warranty, they
usually last just long enough for the warranty to expire.
And let's not even mention battery replacement!

In this day and age there are many things that are impractical to repair.
OTOH, if the vast proportion of them last long enough for the owners to lose
interest in them like I lost interest in my NJB3, then they effectively
lasted forever.

On Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:35:25 +0000 (UTC), (David
Combs) wrote:

[snip]



This thing is a Sansa Clip -- like I say, the thing is maybe just under
2 inches tall, one inch wide, and maybe 1/4 thick.

It's a NEAT device!

And THAT sems to work ok -- the electronics, sound quality,
FM, etc.

Taking it apart looks non simple, indeed!

I mean, no obvious place to unscrew something.

and all those little parts popping out, never to be seen again.


Thanks,

David

--
10 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us

"How could you ask me to believe in God when there's
absolutely no evidence that I can see?" -- Jodie Foster

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
Nope, it simply costs far less for them to make a new one
than to repair it.
A natural consequence of high levels of automation.

Of course. I don't really have a problem with that for cheap items, but
throwing away a $300+ device because of a faulty connector or worn out
battery is bad design done deliberately. In the past nobody would expect to
throw away a $2000 television after a few years, now it is just accepted
that your large screen plasma/LCD TV has a life expectancy of a few years
and will be replaced rather than repaired. It's so bad a whole new market
has developed for extended warranties that didn't exist when ability to
repair was considered part of the design process.


They charge premium prices because they can.
That's a fundamental rule of business. Buy low, sell high.

Fortunately not ALL companies are greedy, simply most. And some are far more
greedy than others. I try to avoid those ones as much as possible.


Someone has to pay for all the advertising and
huge profits.
Nobody is forcing people to buy techno toys. Furthermore the asking prices
for a lot of this stuff is pretty low, all things considered.

Sure, but some are far better value than others. Take the PC Vs Mac
competition for example, 90% of the hardware is common, (processors, RAM,
hard drives etc. etc.) the major difference is the operating system, and
advertising campaigns. A similarly specced PC clone is far cheaper than a
Mac. I have no problem with people choosing to support Apples profits, but
when they complain about Microsoft, I have to laugh!!

(Yes I do think MS is just as bad, but OS10 is just a variation of Unix, and
Linux is FREE for your PC. And of course *many* Macs run MS office anyway!
In fact there are far more free programs available for the PC and Linux
anyway, enough that most users could avoid paying for OS and software
completely *if* they wanted to.)


About 6 years ago I paid about $300 for a NJB3 (Creative Labs Nomad
Jukebox)
with 20 GB of storage that weighed the better part of a pound and was
bigger
than of a big stack of CDs. Today the same basic funcionality runs only a
fraction of the price, size and weight;, is far more durable, plays longer
on its batteries, and sounds just as good. All that, and there were 6
years
of inflation in-between.

Which has what to do with Apple iPods? You are making my point that there
are usually better options. The NJB3 was a good choice at the time IMO.
It's competition that really drives those technology improvements! Be very
thankful we have a choice other than Apple products.


Just be thankful it was still under warranty, they
usually last just long enough for the warranty to expire.
And let's not even mention battery replacement!
In this day and age there are many things that are impractical to repair.
OTOH, if the vast proportion of them last long enough for the owners to
lose
interest in them like I lost interest in my NJB3, then they effectively
lasted forever.

Which would be very true *IF* all the latest Chinese toys lasted 6 years
like your NJB3. Most however will be landfill **LONG** before that.
The marketing for iPods is for you to throw them away when the batteries are
stuffed, IF they last that long. What percentage of iPods last 6 years I
wonder?

MrT.

"Mr.T" MrT@home wrote in message

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...

Nope, it simply costs far less for them to make a new
one than to repair it.

A natural consequence of high levels of automation.

Of course. I don't really have a problem with that for
cheap items, but throwing away a $300+ device because of
a faulty connector or worn out battery is bad design done
deliberately.

I don't know about the deliberately part. 3.5 mm jacks have been
problematical as long as I've had experience with them, and that goes back
to the 1960s. Some more so than others, but all of them are susceptible to
wear and use. If there was some magical way to solve that problem head on,
by now someone would have found it, it would seem.

Right now there are two work-arounds to the problem of 3.5 mm plugs and
jacks. One is used by a lot of headphone manufacturers on 3.5 mm headphone
plugs, and it involves making the 3.5 mm plug so that a 0.25 inch plug can
be securily threaded onto it. On the jack side, what a lot of people do is
equip the equipment with a 0.25 jack, and then plug a 3.5 mm adaptor into
it. When the 3.5 mm jack inevitably breaks, you just get a new adaptor.

As far as the problem of $300 equipment that gets trashed because a 3.5 mm
jack gets damaged, the current solution is that the $300 equipment gets
microminiaturized into a $40 piece of equipment that works about as well.
That's what happened when my NJB3 was replaced by a Sansa Clip.


In the past nobody would expect to throw
away a $2000 television after a few years, now it is just
accepted that your large screen plasma/LCD TV has a life
expectancy of a few years and will be replaced rather
than repaired.

If the large screen TV costs like $600, that is almost acceptable. I've seen
50" plasmas for $688.

It's so bad a whole new market has
developed for extended warranties that didn't exist when
ability to repair was considered part of the design
process.

Extended warrantees are just insurance policies.

They charge premium prices because they can.
That's a fundamental rule of business. Buy low, sell
high.

Fortunately not ALL companies are greedy, simply most.
And some are far more greedy than others. I try to avoid
those ones as much as possible.

Agreed.

Someone has to pay for all the advertising and
huge profits.

Nobody is forcing people to buy techno toys. Furthermore
the asking prices for a lot of this stuff is pretty low,
all things considered.

Sure, but some are far better value than others. Take the
PC Vs Mac competition for example, 90% of the hardware is
common, (processors, RAM, hard drives etc. etc.) the
major difference is the operating system, and advertising
campaigns. A similarly specced PC clone is far cheaper
than a Mac. I have no problem with people choosing to
support Apples profits, but when they complain about
Microsoft, I have to laugh!!

There was once a day when all of the cool audio, graphics, and desktop
publishing software ran only on Macs. If memory serves, there was even a
time when the only extant spreadsheet program ran on an Apple. Those days
are long gone.

(Yes I do think MS is just as bad, but OS10 is just a
variation of Unix, and Linux is FREE for your PC. And of
course *many* Macs run MS office anyway! In fact there
are far more free programs available for the PC and Linux
anyway, enough that most users could avoid paying for OS
and software completely *if* they wanted to.)

About 6 years ago I paid about $300 for a NJB3 (Creative
Labs Nomad Jukebox) with 20 GB of storage that weighed
the better part of a pound and was bigger than of a big
stack of CDs. Today the same basic funcionality runs
only a fraction of the price, size and weight;, is far
more durable, plays longer on its batteries, and sounds
just as good. All that, and there were 6 years of
inflation in-between.

Which has what to do with Apple iPods?

One of the smaller, lighter, cheaper, easier to use alternatives to the
NJB3 was the iPod.

Fancy that!

You are making my
point that there are usually better options. The NJB3 was
a good choice at the time IMO. It's competition that
really drives those technology improvements! Be very
thankful we have a choice other than Apple products.

As far as I'm concerned, Apple is just another alternative. If they can
compete, then I'll serioiusly consider Apple. If not, too bad!

Just be thankful it was still under warranty, they
usually last just long enough for the warranty to
expire. And let's not even mention battery replacement!
In this day and age there are many things that are
impractical to repair. OTOH, if the vast proportion of
them last long enough for the owners to lose interest in
them like I lost interest in my NJB3, then they
effectively lasted forever.

Which would be very true *IF* all the latest Chinese toys
lasted 6 years like your NJB3.

It didn't. Surprisingly enough my NJB3's headphone jack lasted, but the line
input jack didn't. It got replaced by a Microtrack. The Microtrack's only
"must have" jacks are USB and 1/4". Both have a far better track record for
durability than the 3.5 mm jack.

Most however will be
landfill **LONG** before that.
The marketing for iPods is for you to throw them away
when the batteries are stuffed, IF they last that long.
What percentage of iPods last 6 years I wonder?

There seems to be a good market for replacement batteries for the iPod. I
even replaced the battery in my MicroTrack - it cost me less than $10 and
about 20 minutes.

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
I don't know about the deliberately part. 3.5 mm jacks have been
problematical as long as I've had experience with them, and that goes back
to the 1960s. Some more so than others, but all of them are susceptible to
wear and use. If there was some magical way to solve that problem head on,
by now someone would have found it, it would seem.

They did *long* ago! They simply added 2 or 3 spring tips to provide better
contact and evenly balanced pressure. Of course nobody uses them, since the
crap ones usually last long enough for the warranty to run out.


Right now there are two work-arounds to the problem of 3.5 mm plugs and
jacks. One is used by a lot of headphone manufacturers on 3.5 mm headphone
plugs, and it involves making the 3.5 mm plug so that a 0.25 inch plug can
be securily threaded onto it. On the jack side, what a lot of people do
is
equip the equipment with a 0.25 jack, and then plug a 3.5 mm adaptor into
it. When the 3.5 mm jack inevitably breaks, you just get a new adaptor.

None of which is suitable for iPod devices that won't readily fit 1/4"
jacks.


As far as the problem of $300 equipment that gets trashed because a 3.5 mm
jack gets damaged, the current solution is that the $300 equipment gets
microminiaturized into a $40 piece of equipment that works about as well.
That's what happened when my NJB3 was replaced by a Sansa Clip.


But doesn't have the same recording capability. A Zoom H2 or similar device
is a good replacement. Better quality at a similar price. And still
difficult to repair of course, but will probably last longer than an iPod..


In the past nobody would expect to throw
away a $2000 television after a few years, now it is just
accepted that your large screen plasma/LCD TV has a life
expectancy of a few years and will be replaced rather
than repaired.

If the large screen TV costs like $600, that is almost acceptable. I've
seen
50" plasmas for $688.

Not here, a cheap 28-32" set costs more than that, and the major brands all
sell between $1,000 and $5,000. No shortage of buyers.
No shortages of complaints when they find out how much it costs to repair
after a couple of years either!


It's so bad a whole new market has
developed for extended warranties that didn't exist when
ability to repair was considered part of the design
process.

Extended warrantees are just insurance policies.

Of course, and absolutely necessary for an unrepairable expensive device
that comes with a 12 month manufacturer warranty.


There was once a day when all of the cool audio, graphics, and desktop
publishing software ran only on Macs. If memory serves, there was even a
time when the only extant spreadsheet program ran on an Apple. Those days
are long gone.

Yes LONG gone!


As far as I'm concerned, Apple is just another alternative. If they can
compete, then I'll serioiusly consider Apple. If not, too bad!

Agreed. But I won't hold my breathe expecting them to ever compete AFAIC!


Which would be very true *IF* all the latest Chinese toys
lasted 6 years like your NJB3.

It didn't. Surprisingly enough my NJB3's headphone jack lasted, but the
line
input jack didn't. It got replaced by a Microtrack. The Microtrack's only
"must have" jacks are USB and 1/4". Both have a far better track record
for
durability than the 3.5 mm jack.


Yep, so that cheap Sansa Clip didn't do what the NJB3 did after all. You
needed a Microtrack as well. :-)


There seems to be a good market for replacement batteries for the iPod. I
even replaced the battery in my MicroTrack - it cost me less than $10 and
about 20 minutes.

Sure, but the average user can't replace the batteries in an iPod, Apple
make sure of that. And it costs a lot more than $10 to have the service
department replace them.

MrT.

aemeijers wrote:
Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
(David Combs) wrote:

Subj: stereo earphone plug "widens" jack: how to fix
(replace=impossible)

Problem with mini-jacks (TRS) for headphones: after a bit of use,
seems like
the female part ("jack"?) widens-out inside somewhere, making for a
lousy
connection between the radio or walkman (ancient word) or mp3-player
and the earphones. Off on off on bzzz off etc. HORRIBLE LISTENING (if
you can call it "listening"!)

Possible analogy:n

With standard screw-in lightbulbs, that springy copper strip in the
back of the socket, which, when the bulb is fully screwed-in, touches
the center-of-base-of-lightbulb connector; wonderful!

But, sometimes that strip is no longer sprung-forward enough to make
the connection.
How to fix? Off the circuit, then with
some needlenose pliers you pull the end of that copper strip away from
the base a wee bit, and presto, bulb bottom now touches it again when
fully screwed-in:
Let there be light -- and (again) it was so.


QUESTION: is there some similar fix for the socket for headphone plugs?

FWIW: picture of a jack (wrong size maybe, but shows the principle of
the thing): http://www.suite101.com/view_image.cfm/823549

What might be the problem? Perhaps (see photo) the metal thingie that
sticks out and touches the "ring" (TRS - tip ring sleeve) of the plug
-- perhaps that got pushed back a bit, via wear. (More likely, by
being CHEAPLY made, ie you know where, and for cheapest possible
price)

What kind of device might fix this?

Maybe some kind of cork-screw-like plug that you plug into (at a
certain rotation-angle?) the jack, and by *carefully* and with
*sensitive
nerves on the fingertips", you can tell when the tip of the
corkscrew-thing
hits that ring-toucher, and a SLIGHT extra twist will bend it a tiny bit
back towards the center.

Surely there is SOMETHING like this existing?

Or at least some other way to fix it "in situ", *without* having to
replace
it.

------

Note: what I have is a Sansa "clip" mp3-player; it's like one inch by
2/3 inch by 1/5th inch thick, with the jack on the side of the thing.
Ain't no way either you or I will be able to open it up and replace
that thing, not unless you are a watchmaker.

The Sansa Clip costs between $50 and $70, depending on the num
gigabytes;
sure don't want to have to toss one each time that el-cheapo jack
wears out!

Ideas?

THANKS!


David

It wouldn't surprise me if the jack contacts were bent and no longer
make good contact with the plug. But it's also quite possible that a
drop of contact cleaner and a few insertion/extraction cycles will
clear up the symptoms.

As far as being a watchmaker, well, when something already doesn't
work, I'm not intimidated to take it apart. Your skill set might
surprise you.

I'll second that. OP is already in 'nothing to lose' territory. And I
sure wouldn't replace it with the same brand and model, if I couldn't
fix it.

--
aem sends...
Hi,
It depends if it is high end good unit, worth fixing. I use very
flexible pig tale adapter cable to relief strain on the cord. Or
wireless adatper/headphone.