I've got a surround sound headset which needs a driver replacement. The problem is that they're firmly glued in. The surrounding plastic is ABS and I'm guessing the main body of the drivers probably is too.

So is there a particular solvent to loosen the glue that doesn't affect ABS? I'm assuming they are removable or else how would the manufacturer replace them under warranty?

And before you say it, yes I have tried to tentatively lever them out but they're not going to last long doing that. The drivers are really fragile and really firmly glued in.

Pic of drivers: https://imgur.com/a/0zV4G

Thanks for any suggestions.

On 27/10/2017 16:01, me wrote:
I've got a surround sound headset which needs a driver replacement. The problem is that they're firmly glued in. The surrounding plastic is ABS and I'm guessing the main body of the drivers probably is too.

So is there a particular solvent to loosen the glue that doesn't affect ABS? I'm assuming they are removable or else how would the manufacturer replace them under warranty?

And before you say it, yes I have tried to tentatively lever them out but they're not going to last long doing that. The drivers are really fragile and really firmly glued in.

Pic of drivers: https://imgur.com/a/0zV4G

Thanks for any suggestions.


"I'm assuming they are removable or else how would the manufacturer
replace them under warranty?"

They just give you a new headphone.

On Friday, October 27, 2017 at 4:05:32 PM UTC+1, GB wrote:
On 27/10/2017 16:01, me wrote:
I've got a surround sound headset which needs a driver replacement. The problem is that they're firmly glued in. The surrounding plastic is ABS and I'm guessing the main body of the drivers probably is too.

So is there a particular solvent to loosen the glue that doesn't affect ABS? I'm assuming they are removable or else how would the manufacturer replace them under warranty?

And before you say it, yes I have tried to tentatively lever them out but they're not going to last long doing that. The drivers are really fragile and really firmly glued in.

Pic of drivers: https://imgur.com/a/0zV4G

Thanks for any suggestions.


"I'm assuming they are removable or else how would the manufacturer
replace them under warranty?"

They just give you a new headphone.


Well for this model they won't because it's no longer made. But, in general, do you really think they'd just swap out a brand new headset (cost £130 retail) rather than replace one broken driver?

In article ,
me wrote:
Well for this model they won't because it's no longer made. But, in
general, do you really think they'd just swap out a brand new headset
(cost £130 retail) rather than replace one broken driver?

Can you buy a single earpiece complete and replace that?

--
*I'm pretty sure that sex is better than logic, but I can't prove it.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Friday, 27 October 2017 16:24:30 UTC+1, me wrote:
Well for this model they won't because it's no longer made. But, in general,
do you really think they'd just swap out a brand new headset (cost £130
retail) rather than replace one broken driver?

Yes, because these things don't cost them anything close to £130 and they come ready glued together from China and are not designed to be disassembled.

It'll just get passed up the line from retailer to manufacturer with each one giving credit to their buyer until China send out a relacement containerload for a tenner each.

Owain

By "earpiece" I assume you mean the whole assembly and the answer's no as they're no longer in production. But even if I could I'd still rather replace just the broken driver if I can find a way to unglue it!

On Friday, October 27, 2017 at 5:00:21 PM UTC+1, wrote:
....they come ready glued together from China and are not designed to be disassembled.

Owain

Where there's a will there's a way. I have the will, now I just need to find a way.

On 27/10/2017 16:24, me wrote:
On Friday, October 27, 2017 at 4:05:32 PM UTC+1, GB wrote:
On 27/10/2017 16:01, me wrote:
I've got a surround sound headset which needs a driver replacement. The problem is that they're firmly glued in. The surrounding plastic is ABS and I'm guessing the main body of the drivers probably is too.

So is there a particular solvent to loosen the glue that doesn't affect ABS? I'm assuming they are removable or else how would the manufacturer replace them under warranty?

And before you say it, yes I have tried to tentatively lever them out but they're not going to last long doing that. The drivers are really fragile and really firmly glued in.

Pic of drivers: https://imgur.com/a/0zV4G

Thanks for any suggestions.


"I'm assuming they are removable or else how would the manufacturer
replace them under warranty?"

They just give you a new headphone.


Well for this model they won't because it's no longer made. But, in general, do you really think they'd just swap out a brand new headset (cost £130 retail) rather than replace one broken driver?

Yes.

On 27/10/2017 17:00, wrote:
On Friday, 27 October 2017 16:24:30 UTC+1, me wrote:
Well for this model they won't because it's no longer made. But, in general,
do you really think they'd just swap out a brand new headset (cost £130
retail) rather than replace one broken driver?

Yes, because these things don't cost them anything close to £130 and they come ready glued together from China and are not designed to be disassembled.

It'll just get passed up the line from retailer to manufacturer with each one giving credit to their buyer until China send out a relacement containerload for a tenner each.

Owain


As Owain says. Most things are designed for easy manufacture, which
often means difficult repair.

On 27/10/2017 17:51, me wrote:
On Friday, October 27, 2017 at 5:00:21 PM UTC+1, wrote:
...they come ready glued together from China and are not designed to be disassembled.

Owain

Where there's a will there's a way. I have the will, now I just need to find a way.


Cut the driver to bits with a Dremel, then lever it out with a craft
knife? Stick the new driver on top of the old one?

On Fri, 27 Oct 2017 09:46:47 -0700 (PDT)
me wrote:

By "earpiece" I assume you mean the whole assembly and the answer's
no as they're no longer in production. But even if I could I'd still
rather replace just the broken driver if I can find a way to unglue
it!

Just carve it out with a sharp blade.
Or buy a headset on eBay that has failed on the other side ...

On Friday, October 27, 2017 at 5:58:15 PM UTC+1, GB wrote:


Cut the driver to bits with a Dremel, then lever it out with a craft
knife? Stick the new driver on top of the old one?

Yup, that'll probably work and at the moment seems like it might be the only way. On further inspection the glue looks like superglue and I tried a bit of IPA on it which sopftened it so a long enough soak might enable me to lever it out (eventually!).

On 27/10/17 18:08, Rob Morley wrote:
On Fri, 27 Oct 2017 09:46:47 -0700 (PDT)
me wrote:

By "earpiece" I assume you mean the whole assembly and the answer's
no as they're no longer in production. But even if I could I'd still
rather replace just the broken driver if I can find a way to unglue
it!

Just carve it out with a sharp blade.

....you don't even have to be tidy about it: treat the faulty driver as
totally sacrificial and concentrate on preserving the chassis.

Nick

On 27/10/17 16:24, me wrote:
On Friday, October 27, 2017 at 4:05:32 PM UTC+1, GB wrote:
On 27/10/2017 16:01, me wrote:
I've got a surround sound headset which needs a driver replacement. The problem is that they're firmly glued in. The surrounding plastic is ABS and I'm guessing the main body of the drivers probably is too.

So is there a particular solvent to loosen the glue that doesn't affect ABS? I'm assuming they are removable or else how would the manufacturer replace them under warranty?

And before you say it, yes I have tried to tentatively lever them out but they're not going to last long doing that. The drivers are really fragile and really firmly glued in.

Pic of drivers: https://imgur.com/a/0zV4G

Thanks for any suggestions.


"I'm assuming they are removable or else how would the manufacturer
replace them under warranty?"

They just give you a new headphone.


Well for this model they won't because it's no longer made. But, in general, do you really think they'd just swap out a brand new headset (cost £130 retail) rather than replace one broken driver?

yes.

because the actual cost is probably nearer £15

On 27/10/17 18:28, me wrote:
On Friday, October 27, 2017 at 5:58:15 PM UTC+1, GB wrote:


Cut the driver to bits with a Dremel, then lever it out with a craft
knife? Stick the new driver on top of the old one?

Yup, that'll probably work and at the moment seems like it might be the only way. On further inspection the glue looks like superglue and I tried a bit of IPA on it which sopftened it so a long enough soak might enable me to lever it out (eventually!).

superglue is only softened by acetone, and nitromethane

which will take out most plastics

On Friday, October 27, 2017 at 7:00:41 PM UTC+1, Nick Odell wrote:

...you don't even have to be tidy about it: treat the faulty driver as
totally sacrificial and concentrate on preserving the chassis.

Nick

You're not wrong but I really want the driver out in one piece as I intend to repair that as well!

On Friday, October 27, 2017 at 8:09:05 PM UTC+1, Tjoepstil wrote:

superglue is only softened by acetone, and nitromethane

which will take out most plastics

I don't know though. I found a page that suggested IPA for softening superglue where acetone would otherwise melt the plastic. It looks like superglue, I tried it, it softened.

Now I just need something very very thin and sharp and stiff to get into the tiny gap to remove the softened glue.

I was not aware they could be fixed. I suspect they bin them if failed under
warranty and send out new ones.
Brian

--
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This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"me" wrote in message
...
I've got a surround sound headset which needs a driver replacement. The
problem is that they're firmly glued in. The surrounding plastic is ABS
and I'm guessing the main body of the drivers probably is too.

So is there a particular solvent to loosen the glue that doesn't affect
ABS? I'm assuming they are removable or else how would the manufacturer
replace them under warranty?

And before you say it, yes I have tried to tentatively lever them out but
they're not going to last long doing that. The drivers are really fragile
and really firmly glued in.

Pic of drivers: https://imgur.com/a/0zV4G

Thanks for any suggestions.

On 27/10/2017 20:33, me wrote:
On Friday, October 27, 2017 at 8:09:05 PM UTC+1, Tjoepstil wrote:

superglue is only softened by acetone, and nitromethane

which will take out most plastics

I don't know though. I found a page that suggested IPA for softening superglue where acetone would otherwise melt the plastic. It looks like superglue, I tried it, it softened.

Now I just need something very very thin and sharp and stiff

Victoria Beckham!

to get into the tiny gap to remove the softened glue.

On 27/10/2017 20:29, me wrote:
On Friday, October 27, 2017 at 7:00:41 PM UTC+1, Nick Odell wrote:

...you don't even have to be tidy about it: treat the faulty driver as
totally sacrificial and concentrate on preserving the chassis.

Nick

You're not wrong but I really want the driver out in one piece as I intend to repair that as well!

Repair it in situ?

On 27/10/2017 16:01, me wrote:


So is there a particular solvent to loosen the glue that doesn't
affect ABS?

Gentle application of heat can often work - many assembly line glues are
types of hot glue (hand because there is no curing time - once its
cooled off its set). Some modern phones / laptops etc are very fond if it!

I'm assuming they are removable or else how would the
manufacturer replace them under warranty?

They would just replace the whole unit.




--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In article ,
John Rumm wrote:
I'm assuming they are removable or else how would the
manufacturer replace them under warranty?

They would just replace the whole unit.

Wonder what happens to power tools etc Lidl and so on get as warranty
returns?

--
He who laughs last, thinks slowest*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Saturday, October 28, 2017 at 1:51:17 PM UTC+1, John Rumm wrote:


Gentle application of heat can often work - many assembly line glues are
types of hot glue (hand because there is no curing time - once its
cooled off its set). Some modern phones / laptops etc are very fond if it!

I'm assuming they are removable or else how would the
manufacturer replace them under warranty?

They would just replace the whole unit.



I hadn't thought of applying heat and you may be right but as I really want to keep the driver in one piece I think the glue on the drivers would also be affected, no doubt to their detriment. As I mentioned above I tried IPA and it does soften the glue slightly but the gap between driver and surround plastic is so narrow there's no way to remove the glue even if softened.

And having now removed a driver from another faulty unit by drilling and grinding the surround lip away with a 1mm drill bit (because I don't have a Dremel which would have made life easier), I realise these units are definitely not made to be repaired, only replaced as you say! But at least now I have a way to remove the drivers and can proceed with the repair.

I'd be willing to bet though that someone who really knows their plastics and glues would be able to come up with a suitable solvent.

"me" wrote in message
...
On Saturday, October 28, 2017 at 1:51:17 PM UTC+1, John Rumm wrote:


Gentle application of heat can often work - many assembly line glues are
types of hot glue (hand because there is no curing time - once its
cooled off its set). Some modern phones / laptops etc are very fond if
it!

I'm assuming they are removable or else how would the
manufacturer replace them under warranty?

They would just replace the whole unit.



I hadn't thought of applying heat and you may be right but as I really
want to keep the driver in one piece I think the glue on the drivers would
also be affected, no doubt to their detriment. As I mentioned above I
tried IPA and it does soften the glue slightly but the gap between driver
and surround plastic is so narrow there's no way to remove the glue even
if softened.

And having now removed a driver from another faulty unit by drilling and
grinding the surround lip away with a 1mm drill bit (because I don't have
a Dremel which would have made life easier), I realise these units are
definitely not made to be repaired, only replaced as you say! But at least
now I have a way to remove the drivers and can proceed with the repair.

I'd be willing to bet though that someone who really knows their
plastics and glues would be able to come up with a suitable solvent.

I wouldnt, because there wont necessarily be a solvent that will dissolve
the glue and not affect the plastics being glued particularly when the
glue is a hot melt glue as most normally are now in that situation.

On Sunday, October 29, 2017 at 9:21:13 PM UTC, Rod Speed wrote:

I wouldnt, because there wont necessarily be a solvent that will dissolve
the glue and not affect the plastics being glued particularly when the
glue is a hot melt glue as most normally are now in that situation.

Well after hot melt was mentioned I looked it up and it turns out IPA is the exact solvent to use for it. There's videos of it being applied and almost instantly releasing the glue. I've tried it on the glue on my headset and it does soften it to some extent but there's no magic instant release so I'm not convinced it is hot melt glue. I suppose it's all academic now anyway as I've gone for the brute force approach.

me wrote
Rod Speed wrote

I wouldnt, because there wont necessarily be a solvent that will
dissolve
the glue and not affect the plastics being glued particularly when the
glue is a hot melt glue as most normally are now in that situation.

Well after hot melt was mentioned I looked it up
and it turns out IPA is the exact solvent to use for it.

There's videos of it being applied and almost instantly releasing the
glue.

Doesnt work with my hot melt glue.

I've tried it on the glue on my headset and it does soften it to some
extent
but there's no magic instant release so I'm not convinced it is hot melt
glue.

There is a hell of a lot more than just one hot melt glue.

I suppose it's all academic now anyway as
I've gone for the brute force approach.

In article ,
me wrote:
I realise these units are definitely not made to be repaired, only
replaced as you say! But at least now I have a way to remove the drivers
and can proceed with the repair.

I'm surprised you can source a new driver if it's not designed to be
replaced?

--
*I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.