# Headphone wire repair **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 4, 2021, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/headphone-wire-repair/953808 "2021-11-04T19:49:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2021, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/headphone-wire-repair/953808/1 "2021-11-04T19:49:04Z")
I have a pair of Bose Soundsport wired earbuds that I really like – they are the only wired headphones that stay in my ears. So, of course, the wire has gone bad. They have a mic and an inline remote. I cut off the jack and there are more wires than I expect – probably a set of wires directly from the earpieces and another set coming from the remote. Here’s what it has: Two red wires Two blue wires One white wire (maybe this is the mic?) Green wire threads wrapped around the white wire (I think this is the mic ground?) Two copper wires On the new jack that I bought, I have: Red White Black Green I assume I can tie the two red wires together and connect them to the red wire from the jack. After that, I’m not sure – tie together the copper thread and green thread and connect to…? Blue goes to ? White goes to ? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2021, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/headphone-wire-repair/953808/2 "2021-11-04T20:38:45Z")
Sorry to reply to my own OP, but there’s one other interesting complication – what I thought was a red wire is actually another multi-stranded copper wire – I assume the red is some sort of insulation, but how do I strip that? One website says to burn it off with a match. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2021, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/headphone-wire-repair/953808/3 "2021-11-04T21:08:23Z")
It looks like there is a standard for which wire color is what in a headphone jack, but a quick search shows that at least some replacement jacks don’t follow the standard. The 4 wires are Left, Right, Microphone, Ground. _Probably_ White and Red are Left/Right, Black is ground, and green is mic, but you may want to test it. You _should_ be able to get a good enough electrical connection by just twisting the wires together with maybe some electrical tape to keep them from contacting the other wires so you can test out whatever wiring connections you are trying. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/headphone-wire-repair/953808/4 "2021-11-05T18:17:10Z")
In case anyone is wondering, I figured out the wiring – red wire on the jack connects to the blue wire on the headphones, white on the jack to the red on the headphones, green on the jack to copper and green, black on the jack to white on headphones. With that config, left and right seem right, volume up, down, and the skip button works, and the mic works. I tried doing it all with tape, but it looks like I’ll have to bust out the soldering iron, because I couldn’t get things to stay connected. I also had to burn the ends of the wires on the headphone side to make a connection. I guess the soldering iron might have been able to burn some of that off, too. Anyway, looks like I’m all set. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2021, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/headphone-wire-repair/953808/5 "2021-11-05T18:30:01Z")
Have you checked Youtube ? Someone else will almost certainly have done this and posted a video ! [this one looks likely.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL2pPhLRTrQ) ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2021, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/headphone-wire-repair/953808/6 "2021-11-05T18:37:24Z")
Yeah, the problem is that one solders directly to a jack, but I have a jack with wires coming out of it. I’m not good enough at soldering to get everything connected directly to the jack. In fact, I can’t even get the wires soldered together – maybe the tip on my gun is bad? How can I tell? ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2021, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/headphone-wire-repair/953808/7 "2021-11-05T18:48:39Z")
Hmm. I’d have thought it was easier to solder to the jack (unless it’s a moulded type)… Anyway, heat-shrink will definitely be helpful here. > [@RitterSport](#): > > maybe the tip on my gun is bad? How can I tell? Does it get hot ?! (ie does it melt the solder ?) ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2021, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/headphone-wire-repair/953808/8 "2021-11-05T18:50:41Z")
Yes, and then no. That is, it seems to get hot sometimes and then stops. I have an extra tip – I’ll just try changing it this weekend. Where can I get heat shrink sleeves? There’s no Radio Shack near me… ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/headphone-wire-repair/953808/9 "2021-11-05T18:55:34Z")
Looks like Home Depot might have that stuff. I’ll swing by there tomorrow. I’ve always been bad at soldering, but I don’t remember being this bad – I blame the gun. ---
**Author:** ![KMS94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ad7895/32.png) [@KMS94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KMS94)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2021, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/headphone-wire-repair/953808/10 "2021-11-05T18:58:21Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Where can I get heat shrink sleeves? There’s no Radio Shack near me… Auto parts places like O’Reilly’s or Autozone will have it. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2021, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/headphone-wire-repair/953808/11 "2021-11-05T18:59:29Z")
Thanks! I’ll report back over the weekend if I can get all this to work. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2021, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/headphone-wire-repair/953808/12 "2021-11-05T19:01:58Z")
Sounds like your soldering iron maybe suffering from the same thing as your headphones ! Check the diameter of the Home Depot heat shrink, i just checked my local hardware store and their stuff is likely for home electrics (rather than tiny electronics)- the smallest says it’s for 1.8mm2 cable. (The stuff I’ve got was a “selection box” from Aldi !!) ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2021, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/headphone-wire-repair/953808/13 "2021-11-05T19:04:02Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > Sounds like your soldering iron maybe suffering from the same thing as your headphones ! Can God create an electrical mess so problematic that even He can’t fix it? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2021, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/headphone-wire-repair/953808/14 "2021-11-06T19:19:55Z")
It worked! I might have used a heat shrink tube that was a little too big – it’s open on the ends. I’ll try and shrink it some more when I can get someone to hold the wire for me. For a former electrical engineer, I’m shockingly bad at soldering. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/headphone-wire-repair/953808/15 "2021-11-06T20:22:23Z")
👍 Result ! ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/headphone-wire-repair/953808/16 "2021-11-07T23:08:35Z")
I had a relatively cheap but nice sounding pair of JBL headphones until my cat chewed through the cord. When I peeled back the insulation I found the wires were some kind of thin strips of copper plated plastic that were a real challenge to solder because the plastic kept melting. I kinda-sorta repaired the break but eventually ended up buying a better pair from a different manufacturer. The new ones use a cord with a plug at each end and have jacks in each earpiece, as well as a spare cord.