Can't solder headphone speaker wire correctly

[Steve555]

One of the two wires connected to one of the speakers on my MDR-V6 Sony headphones came loose, so the sound in that speaker would intermittently shut off. When I would move the wire around the sound from that speaker would come back on then shut off later when the wire disconnected again.

I removed the speaker cover and attempted to solder the semi-disconnected wire back on, but now no matter which way I move the wire around no sound comes out of that speaker anymore.

In a video on Youtube the person doing the repair said to be careful to not melt the original solder that the wire is connected to because that might ruin the wire "trace". I did melt the original solder in addition to adding new solder.

So what do I do now? Thanks for any replies.

[drewl]

Is the thin coil winding still attached to the pad?

If so just solder the wire to it.

[52 Bill]

Do you have an ohmmeter? If you do, try and read the resistance of the headphone element at the two terminals where the wires are soldered on. It is just a voice coil, so you should read some low resistance there. If you do get a resistance reading, then the element is still good and you just need to get it reconnected to the plug in wire.

I don't see many cases where the wire comes disconnected from the element, 99% of the time it is a broken wire inside the plug-in cable, usually where the wire enters the casing or at the plug end where the wire gets flexed a lot.

Use your meter to test the wire continuity from the tip and the ring and the shield of the plug to the wire ends inside the headphone casing.

[The Dude]

Don't know if it's the case here, but some of those tiny little wires they use for headphones have a coating on them. They will look soldered, but actually are not. I've had some luck with these by using a cigarette lighter to burn off the coating before soldering. Again, not sure if it's the case in this instance.

[TimmyP1955]

Note that it is not the "bundle" that is coated, but each strand. (Litz wire - hate that crap). I carefully scraped each strand with an Xacto knife and managed to fix a friend's 7506 (hate those, too).

[nosaj]

Here you go a how to.
nosaj
https://www.newenglandwire.com/~/med...%20Edition.pdf

[g1]

I don't think it's the case here, but seeing as odd headphone issues are being discussed, some of the elements will only take aluminum solder.

[drewl]

Alot of those new ear buds etc. Use wire that looks like thread.
Is that the "Litz wire" anyway, you need to scrape the coating off or heat it and tin it properly.

[tedmich]

These wires can be heard to solder due to the coating that most all earbud/headphone wires have nowadays*. When I fixed my son's girlfriends MDR-7506 I had good luck heating the wire ends with a lighter until the conformal coating charred (not too much heat as its very fine copper!). I then gently rubbed the wire toward the end with some green scotch-brite to remove the conformal coating . I then used this Neutrik plug and good Pb rosin core solder.


* some have polymers threads within the wires to strengthen them and these totally F with soldering if you don't remove them before heating.

[J M Fahey]

I find they use "self soldering"/evaporating plastic coating.
You get a hot iron (30/40W) , wipe the tip with damp cotton cloth (not polyester or any "plastic") so you see bright shiny solder, melt tnhe end of some solder wire and apply the clean still smoking solder to the wire, "in the air" , not touching a pad or anything else, and the enamel will evaporate and you'll tin the now naked bright shiny copper.
It's the best way.
Scratching such fine wire can cut it or at least nicks will weaken it, a lighter flame is way too hot, it is *designed* to evaporate without residue at molten solder temperatures.
Once you've tinned it, then it's easy to solder it to a PCB pad or plug/jack leg.

[The Dude]

...... a lighter flame is way too hot............

Well, that depends on how skilled you are with a cigarette lighter.

[Steve555]

I charred the wires with a match and then scraped the wires with a green Scotch pad. I then soldered the wires onto the speaker, and the speaker works now but at lower volume than the other speaker. The sound quality seems to be the same for both speakers.

Should I remove the wires again and resolder them to see if I can get the volume at the same level as the other speaker? If so, should I remove as much of the solder that I applied as I can before applying new solder? The solder I used is "Alpha Fry Electrical Repair Solder" with rosin flux core and lead free. Is that good solder for this kind of repair?

[g1]

It could be that the lead free is not very cooperative, it is not my preference. But you should be able to measure the resistance at the plug and compare it to the other side.