040 - earbud Surgery

earbud surgery (ie, the headphones)

June28 2oo9


after months of sleeping with my earbuds on listening to mp3s, my left bud finally succumbed to mechanical damage. that is, the left wire bent so often that it finally torn inside its insulation resulting in periodic/frustrating audio pulsations.

i have repaired other earbuds before, but this one requires some surgery as the housing of the phone is sealed and has no user servicable parts. This earbud set is OEM. The casing of the miniature speaker is sealed shut in a plastic housing.

Being careful with my sharp pocket knife I proceeded to stab the perimeter of the plastic seal respecting the blade. 10 seconds before I broke the seal, I stabbed my left thumb just near the nail and broke the dermal seal. Evidently the red fluid indicator in my thumb seeped through to show that not enough respect was given to the blade. The plastic seal was broken shortly after. I removed 4-5 inches of the old wiring and soldered on the fresh exposed wiring. Glued the housing back together and 24 hours later I have a usable set of earbuds again.

Moral of this story:
When you force a hack/repair on a non-repairable item, you are at a great chance to injure your thumb!!