fuhrman@Apple.COM (Cris Fuhrman) (04/09/90)
Hi, Ok, here's a situation that I've not been able to figure out. I'm not an Electrical Engineer, but I do know a little about electronics and how a basic circuit works, so maybe someone can enlighten me. I just bought a new set of headphones for my CD player (portable) and while cutting them out of the box, I goofed and actually cut the headphone wire in half, about 2" up from the jack. No problem, I thought. I've fixed this kind of stuff before; it only requires stripping the wires and connecting them up again. Well, to my surprise, after stripping the two severed ends of the wires, I found inside four shiny NON-INSULATED wires (each coiled around some fiber) all next to each other. Hmmm, I thought. How does this work if they're not insulated? I'm a novice, so I continued connecting. There were a total of 4 wires on each severed end: a red, a green, and two coppers (indistinquishable). They are very fine wires, and each one is wrapped around some sort of fibererous core. the green wire connects to the green wire, the red wire connects to the red wire, one of the remaining two copper wires connects to one of the remaining two copper wires, etc. When all is connected, I get no sound. Figuring I've incorrectly connected the two copper wires that were indistinguishable, I reverse them, but still no sound. Can someone out there tell a novice what's going on? These headphones were $25 and I don't feel that a stupid mistake like the one I've made should cost me that much. Thanks in advance. -Cris -- +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Cris Fuhrman | fuhrman@apple.com | | 10250 N. Foothill Blvd., #D5 | "I'll do the best that I can" | | Cupertino CA 95014 | - Geddy Lee | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+
myers@hpfcdj.HP.COM (Bob Myers) (04/11/90)
The wires ARE insulated - they very likely have a thin plastic or enamel
coating (which is responsible for the color) and you have to scrape through
that before they can be soldered. Use an X-acto or other small, sharp blade,
and scrape 'em down to shiny metal. (My guess would be that the green and
red and the right and left channels - God only knows which is which - while
the coppers are the returns, and could safely be swapped.)
Bob Myers KC0EW HP Graphics Tech. Div.| Opinions expressed here are not
Ft. Collins, Colorado | those of my employer or any other
myers%hpfcla@hplabs.hp.com | sentient life-form on this planet.phil@mips.COM (Phil Arellano) (04/12/90)
In article <17660060@hpfcdj.HP.COM> myers@hpfcdj.HP.COM (Bob Myers) writes: > >The wires ARE insulated - they very likely have a thin plastic or enamel >coating (which is responsible for the color) and you have to scrape through >that before they can be soldered. Also, the copper colored wire may have a *clear* insulation coating. This coating must be scraped off as well! phil -- UUCP: {ames,decwrl}!mips!phil -OR- phil@mips.com USPS: MIPS Computer Systems, 930 Arques, Sunnyvale, CA 94086, (408) 991-0358