How To Fix Broken Earbuds With Few Instruments? – Guide

You will know the most effortless way on how to fix broken earbuds. Indeed, the earbuds are delicate, and they don’t survive more than a few years. The wires of headphones get weak, and they can even break after a prolonged period of usage.

Besides, you must choose the headphones with the durable quality, so it doesn’t cause any inconvenience later. However, there is a certain period of a headphone, and they eventually stop working. The most common issue that earbuds users face is that one side stops working.

It is unnecessary to replace the old headphones with new ones when you are having this issue. Most of the headphone users choose to solve the wiring issues themselves. Fixing the headphones from a repairing shop will not be cheap.

Fix Broken Earbuds

Some manufacturers also provide a warranty with their headphones, and you can ask them to repair them in that period.

Steps On How To Fix Broken Earbuds

Before we move on to the steps of fixing the earbuds, let’s figure out why the earbuds from playing sound on the other side stop.

Reasons Of Earbuds From Playing Audio From One Side

There is not just one reason which stops the earbuds from playing on one side. Suppose the issue with the sound drivers, and then you will have trouble fixing it.

The headphone wires might stick on one side, and you will not hear the sound properly. In this case, the wires go through a lot of movement, due to which your earbuds cause a shortage in the wiring. Sometimes the headphones don’t have the fixable wire condition. However, you can try to fix them by the methods which we will discuss below.

With the help of the right tools, you can fix the wiring of headphones yourself at home. Below is the thing which you need to fix the earbuds.

  • A pair of wire strippers and cutters
  • Masking tape roll
  • Roll of an electrical tape
  • A small sheet of sandpaper (optional)
  • Sold gun repairing kit (optional)
  • Piece of shrinking tubing (optional)

A Quick Fixing Method For Broken Earbuds

When you are hearing the sound from one end only, it means the wires are twisted from one end. Eventually, the other end of the earbud will stop working if you don’t fix it. Moreover, the sound will be coming from one earbud only because the wires are detangled, and you have to fix them by applying the electrical tape. For that, you need to bend the wires and then apply some tape on the earbuds for fixing it temporarily.

Permanent Solution On How To Fix Broken Earbuds

For fixing the earbuds permanently, you have to follow the steps given below:

Note: you have to be careful while fixing the earbuds yourself at home. The fixation method might be tricky if you have repaired any earbuds before. Try to handle earbuds’ wires with care so they don’t break when you are fixing them.

Best of all, this fixation method will work for headsets, headphones, and earbuds.

Step 1:

Firstly, you have to plug in the headphones in an audio port of your computer or laptop. If the headphone doesn’t work properly in the device, you can plug it in any other source.

Step 2:

The audio of the headphone will play from one side. You can check the wires, and they will have isolation in them. Most of the time, headphone wires are detangled. You have to open the earbuds and detangle the wires.

Step 3:

Now check if you can hear the sound from both ends of the earbuds or not. Furthermore, the wire should be connected back to the earbuds correctly. Otherwise, you will not hear sound from any end.

Step 4:

Now isolate the headphone wires by putting on some masking tape on the spot where you found the sound is not playing.

Step 5:

You can take wire cutters and then cut a small area of that wire from broken. Remove the part of the wire which you have cut, and then you have to fix that area. In case you have cut the wrong area of the wire, then there won’t be any way to fix it back.

Step 6:

Now take the wire strippers for shielding the wires of earbuds that are exposed. You need to cut the wires in 3 ways. There are three wire colors inside the earbuds: red, white or black, and copper.

Step 7:

If the wires are stripped back, you have to reconnect them so they don’t remain bare.

Step 8:

Carefully strip the wires, and it will require small sandpapers. It would help if you covered the wiring with sandpaper. The wires will be mostly in copper or red color. None of the wires shouldn’t be open because the headphone will not produce sound in that way.

Step 9:

You have to reconnect all the wires of earbuds that were exposed. Reconnect the red wire with red, black with black, and copper with the copper wire. Moreover, you have to splice the headphones and then used a solder gun for fixing them.

Step 10:

Now you have to test the headphones to check if they produce the sound correctly from each side. The headphones will work correctly if you have fixed the wires correctly.

Step 11:

Lastly, you have to use the shrinking tube for wrapping them over. The headphone will be secure in this way, and you can easily keep them protected for the long term.

Congrats! You have fixed your earbuds yourself and save at least 50 dollars.

Other Solutions For Fixing The Earbuds Producing Sound From One Side

Most of us think it is time to replace the headphones when they do not produce sound from both sides. However, you can attempt a repairing method at home and save your money. But If you want a new earbud at cheap rates you can check our Cheap Earbuds under 20$ guide.

Below we will discuss some possibilities that can cause the earbuds to produce sound from one end only. Sometimes it is not the problem with your headphones, but with the device, you are using them with.

Use Any Other Pair Of Earbuds On Your Device

You can use any other pair of headphones with the computer to check any issue with the device or headset. If the other device is playing sound perfectly, it means your device is found, and there is a problem with the headphone.

You can also try to connect the Bluetooth headphones for checking if the device is working fine or not. Reset the audio settings because sometimes they are changed mistakenly, so you cannot hear music from one side of the earbuds.

  • Restarting The Device

You have to restart the device for fixing the sound issue from your headphone. Sometimes your device is not up-to-date due to which all drivers of the PC are not working. Therefore, you can restart the device and turn it on.

You have to restart the phone and check if the sound is produced from both ends. You have to check the settings of your audio device if the headphone is playing sound distortedly.

Checking The Settings

You have to check the settings of headphones for listening from both sides. The headphone settings on your device might be set on mono, due to which you hear sound from one end only.

It is necessary to turn off the mono settings, and the sound level should be balanced. The sound icon on the settings will provide an option of balancing the sound level. You can choose the right sound level for equalizing the headset.

Clean The Headphone Jack

You can try the last solution by cleaning the headphone jack. Sometimes the headphone doesn’t produce a clear sound because it has dust or debris inside. You have to clean them for having no distortion in the sound.

The audio will not be produced if there is any dirt in the headphone jack. Moreover, it is common for the headphone jacks to absorb the dust because they are open all the time.

Clean The Headphone Jack

The dirt gets trapped inside the headphone jack, and you need to clean them with a cotton swab and some amount of alcohol. You can use any pointed thing for cleaning the headphone jack, such as a toothpick with a cotton swab or brush.

You have to check if the headphones are working after cleaning the port. However, if you cannot hear sound from both sides of the earbuds from one device only, there must be a problem with the headphone jack.

To Sum Up

Thank you for reading our guide till the end. You can send your feedback and let us know which model of earbuds you repaired from our instructions. We’d love to know!

Mark James

Mark James is the Editor-in-Chief and the lead writer of Headphones Reviewss. Having more than 10 years of experience in reviewing headphones and music-related accessories, he knows all the bells and whistles that any music lover wants. Not only that, he is responsible for guiding and mentoring the editorial team at Headphones Reviewss. The best thing is, he ensures that all the information on this site is valuable before publishing.

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