Sennheiser PC150 -- Right side doesn't work

[DeathsTouch]

I just bought these Sennheiser PC150's, and I'd rather learn how to fix these myself rather than send them to some repairing service. I'm new to all of this, so I would appreciate it if you could explain how to fix it "as if I were a two year old".

The right side of these headphones have failed to work, and when I try to open it, it is either molded on, or they made it extremely hard to open. I don't know if my question has been previously answered on the forums, because when I entered "pc150 fix" or "sennheiser repair", it would bring up other irrelevant topics.

Could someone please help a newbie?

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: DeathsTouch
I just bought these Sennheiser PC150's, and I'd rather learn how to fix these myself rather than send them to some repairing service. I'm new to all of this, so I would appreciate it if you could explain how to fix it "as if I were a two year old".

The right side of these headphones have failed to work, and when I try to open it, it is either molded on, or they made it extremely hard to open. I don't know if my question has been previously answered on the forums, because when I entered "pc150 fix" or "sennheiser repair", it would bring up other irrelevant topics.

Could someone please help a newbie?

I don't think those are repairable. For instance, on my HD555's they advertise them being user repairable. They can be opened up fairly easily. I think I would just contact Sennheiser

 

[Harvey]

I checked Sennheiser's page. From the pic, it looks like the headset is problably molded and glued together, and they aren't designed to be serviced. If you just bought them, your best bet is to return them for a replacement or a refund. If you try to open them or otherwise try to repair them, you'll probably void the warranty.

First check your setup with another pair of earphones, and try your Sennheisers in another sound source, to make sure the problem is in the headset and not the sound card or other source.

If you're sure your headphones are defective, there are two possibilities:

1. The actual driver element is dead. If so, give up. A replacement element would probably cost you more than a new headset, and it won't be easy to assemble by hand... even if you can open it without damaging any of the molded case and ear padding.

2. A wire is broken or shorted, or a connection in either the driver or plug end is broken.

Start by using an ohm meter to measure the DC resistance between the sleeve and the tip, and between the sleeve and the ring (middle contact) of the plug. That will tell you if the right side is open (which would indicate a broken wire or open coil) or shorted (zero or very low resistance).

Your best bet is still to replace them under the warranty. If you're really intent on trying to fix them, you can buy a replacement plug, cutting off the plug and stripping and connecting the wires to the new one.

Before you connect the new plug, repeat the measurements on the exposed leads in the cable. If you find the same fault, you'll know the problem is not in the plug. If so, you should probably give up because replacing the cable means getting inside the headset, which is back to where you started.

If the problem is the plug, you can replace it. You'll probably find that the cable contains two leads inside a wrap or braid of bare metal shielding.

• Solder the shield to the sleeve contact of the plug.
  
• Solder the red or white wire to the tip contact of the plug.
  
• The other lead is probably black, but it may be some other color. Solder this wire to the sleeve contact of the plug.
  
  I'm an electronic engineer and I know how to solder well so I might try this if this were my headset, AND it was out of warranty. If it was still in warranty, I wouldn't bother. It's defective, and the company owes you a good headset.

Good luck.

 

[DeathsTouch]

Thank you all for the help.

After all of the researching I've done, it seems like my best bet would be to either RMA it, or buy a new one.