How To Fix Beats Headphones: A Complete Guide

A Little Advice

Beats Headphones just follow the standard construction of audio headsets. They may have a unique technology, but at the end of the end of the day, they are still headphones. Therefore, repairing them by your own is still an option. It is a risky compromise, especially if you value its warranty.

 However, what if the time comes when the warranty expires already? Will you still be reluctant? During these occasions, a DIY repair is something that you may need to do.

Third party repairs are common today. We can see a lot of companies and online retailers that are offering these services. These services accommodate various devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops.

As the years passed, headphone repairs became common. This is because we use these accessories frequently. Admit it or not, you are treating your headphones harshly, too!

Regardless of the cause, it is still undeniable that headphones can be repaired. Even a high-end brand like Beats Headphones is compatible to such repairs. Learn how to fix your Beats Headphones in these simple steps.

How To Fix Beats Headphones: Sound Comes From One Side Only

Before we proceed, we will have to remind you again about the possible risks of doing a DIY headphone repairs. Your warranty will become invalid once you do this.

In short, this should be your last resort. When worse comes to worst, fixing your headphone will become beneficial.

Start the repair process by connecting the headphone to an audio source, such as an MP3 player or iPod.

Once the music is playing on your headphones, move the wire up and down. You also have to bend it every 1/2 inch. Repeat this process for several times until you can locate the shorted wires. 

Specifically, you have to look for the area in where you can hear the sound from both of the ear cups of the headphone. You have to look first at the area next to the jack of your headphone. Defects on wires usually happen there.

You need to isolate the damaged area from the rest of the wire by applying masking tape.

Place it on the left and right portion of the defective portion, as if you are making a boundary. An inch gap between the masking tapes is already good enough.

Next, you have to take your wire cutters so that you can cut out the shorted area. Yes, that is right. You have to remove that defective area from the entire wire. Make sure that your cut each side by half an inch.

Using a pair of wire strippers, you have to strip back the shielding of the wire on both sides. You have to do this so that you can expose the wires.

You should be able to see three different wire colors: red, black, or white. Sometimes, you can see a copper wire. Beat Headphones have a different construction; you might see a different wire scheme.

Once you are finished in stripping back the wire shielding, you have to strip the wires so that you can reconnect them.

Take your wire strippers to strip back each of the wires. If the cable of your headphones is small, then you need a sandpaper so that you can expose the wiring underneath.

You should also see the same varieties of wire colors. Do the sanding carefully so that you won't damage the wires.

When you are done with the stripping and exposing of wires, you can already re-attach the wires together. Connect the wires with the same color to each other.

In this step, you may need to splice the wires together. However, the best method you can use is soldering.

You need to do some test runs before you wrap your things up. Make sure that you can hear from both sides of the headphones. Try to move the wire to see if there are still some disruptions that can occur.

If there are none, then your repair is a complete success! Your Beats Headphones are fixed again! For finishing touches, you have to protect the repaired area by the use of an electrical tape or shrink tubing!

How To Fix Beats Headphones: Broken Plugs

Beats Headphones are also susceptible to broken plugs. Even if they have a sturdy design, their plugs can still get damaged.

Luckily, you may not need to go to a repair center to troubleshoot this problem. There is a particular method that lets you solve the issue by yourself!

If you deem that plug of your headphone is broken, then you should buy a new one. You will need to replace your existing plug because there is no way that it will function again. There should be no problem in finding a new plug.

You can find these parts in audio stores and several online retailers. Electronic stores sell them, too. Choose a metal plug that has a spring and stereo connection.

Moreover, make sure that the one you will choose has the same size with your damaged plug. Usually, its size would be 3.5mm.

Once you have a replacement, you can already detach the old plug. Other brands of headphones allow you to unscrew the plug from the wire. However, Beat Headphones do not possess such feature.

Specifically, its plug has a plastic molding. You have to the brute method of removing this one: by cutting. You need to cut the plug about 1 inch away from the cable.

If your plug can be unscrewed, you have to check the wires. If you can't see any damages, then cut it from the wire. The issue should be on the wire that is next to the plug.

Use wire strippers to strip the wire. After stripping, you should be able to see two insulated wires and one unshielded wire. The bare wire (unshielded) is the ground or "earth wire." Meanwhile, the remaining wires are for the right and left signals.

Next, you need to fit the parts of the plug to the cable. To do this, you have to unscrew your new plug. Afterward, let the end of the cable pass through to the cover of the plug. You also need to slip shrink tubing to the cover of the plug as well.

The base of your plug should have two pins that are exposed out. If you noticed that your plug has only one pin, then you bought a wrong variety. Specifically, what you have is a mono plug, not a stereo plug. You have to check details like this before purchasing a plug.

Attach the probes to the wires. To do this, you have to sever each of the wires in the cable of your headphones.

Fix wires that have a frayed end so that they can have a narrow tip. Afterward, you have to connect these wires to the jack plug. There is a proper method to do this. Check the steps below:

The sleeve probe should be connected to the bare copper wire. The sleeve probe is the longest metal piece you can see on the plug. If you can't see any bare copper wire, then you have to connect the plug using a striped insulation.

You have to connect the last two non-insulated wires to the remaining pins of the plug. Specifically, they are ring and tip probes. These parts have no universal color.

Therefore, connecting them on a wrong side might switch the left and right audio. Of course, your headphone should work again. But then, you may need to repeat this process to get the audio pass through to the right direction.

You need to clamp the pins onto the wire. Take a small vise or clip to keep these parts in place. Moreover, you should remember that none of the wires should have a contact with the other two components.

Take your soldering gun so that you can connect the plug to the wires. You will also need a soft sandpaper to furnish the edges of the plug.

In this way, soldering would be a lot easy. Apply heat to the pin so that the solder material will melt. Afterward, repeat this process for the remaining two wires.

At this point, your repair is already complete. The finishing touches should include the reassembly of the cap. When you are done with this, you have to check your headphones again. Test if the audio is working fine already.

If not, then your wires are touching each other. Take out cap so that you can separate the wires.