biznatch

It's happened to a lot of us, and my friend too. I was wondering if anyone knew the solution to this common problem.
My buddy's mp3 player is kind of beat up, and his audio jack is loose/broken. He only hears in one ear, and when he turns the plug, it comes out in the other ear.
he's tried holding it down, used scotch tape, but the temporary fixes are temporary, and stop working after long..
Any help would be great

shakran

you have a solder join that's cracked. You'll need to pop the cover and resolder it. This WILL void the warranty if there still is one.

sailor

Ditto. Not hard to do, but if you screw it up, you can't call the company for support.

If you've never soldered before, I'd advise you find something to practice on first. It's not hard to get the hang of, but you don't want your first attempt to be important.

__________________
"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws."
--Plato

JStrider

yup... what they said...

get a soldering gun with a pointy tip and a variable control and set it as low as you can while still melting the solder so your less likely to burn the circuit board

__________________
-=JStrider=-

~Clatto Verata Nicto

flat5

Hopefully you only need to resolder the jack. You may have other problems.

How to solder:

Use the right tools

* Soldering Iron and tip

* Wattage - 15 watts can be used for very small components and pads. 30 - 50 watts for larger components. Controlled heat irons are the best, but good results can be obtained from the inexpensive fixed temperature irons that have the proper tip wattage.

* Larger irons and "guns" should not be used except to solder very large components. Do not use these high power instruments on electronic assemblies or printed circuit boards.

* Soldering Iron Tip - The tip should be small enough so that the joint being soldered can be easily seen, but large enough to quickly transfer the heat required to raise the joint temperature to the solder melting point. The author prefers a chisel (spade) tip that is between 0.05" and 0.08" across the spade for general purpose soldering. Smaller tips are required for small pads and surface mount components. The larger tip provides more heat which is required for desoldering using desoldering braid or solder pump.

* Solder

* Do not use acid core solder, corrosive fluxes, or conductive fluxes on electronic equipment. Use mild fluxes such as contained in rosin core solder or rosin flux.

* Use the correct alloy. SN63 is excellent for small, heat sensitive components and printed circuit board pads. SN60 is an inexpensive excellent all-around solder. Both are available with flux cores (usually rosin). Some fluxes are sticky once activated by heat and thus should be cleaned off the board once soldering is completed since they will accumulate dust/contaminants that may cause an unwanted short or low resistance path at a later time.

* Use the correct diameter of solder especially for small component attach points. (Author's opinions below)

* 0.020" dia. (25 gauge/.05 cm) rosin core or smaller - Very small. Excellent for soldering very small printed circuit (PCB) board pads and hand soldering surface mount components. Too small for a general purpose bench solder. It can take excessive heating time to apply sufficient solder to larger joints. The author has a small roll of 0.15 dia. solder on his bench but uses it very infrequently.

* 0.031" dia.(21 gauge/.079 cm) rosin core - An excellent all around solder for printed circuit boards and general kit building/electronic repair. Inexperienced users may have some difficulty from forming solder bridges between pads on junctions spaced 0.1" or less such as PCB integrated circuit pads. This is the author's favorite size and is plentiful in his shop.

PREPARING THE SOLDERING IRON TIP BEFORE SOLDERING

* The solder tip must be applied to the joint at such an angle that the point of contact can be observed during the soldering process. This is generally at about a 45O angle.

* The soldering tip must be clean and freshly tinned before soldering. It is extremely important that a new, never been heated tip be tinned immediately upon it reaching the temperature that melts solder. Tinning is accomplished by applying fresh solder and flux to the tip and allowing all soldering surfaces to become coated with solder. If tinning is not done, then the tip will become oxidized and it will be impossible to solder a good joint. This oxidization is often difficult, if not impossible to remove. Copper tips (copper color) can be filed, but do not file a tip that has been plated (silver color). The tip should be allowed to cool and then brushed vigorously with a wire brush until the dark black/brown oxidized material is removed. Sandpaper or a fine file may be used to assist in this process. Then reheat and tin as stated above. Plated tips should not be filed or sanded.

* If the tip has already been tinned and has no oxidation, then clean the tip by wiping on a damp sponge or other suitable material before each connection is made.

* Place a very small globule of fresh flux-core solder on the tip surface that will be used as the point of contact with the parts to be soldered.

APPLY THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF HEAT AND SOLDER

* The soldering iron tip should be applied firmly to the metal part having the greatest mass while also touching the part to be soldered to it.

* Apply heat until both the parts to be joined are sufficiently hot to melt the solder.

* Quickly apply solder adjacent to the tip, but not on the tip (Refer to Figure 5). The solder should flow quickly around the components. Withdraw the tip as soon as the joint is complete to avoid overheating the molten solder. The soldering process should be completed within 2 seconds. If it takes up to 5 seconds then the tip is too small, the iron too small, or the technique incorrect. The soldering tip should be at a temperature of about 650O F (343 OC ).

* The surface temperature of both metals being soldered must be above the solder melting point to expedite efficient wetting. Solder should not be permitted to flow onto a surface cooler than the solder temperature; this will cause "cold" joints.

Properly applied solder will melt and flow smoothly around the surfaces being soldered producing a smooth, shiny surface feathering out to a smooth thin edge.

* A rounded, lumpy, dull, irregular, or granular appearance indicates improper solder application.

DO NOT ALLOW JOINT TO MOVE

* Once the joint is soldered, it is imperative that none of the soldered parts be allowed to move until the solder solidifies.

* Premature movement will cause the solder to fracture at the component to solder interface, thereby producing a "fractured" joint. These joints can be expected to fail later while in service.

THINGS THAT MAKE A BAD SOLDER JOINT

* Excessive solder applied to joints pose the possibility of unwanted solder bridges between adjacent joints.

* Applying too little solder allows low joint strength. Solder should completely fill printed circuit board pads all around the component lead being soldered.

* Moving the joint before the solder solidifies will create a "fractured" joint. The solder to metal bond is fractured just before solidification of the solder. This failure may not be detected for years. This joint often looks non shiney and grainy, especially at the interface.

* Applying too little heat will cause a "cold" solder joint. This joint may adhere for a while, but can be expected to fail in time. This joint likely does not have feathered edges where it interfaces with the pad and with the lead. It is generally has a solder globule appearance rather than with feathered edges. It may be shiney.

* Applying too much heat to the tip will accelerate oxidation of the tip and cause the solder to "roll" off it rather than wet it. A non wetted/tinned soldering tip will cause excessive heat application time to circuit board pad and component. Pads can even unadhere to the circuit board if too much heat is applied.

* Soldering a contaminated board or one with excessive oxide will produce a non-functioning joint. The solder will tend to roll off the joint rather than bond.

* Soldering with no flux or too little flux will produce a non acceptable solder joint Solder will often ball up and be globular in appearance.

* Soldering electronic parts with acid core solder, corrosive flux, or conductive flux.