Source for tiny connectors?

[MannyE]

I have a pair of Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10 headphones (I know....cool, right?)
and I'm interested in using up some braided silver wire I have left over from an old project to make a set of wires for them, but I can't seem to find a source for the tiny little male connectors they use.

Anyone know where one might be able to source these?

 

[pinkmouse]

Pic?

 

[qusp]

there is a source on ebay as of fairly recently, i mould my own with 2 part polymer and use solid gold pins =) the source of the ready made ones i believe is from hong kong, sorry i dont have a link. they are a little large for my taste

these are mine

 

[qusp]

obviously those are JH13 customs, not TF10; but its the same type/pitch connector. they werent available at all when i started, you had to send off finished cables to be terminated and injection molded in large quantities so i decided to learn how to make my own, i still prefer my own

 

[FurryAudio]

There a standard part in making headsets.
Search for a USA audiology manufacturing supplier or audiologist but you'll only get them with a lead attached they are supplied as a moulded part.

I have a local supplier at work & I've watched them manufacture them, it won't help you get rid of your wire unless you're on friendly terms with the manufacturer but you will be able to specify wire if you have a burning urge to do this.

 

[qusp]

yeah like i said, it needs to be moulded on with injection moulding gear, its a standard process more than a standard part, because you cannot buy a standard part; just have it moulded on. those ones you are talking about are pretty pointless for the OP, he wants to make an upgrade cable using wire he has already, i assume he already has a stock cable.'

they wont allow him to specify anything decent, all those cables use pretty crappy tinsel wire

but there ARE connectors available on ebay; i'll see if i can find them and link

 

[qusp]

here they are

there is another type that also has a 2 part outer shell, but i cant find them right now, they are available notably from a shop in HongKong or perhaps Malaysia, cant remember the details, but i found them a bit chunky. the above ones you would just need to add heatshrink and devise some way of adding a memory wire if you want one (I personally prefer with memory wire)

 

[AndrewT]

What diameter and pitch are the Pins?

 

[qusp]

~0.75mm, but it varies slightly between manufacturers and also over time, because most dont really have much by way of strain relief, so over time the size of pin needed becomes slightly larger; which makes my job a bit more difficult as there is no way of knowing via correspondence exactly how large theyve become due to usage patterns (if they exercise with them etc). the stock cables mostly become quite loose after not that long; that was my initial motivation for making my own cables and connectors because one of my monitors dropped to the floor one too many times. there is very little tolerance as only friction holds it in place, so 0.73mm might mean its totally useless, while 0.78mm is too tight and causes hairline fractures over time, overall its a pretty crappy design imo. i basically get around this by buying 0.8mm hard annealed 9ct jewellers wire and getting my friend to stretch it from one end in a thicknesser so i get a 1m length that starts at 0.75 and ends at 0.8.

as far as the pitch this also varies a touch, but around 1.75mm-1.8mm. some monitors have recessed connectors (so i make them as below), which is much better as far as strain relief, but requires you to be more vigilant with cleaning to keep the contacts from picking up skin oils etc.

 

[pby]

I think qusp was referring to the pins sold by discovery-global.com, theyre from hong kong. I've purchased two sets personally and was quite please with them. I don't they are that much chunkier than the ones above. Although I don't seem to be able to find them for sale anymore on that website, perhaps you could email Derek on d-g and inquire about them.

 

[qusp]

the ones above are cast by me around a thicker 24awg conductor than stock and you might notice that they are designed to fit into the recessed socket of UE11, which doesnt allow the whole cable width, let alone a moulding around it.

i was referring to the ones i linked a couple of posts up on ebay and no, the other ones further up this page are not larger, but they are slightly 'taller' to allow the cable and a more usefully thick memory wire to be more solidly anchored by material

 

[MannyE]

Hey guys! Thanks so much for all the fantastic information!

I unfortunately CAN'T SEEM TO FIND MY $400 FREAKING HEADPHONES to even take the picture!!!!

But without having them in hand, it seems that those sources might be perfect for what I need. The other option I had was to buy a cheaper set of replacements and simply cannabalize them for the connector...