I broke the plastic piece on my Pioneer headphones, and want to know the best epoxy, glue etc. to fix them with? I would still like them to look nice, but overall strength is my priority. They are very nice and I would hate to throw them away!
Here is a pic of the broken piece: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v346/illuminator321/8f64_1.jpg
Here is a pic of the broken piece: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v346/illuminator321/8f64_1.jpg
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Found this awesome stuff called Plastic Fusion made by "The Original Super Glue" in a dual tube syringe that has to be mixed. It takes a bit longer to dry than super glue (which wasn't ideal, because this needed more glue than normal, and fast-drying superglue would have been messy as it would have dried too fast).
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Jexx,
You'll never get sufficient bond at a high stress small surface area break like the one in the picture with epoxies/glues alone. If you're determined to fix it, you'll need to reinforce the glue joint with nonwaxed dental floss. I've done this many times, with great success, on quite a variety of jobs.
Heat a common pin sufficient to poke a row of tiny holes a couple of mm apart on either side of the joint. Stagger the holes so that you don't create a weak/breakable "perf" line with them. Melting holes is better than drilling them because the melt buildup around the hole actually serves to reinforce it. "Stitch" the joint together as tightly as possible with the dental floss and when you're finished put a tiny speck of cyanoacrylate in the last hole you've gone through while holding the floss tightly. This will keep everything tight without having to fumble with knots. It's very important that the stiches stay very tight.
Now mix up some five minute epoxy, or your plastic fusion epoxy, and make sure the joint and floss is sufficiently covered. You can even color the epoxy to match.
You might discover (as I have) that dental floss reinforced epoxy can be used pretty creatively where all else has failed. Often you can get away with floss and cyanoacrylate alone (very quick and no-mess). When the super glue has hardened it can be painted to match.
You'll never get sufficient bond at a high stress small surface area break like the one in the picture with epoxies/glues alone. If you're determined to fix it, you'll need to reinforce the glue joint with nonwaxed dental floss. I've done this many times, with great success, on quite a variety of jobs.
Heat a common pin sufficient to poke a row of tiny holes a couple of mm apart on either side of the joint. Stagger the holes so that you don't create a weak/breakable "perf" line with them. Melting holes is better than drilling them because the melt buildup around the hole actually serves to reinforce it. "Stitch" the joint together as tightly as possible with the dental floss and when you're finished put a tiny speck of cyanoacrylate in the last hole you've gone through while holding the floss tightly. This will keep everything tight without having to fumble with knots. It's very important that the stiches stay very tight.
Now mix up some five minute epoxy, or your plastic fusion epoxy, and make sure the joint and floss is sufficiently covered. You can even color the epoxy to match.
You might discover (as I have) that dental floss reinforced epoxy can be used pretty creatively where all else has failed. Often you can get away with floss and cyanoacrylate alone (very quick and no-mess). When the super glue has hardened it can be painted to match.
This always fixed my headset problems for me How To Fix Stuff: How To Fix Earphones/Headphones
Oh, I've fixed headphones with breaks like that, but there are a couple couple of important things to do.
1) Do not try to just glue together the two seams where it cracked. Use sandpaper or a wire brush to rough up the area all around the crack on the sides, to about 1cm away in all directions. Next clean the area thoroughly with alcohol. Do not use acetone, it melts some plastics and color coatings.
2) Super glue the parts back together at the crack. It might help to take the cups off their swivel frame if they are very heavy before you super glue it, so you aren't putting as much stress on your super-glued joint for the next step.
3) LIBERALLY apply epoxy around the entire area. Use an epoxy that does not form a brittle crystaline structure like some gray colored types (JBWeld, etc) do. Try something clear like Devcon 5 minute available at most hardware stores. The catch is, with as much epoxy as you can get on without it dripping off, they won't look "as" nice anymore, but you will have a result that is stronger than the original plastic was. If the epoxy starts to drip off, turn the headphones in your hand so gravity makes it flow the opposite direction. This is reasonable if using quick set (5 minutes, etc) epoxy, not if using one that takes much longer to set.
4) If you feel it still needs more epoxy after hardening, apply another layer making sure that at no time during the process did you touch the plastic you cleaned or the hardened epoxy with your fingers so it is contaminated. Obviously touching the final layer after hardened is not a problem.
You might want to practice on some junk plastic thing you don't care about first, just to get an idea of how much epoxy you can get on and keep from dripping off and the technique of turning the part so it ends up a smooth finish without humps or bulges in it.
It is true that fortifying the area will strengthen it. Dental floss may work but I suggest something woven whether it be cloth or fiberglass matting. Either work very fast or use a slower setting epoxy, saturating the epoxy into the cloth then wrapping it around the super-glued joint, layer upon layer.
I would not use super glue alone. Too brittle. It may work, as may many things, but the odds of it cracking later are higher.
Now if you want to get stronger and fancier still, make a template out of cardboard for a bracket you make to screw to both the top and bottom half of the broken piece. Cut it out of ~ 0.06" to 0.1" aluminum sheeting, file and sand it smooth, drill holes where you want them then smaller holes through the cans' plastic for the screws. This piece goes on the outside of the frame. Sand and clean and epoxy the inside of the frame as instructed above.
I think it is a conspiracy by headphone manufacturers though, so many of them are fragile in this area when adding more plastic would only add pennies to the cost and less than an ounce of weight.
1) Do not try to just glue together the two seams where it cracked. Use sandpaper or a wire brush to rough up the area all around the crack on the sides, to about 1cm away in all directions. Next clean the area thoroughly with alcohol. Do not use acetone, it melts some plastics and color coatings.
2) Super glue the parts back together at the crack. It might help to take the cups off their swivel frame if they are very heavy before you super glue it, so you aren't putting as much stress on your super-glued joint for the next step.
3) LIBERALLY apply epoxy around the entire area. Use an epoxy that does not form a brittle crystaline structure like some gray colored types (JBWeld, etc) do. Try something clear like Devcon 5 minute available at most hardware stores. The catch is, with as much epoxy as you can get on without it dripping off, they won't look "as" nice anymore, but you will have a result that is stronger than the original plastic was. If the epoxy starts to drip off, turn the headphones in your hand so gravity makes it flow the opposite direction. This is reasonable if using quick set (5 minutes, etc) epoxy, not if using one that takes much longer to set.
4) If you feel it still needs more epoxy after hardening, apply another layer making sure that at no time during the process did you touch the plastic you cleaned or the hardened epoxy with your fingers so it is contaminated. Obviously touching the final layer after hardened is not a problem.
You might want to practice on some junk plastic thing you don't care about first, just to get an idea of how much epoxy you can get on and keep from dripping off and the technique of turning the part so it ends up a smooth finish without humps or bulges in it.
It is true that fortifying the area will strengthen it. Dental floss may work but I suggest something woven whether it be cloth or fiberglass matting. Either work very fast or use a slower setting epoxy, saturating the epoxy into the cloth then wrapping it around the super-glued joint, layer upon layer.
I would not use super glue alone. Too brittle. It may work, as may many things, but the odds of it cracking later are higher.
Now if you want to get stronger and fancier still, make a template out of cardboard for a bracket you make to screw to both the top and bottom half of the broken piece. Cut it out of ~ 0.06" to 0.1" aluminum sheeting, file and sand it smooth, drill holes where you want them then smaller holes through the cans' plastic for the screws. This piece goes on the outside of the frame. Sand and clean and epoxy the inside of the frame as instructed above.
I think it is a conspiracy by headphone manufacturers though, so many of them are fragile in this area when adding more plastic would only add pennies to the cost and less than an ounce of weight.
Note that the thread is a couple years old. Anyway, it is quite possible that the headphones is question were cheap Chinese fakes anyway. (It's not like there aren't any genuinely problematic constructions though. Some people have jokingly suggested that you can recognize genuine Sony MDR-V700DJs by them falling apart. And then there's Sennheiser's newer HD5x5 series; them being made in China may or may not be a coincidence, but worse-quality ABS plastic compared to ol' Europe wouldn't surprise me.)
Hi, i don't know if this thread is still alive, but i have a problem of finding similar cable as could be seen on picture from the first post.
I have original Sony mdr v 700 and similar cable which goes through the headband is broken. The cable itself is about 1 mm in diameter. Could you please advise on where to get similar cable make, model manufacturer. Or probably it has some specific name?
I have original Sony mdr v 700 and similar cable which goes through the headband is broken. The cable itself is about 1 mm in diameter. Could you please advise on where to get similar cable make, model manufacturer. Or probably it has some specific name?
Just another thought for this old thread. I had a similar problem with Sennheiser phones (I agree with earlier poster that it seems like a "planned obsolescence" conspiracy - just a bit more plastic in the manufacturing would have prevented the problem from ever happening). I asked myself "what sort of people deal with intricate, strong plastics forming", and I thought "dental technicians". Found a friendly and careful one and he used acrylic to make a new lug, reinforced with the stainless steel miniature hooked wires used for anchoring dental prostheses into the main structure of the phone. There was too little surface area to rely simply on gluing the very small surfaces back together (they were a main stress-bearing structure). Worked a treat, and still going strong. Had to pay him, obviously, but it was well worth it.
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...you'll need to reinforce the glue joint with nonwaxed dental floss.
I asked myself "what sort of people deal with intricate, strong plastics forming", and I thought "dental technicians". Found a friendly and careful one and he used acrylic to make a new lug, reinforced with the stainless steel miniature hooked wires used for anchoring dental prostheses into the main structure of the phone.
Hmmm, the recurring dental theme.
Will this also give more "bite" to the sound?
I especially like the sentence "anchoring dental prostheses into the main structure of the phone"...
Indeed, when my dentists have their fun in the tight spaces inside my mouth, I always think what a dream it would be to have those tools at home...
Jokes apart, thanks a lot for these suggestions!
I often need to fix small plastic parts, and had never come across this "reinforced concrete" approach.
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I am having sony headphone, it's broken before few days, its not still work, i don't know what can i do ? How to Repair Headphone ? This tips are very helpful to me.
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