Can my subwoofer wire be repaired?

[rabbitgirl]

Hi everyone,

My rabbit chewed through one of the wires that connect our Samsung soundbar to the subwoofer. I see that the wire goes directly into the back of hte subwoofer so I'm not sure if this is repairable? I would hate to get a new one as i'm not sure they sell a compatible subwoofer that stands alone?'

See images here for more detail: Can this subwoofer be fixed? - Album on Imgur

Please let me knwo if this is something I can fix myself

 

[KatieandDad]

As you sound like a novice, the safest way to repair it is to use terminal block.

 

[rabbitgirl]

Can you provide more guidance as to how I can use terminal blocks to fix this broken wire?

Thank you

 

[Mooly]

Terminal block as suggested by K&D is probably as good as anything.

Just remove the plastic insulation from the wires so you have a centimetre or so of bare wire showing on all four ends. Then just join them in the block.

The cable will 'peel' down the centre so that the two cores separate making it easy to work with.

Look carefully for any identifying mark such as printing or a moulded ridge in the plastic that would help identify which way around to connect them. If you can't identify them then try it both ways and just listen to the result. If one way sounds better than the other then that's the correct way.

 

[Jerms]

Youtube is better than trying to explain it. If the sub has its own amp, then search for RCA cable repair. Otherwise, if it's simple "speaker wires", then that's easier.

There's a certain knack to doing these sorts of repairs. At the least, a sharp knife is needed and a screwdriver.

 

[rabbitgirl]

Terminal block as suggested by K&D is probably as good as anything.

Just remove the plastic insulation from the wires so you have a centimetre or so of bare wire showing on all four ends. Then just join them in the block.

The cable will 'peel' down the centre so that the two cores separate making it easy to work with.

Look carefully for any identifying mark such as printing or a moulded ridge in the plastic that would help identify which way around to connect them. If you can't identify them then try it both ways and just listen to the result. If one way sounds better than the other then that's the correct way.

Will these terminal blocks work?
20pcs 5mm Pitch 2 PIN 2 WAY Straight PIN PCB Screw Terminal Blocks Connector | eBay

 

[just a guy]

As noted in the comments in the Imgur album, this appears to just be a broken speaker wire. You certainly don't need a terminal block, just splice the broken ends of the wire together and tape them up or use heat shrink tubing to cover the exposed ends and it will be good as new. It's a 2 minute fix and it's super simple. You may need to peel back some of the plastic coating to get 1 or 2 cm of actual copper wire at the spice point on both ends, then twist them together, cover them with tape or similar so they don't touch each other or anything else, and you are good to go. Most people know how to spice a wire so it shouldn't be hard to find local help if you need it.

 

[Mooly]

Will these terminal blocks work?
20pcs 5mm Pitch 2 PIN 2 WAY Straight PIN PCB Screw Terminal Blocks Connector | eBay

No, they are not suitable. Any hardware/electrical store should have block connector.

 

[AndrewT]

As noted in the comments in the Imgur album, this appears to just be a broken speaker wire. You certainly don't need a terminal block, just splice the broken ends of the wire together and tape them up or use heat shrink tubing to cover the exposed ends and it will be good as new. It's a 2 minute fix and it's super simple. You may need to peel back some of the plastic coating to get 1 or 2 cm of actual copper wire at the spice point on both ends, then twist them together, cover them with tape or similar so they don't touch each other or anything else, and you are good to go. Most people know how to spice a wire so it shouldn't be hard to find local help if you need it.

Splicing and then soldering is a good way, But if you don't have soldering equipment then forget he said splicing your broken wire.

Buy a screw down insulated terminal block. You need 2ways. But they usuaully come in 10ways or 12ways. You just snip off 2ways and keep the remainder for the next time. 5A or 6A is big enough.
If your stranded wire is quite small then I suggest you bare about 12mm of strands and twist them tightly. Then fold that end in half to leave you a 6mm double strand.
That will clamp doen under the screw much better than using the single.

 

[WaVeInFoRm]

LOL

 

[just a guy]

I'm going to disagree again. I've been running spliced lamp cord for speaker wire for years and it's just fine. If you trip over it, it might break, but if you trip over any wire, it's going to break the connection somewhere anyway, either on the amp end or it might pull the wire right off the driver connectors if they are not fastened. (There's no terminals on the sub, the wire runs right into the box and might not be fastened anywhere.)

A good twisting is plenty strong even without solder and I certainly would not want a terminal block in the middle of my speaker wire lying on the floor.

This doesn't have to be military grade repair. The rabbit is going to do this again. Many many more times, that's what they do, so OP might be way further ahead to learn how to do a simple splice.

The very furthest I would go to repair a broken wire is a crimp connector, certainly never a terminal block.

Terminal block can be useful in certain situations but this isn't really a situation where it's needed or even desired. Terminal blocks leave exposed metal, the wires can't touch each other but they can be shorted by ANY other metallic object like a paper clip or staple or anything else that might by lying on the floor. So to be cautious the entire terminal block would have to be taped up and then you have a bulbous ugly lump in the middle of your speaker wire in the middle of the floor.

Or you could just splice and tape and it's a super simple and very effective and visually benign fix.

 

[WaVeInFoRm]

Just chop a bit off n twist em back together.

Then... (as i see the wires r unmarked) Pull the wires out the back of soundbar. Get a 1.5 v battery.
Hold one end of wire on tight to bottom of battery. -Pole.
Eye the sub driver.
Press other wire to battery +pole.

Observe if it sucks in or pushes out first.

If it pushes out the wire on the + terminal, goes in the red socket.

If it sucks in, the wire on the positive pole gets jammed/shoved in the black hole.


However, if u aint reached the kitchen draw n a roll of tape n dun this by now...

U can see wid eye what wire goes to what wire n mark em before splicing.

This simple step is simply to allow for waveform phase match to the rest of the 'soundsystem'

Or u could chuck it to the trash n use the box for a hedgehog lol n get a bigger one.

Woofer aint got no tweeter lol.

Shouldn't be legal to call a 5inch airpump tuned to 60hz a sub woofer. My opinion.

 

[reloader650]

Hi,

You could also try wire nuts. No special tool needed. Just need to strip off about 3/8 of an inch of the dielectric or insulation. You can use a knife to strip the wire back. Twist the wires together clockwise. Insert wires into the wire nut and tighten. Wire nuts come in many sizes, and can be found in every hardware store of a few dollars, you will probably need the 22awg to 16awg size. It looks like the wire is phased with a black stripe, make sure you twist the black wires together then the other two. Wascally Wabbit. Hope this helps.

Regards,
Matt