I bought a bluetooth adapter which I was planning to hardwire into my car and into my stock stereo by feeding the audio into my XM reciever, being I don't subscribe or use XM. Being I wanted it hardwired, I cut the wire just before the plug expected to see 3 normal wires - one being ground, one being left + and one being right +. By normal, I mean a wire with insulation which when stripped would either be braided or non-braided wire inside the insulation.
On this particular wire though, it is very odd. It was very thin, and when I stripped the main/black insulation there were 3 colored wired, but not the usual rubber insulation with a wire inside. Instead the outer color is strained wires and if you unwind it, inside is just a nylon string which I believe gives the wire its pull strengh. Thus it is almost like the outer strands are the wire, but that woudn't make sense since all 3 would touch each other. Further I got out my multimeter and I have no continuity between either the outer strand or inner nylon when touching the plug ports. Not sure if I described it well, but hopefully someone may know what type of wire I have and how to properly wire this.
Thanks
On this particular wire though, it is very odd. It was very thin, and when I stripped the main/black insulation there were 3 colored wired, but not the usual rubber insulation with a wire inside. Instead the outer color is strained wires and if you unwind it, inside is just a nylon string which I believe gives the wire its pull strengh. Thus it is almost like the outer strands are the wire, but that woudn't make sense since all 3 would touch each other. Further I got out my multimeter and I have no continuity between either the outer strand or inner nylon when touching the plug ports. Not sure if I described it well, but hopefully someone may know what type of wire I have and how to properly wire this.
Thanks
The wires are coated in enamel, which insulates and provides the colour. To make your connector you would solder as normal, making sure your iron is hot enough to burn through the enamel.
OK - here are some pics - you can see there are 3 colors but the outer material is not the usual plastic/rubber but rather some type of stranded metal wire - if you unwind it you will see that nylon string. I put my multimeter on both the metal strands and to the nylon and neither has continuity to the plug. I have another 3.5mm plug with usual type wires and when I strip the 3 colored wires I get continuity when touching the plug. So this is why I'm so confused, as I can't find the actual wire that connects to the plug ends???
My photos didn't work - hopefully these will
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
You still seem uncertain, so I've zoomed into your photos.
I see two signal wires either side of a screen as would be used to wire a 3.5mm, 3 pole jack plug.
Please let us know if you found Leadbelly's advice to be useful.
I see two signal wires either side of a screen as would be used to wire a 3.5mm, 3 pole jack plug.
Please let us know if you found Leadbelly's advice to be useful.
If you don't believe me, you can carefully scrape off some of the enamel with a very sharp blade. You will find copper underneath; you can test that for continuity to prove it to yourself.
I would however snip that off before you solder. You want every single bit of the thin wire inside your solder connection.
I would however snip that off before you solder. You want every single bit of the thin wire inside your solder connection.
This is intended for headphones or headsets, so un-shielded.
As long as You don't use a long cable, You should be fine with hum pickup.
The white nylon is for strain relief. Some cables use the yellow Kevlar instead.
A lighter or an x-acto knife can help exposing the copper from the enamel.
As long as You don't use a long cable, You should be fine with hum pickup.
The white nylon is for strain relief. Some cables use the yellow Kevlar instead.
A lighter or an x-acto knife can help exposing the copper from the enamel.