CD player plug problem

[tharpdevenport]

I got a protable CD player and I'm having some kind of problem with the headphone plug-in hole.

I plug the headphones all the way in, and I only get sound from the left. I put it in most of the way, before it's snug, and I only get sound from the right. No amount of jiggling or pluggin in/out, or spraying with electronic cleaner, solves it.

I can find dozens of videos on fixing headphones and the headphoens jacks, but I didn't find any (maybe bad keywords) on fixing the plu-in in the CD player.


WTF?

 

[CorporalClegg]

Aren't the "plug-in" and the jack the same thing?

 

[RoJoHen]

Aren't the "plug-in" and the jack the same thing?

Yes.

 

[C.E. Evans]

It could be the headphones, in which a new set might be needed. Even fairly new headphones can go thatch on you.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

If the CD player is new, you could exchange it & see if that was the issue.

If it's used, the inner parts of the jack could be loose fitting.

 

[Trekker4747]

I'm thinking a loose or broken connection on the jack inside the player itself, probably a broken weld or wire inside the circuitry. It "may" be fixable by opening up the player and repairing this connection but I suspect a new portable CD player is pretty darn cheap and an easier route to go.

If you look at the end of the headphone wire where the plug is you'll see two connections separated by a thin black line. These are the connections for the left and the right headphone, providing stereo sound. By plugging it in all the way you only get sound from the part of the plug making the solid connection, from the sound of things this would be the inner connector on the wire/the outer connector of the jack in the player.

The inside connector of the CD-Player is broken somehow.

When you put the plug in part-way the other headphone gets sound because now IT is making the connection with the working connection in the player.

So the inner connection of the CD-Player's jack is broken, which provides the sound for the other headphone speaker.

This also assumes it's a stereo CD-Player (which I assume it is, I highly doubt a mono CD-Player was ever made, but you never know.) If it's NOT stereo it can only make one connection to one of the speaker ports at the end of the plug.

So you either need to buy a new CD player or open up this one and fix this connection which is fairly delicate electronics surgery and may not even be entirely possible.

 

[tharpdevenport]

That was a very helpful and detailed post.


Yes, it's stereo. An old small portable Lennoxx CD player.

I tried opening it a few days ago to see if something was broken needed cleaning. I didn't see anything, but it's certainly worth looking at again.



Per somebody else's post: I thought the end that yopu plug in, is called the jack. For lack of a better term, I just called in the plug-in hole. I'm not going to call it the "jack hole" though; that's just wrong. ;-)

 

[DimesDan]

An old small portable Lennoxx CD player.

When you say old? How old? That may just be the problem.

 

[tharpdevenport]

January, 1999 says the back.

I've not dropped it and banged it, or anything. I have plugged-in/un-plugged the headphones multiples times a day five days a week, though.

 

[DimesDan]

Well I'm sure the fact it's a decade-and-a-half old has nothing to do with it then.

 

[Trekker4747]

I tried opening it a few days ago to see if something was broken needed cleaning. I didn't see anything, but it's certainly worth looking at again.

Yeah, when dealing with electronics, though, you're often dealing with very, very tiny welds and connections. It could be on the PCB or something inside the connector itself.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Of course not, otherwise the whole thing would be falling apart and it's not like that couldn't have happened at ten years, instead of over, after all, isn't ten a long time itself? A part simply worse out of broke, which likely could have been my fault for plugin-in/un-plugging it so often.

My cellphone is over ten years old, still works fine. Only problems with it are the ones I caused, not from age.

Age is not necessarily indicative a symptom.

 

[CorporalClegg]

It's 15 years old and 3.5mm jacks of that era were really prone to failing. They were cheaply made, especially the ones on most portable CD players. The connection area was small and could wear down easy. The resin could strip away. The nut/washer plate around the sleeve can come loose. And most frequently, one of the terminals would get bent. Really the only way to fix it, would be to replace it. But 3.5 are extremely hard to do (because of their size), especially in that kind of device.

Also, in technical terms, "jack" refers to the whole mechanism. There's the jack plug and jack socket. The word is derivative from the verb which means to "connect," or as you say "plug in."

However, the colloquial word most commonly refers to the socket, whereas the jack plug is just "plug."

 

[urbandefault]

I'd bet that the wires in the headphone plug have been pulled or twisted, or something that caused them to break. It's not uncommon. Try a different set or plug in something else with a mini plug, like computer speakers.

 

[Owain Taggart]

It kind of sounds like something has worn through repeated use, like say, contacts not properly touching anymore. Or like was mentioned, it can be something as simple as a wire in the headphones that has seen its better days.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

It's funny this thread exists at the same time Guardians of the Galaxy is in theatres. I was proud I made my SONY Discman last for like 2 1/2 years back in the 90s. I used to go through Walkman's and off brands in like two to six months back in the 80s.

 

[CorporalClegg]

I have a Walkman that still works.

I think I got it when I was sixish, which would have been 87.

 

[tharpdevenport]

They're fine in the computer jack and the socker in one of the computer speakers themselves.

There is no other working pair to test. The other only pair is broken and I can't find the break.

 

[urbandefault]

If the headphones work in another device, there's your answer. Something in the player is at fault.

Start at the jack, making sure that all connections are solid, and work back from there. A volt-ohm meter is your friend.

 

[tharpdevenport]

That's my plan. Thanks everybody for the help!


Unfortunately, a new player isn't in the card. I can't afford to buy anything this year or next year that isn't: food, gas, car related, or necessities like cloths and toothpaste. Unless something changes. Such is life.