Hi DIY!
My headphones of many years recently broke. My first response was to attempt to glue them back together with super glue (ethyl 2-cyanoacrylate) however that didn’t seem to hold. Not even a little bit.
I then did a bit of searching and found that Sony often use ABS plastic in headphone manufacture, so presumably these are ABS. I then read super glue should work okay on ABS, however there seemed to be no bonding happening at all.
Do any of you have any tips for the best kind of glue or epoxy to bond these plastic parts back together and get the music flowing again?
I plan on wrapping the joints in thread afterwards, for additional durability. But first I need to get them bonded.
I would make some metal rods to insert in the holes left in the hollow plastic. Epoxy those in place on both sides to reinforce the joints which will have stress on them. I think that is the only chance you have of repairing broken plastic like this with little surface area to bond. You could look around and find some nails or something to cut up.
@punksnotdead@slrpnk.net I would suggest carbon fiber rods or aluminum, ferris metal could interfere with the bluetooth radio depending on their shape.
Somebody suggested wooden dowels so I’ll probably try that just because I have scrap wood lying about anyway and it’s easy to carve into shape. Thanks!
I seriously doubt that.
I’m just a lowly embedded engineer working on BLE on aarch and other SOC kernels.
And I’m a 30 year veteran EE who designs a lot of high speed and RF gear. There is zero chance ferrous metal rods to repair the headphones as described would have any meaningful impact on the Bluetooth connection.
You’re technically correct that metal in the vicinity could possibly have some measurable impact on the 2.4GHz radio, but your theoretical scenario is a practical absurdity.
Low power BLE has been fickle to me so I guess I was being a little over cautious worrying about interference for such a small radio and low power.
yeah, everyone is an engineer on Lemmy. there is ferrous hardware all over BT headphones.
I was worried about the two rods running as dipole interference but I guess I was being over cautious
This is just called plastic welding and it’s fantastic
Great idea! I’ll give that a go, thanks. Reinforcement rods, adhesive, and thread wrap around the outside should surely be enough
Might be able to find some wire in an electrical or automotive store. 20 guage is about a millimeter or less, 12 guage is between 2 and 3 mm. Do you have calipers to take a measurement?
Wire Coat Hanger might fit, will be harder so a better reinforcement.
No calipers, but I have random bits and bobs lying around that I can just trial and error until something fits. Thanks!
Glues are fucking useless unless you have a large surface area to bond. Headphones don’t use ABS, too brittle. The use polycarbonate on the hoop that breaks and that doesn’t bond well with glue.
Hot staples are an option because the embed steel wire into the plastic. These kits are cheap now and very common in automotive plastic repair because glue is universally useless.
If it’s ABS (which most thugs are) try methyl ethyl ketone to melt it back together.
Just a dab of MEK will melt the plastic, but it evaporates/dissolves quickly. Once you apply it press the pies together firmly for a few minutes, then let it cure for a while after that. The bond should be as strong as it was from the factor. Then if you want apply some JB weld for extra strength.
Let’s not suggest a neurotoxin.
I bought a cheap Temu plastic repair welder (melts in a little metall pin) - they actually work and the results are surprisingly strong.
I’ll be honest, you’re probably not going to be able to fix those to a degree that I’d trust. Some headphones are reparable and have replaceable parts, and that isn’t one of them. I’ve had really good luck with Audio-Technica and Beyer Dynamic in that department, but most of their more sturdy and repairable headphones aren’t very portable.
Gloop gets used in 3d printing. It physically welds the bonds together on a molecular level between 2 plastics.
Gloop is just acetone and tetrahydrofuran. That shit is toxic AF.
If the adhesive route fails, it looks like there are replacement parts available, but your mileage may vary when it comes to the source. Not seeing anything official, but ebay has a few hits: https://www.ebay.com/itm/204942975498
Might also try just calling Sony support, but iirc their support is fairly shit.
Came to basically say the same thing. Parts also on AliExpress, looks like the same pictures from eBay so might be the same products. “Fixing” the plastic joint that has so little surface area and is mangled as much as it is seems like it would be dubious at best.
If it were me, I would be looking at buying a replacement bracket first, and if that didn’t pan out, I’d probably be looking to 3d print something that would function as a new bracket or an entirely new headband.
I am but a poor student so I’ll try and repair it first, but it’s good to know there’s parts out there if absolutely necessary - thanks!
That looks like toast.
3D printed replacement parts might work. If you have a maker space around you, you might be able to find someone to help you with the drafting/CAD.
UV Glue will fix that no problems, and the glue will be stronger than the underlying plastic.
I didn’t even know there was such a thing. Buying a UV lamp for a single repair when other options are available feels a bit antithetical to the Solarpunk ethos though, so I think I’ll try normal glues first. But hey, if all else fails, at least I know there’s a nuclear option as plan b. Thanks!
There is a JB Weld UV glue product that comes with a UV LED attached:
https://www.jbweld.com/product/superweld-light-activated
It’s a blend, not pure UV resin, that will harden quickly where the light hits it but will also slowly cure without UV exposure, so the inner parts of the joint will harden over time.
I use this and I’ve found that it is almost as good as standard 2-part epoxy in most cases, and easier to use.
The glue ‘dries’ clear and if you can do without your headphones for a while, the UV radiation in sunlight will do the trick, you just have to be patient. That is why most people use UV lights. Besides if you have the light, you can just put it aside until the next time you need it. I got a reeeeeal cheap one that is used for LOCA glue that they use for nail work to glue on decretive long fingernails but I used it for gluing LOCA adhesive for my cell phone screen protectors. Once you have it, take the battery out or insulate one side of it, and then you have it for the next time you need it. here is one like I used but there are a ton of cheap ones…(not an affiliate link)
I have never seen this to be true.
- fix the pieces in their intended position (maybe with a droplet of epoxy)
- bring out a dedicated soldering tip (you won’t be soldering with it any more) and 3D printer filament of the same plastic
- weld carefully with a low-temperature iron, in a well ventilated place (maybe outdoors)
You can also weld in metal wire with a soldering iron. I’ve done repairs that way before and it works quite well as long as the two pieces can’t move and fatigue the metal.
physical reinforcement is a good suggestion lots are coming up with. If it’s not too late, I’d recommend doing that with something that dissolves the ABS instead of an adhesive. ABS dissolves readily with a few solvents, like acetone. Get physical reinforcement in place, and IF you do not need any bulk filler, just use a solvent like acetone to literally melt and repolymerize the plastic back together. As long as there’s no new gaps or new voids, the physical reinforcement should leave it stronger than the original. At least after all the solvent evaporates away.
If you need gap filler or bulk reinforcement, two part epoxies are definitely the way to go, though make sure to use something quite flexible or it’ll just crack off the next time you drop them.
A few people have recommended acetone now. I originally ruled it out due to the wire running through one of the hollows (not wanting to damage the insulation) but I’m thinking I might try adhesive on the piece with the wire and acetone on the other. Thanks!
This is a tough one, mainly cause of the strains experienced in that position. If you’re daring, maybe try some acetone to “melt” and refuse the plastic. I don’t think an adhesive is going to be much help unless you cake it in epoxy, and reinforce the stress point.
Unfortunately there’s a wire running through one of the broken pieces so melting is probably a no-go because I don’t want to melt the insulation. Thank you though!
The insulation on wires is not abs.
Not sure i would use a plastic stapler/welder for something like this with small electronics but it is for plastic … If you’re careful it might work long term. Just be clean and accurate and don’t leave pointy bits that could cut you. The staples need to be trimmed after and it would be best to melt more plastic over it probably.
Unfortunately there’s a wire running through one of the broken pieces so heat is probably a no-go because I don’t want to melt the insulation. Thank you though!
5 minute 2-part epoxy. Buy the individual packets rather than the bottles so ya dont get solidified wasted bottles.
Loc-Tite Plastic Bonder has worked well for me in these situations, but sometimes it just doesn’t seem to take well; other times it holds better than the original plastic does. Worth a shot?
This looks like Loc-Tite’s version of the JB Weld Plasticweld. If I can’t find any JB then I’ll give this a go, thanks!
