Replacement headphone wire? (Sennheiser HD 280) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: MyHeadHz
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 10, 2018, 04:15:59 pm
content: some misc info: One speaker in my Sennheiser HD 280 headphones died, but the break is in a wire within the headset (over the head), as opposed to the main cable. I could repair the break, but there could be other issues now or in the future, so I'd rather replace the wire. It is 32" (~ 81cm) of wire just to go from left to right over the head! Since it is only for the one speaker, it has only two small wires that are insulated and enameled. The outside diameter of the wire (with insulation), measured with calipers, is 1.42mm (.056"). The twisted (individually, not twisted pair), stranded wires are .35mm (.014") in diameter each. There doesn't seem to be any existing resistor or other means to compensate for the extra resistance of the longer wire over the head. They are already relatively high resistance headphones at 64 ohms, if any of that matters. Also, since the wire is damaged, I can't really get a reliable resistance reading over the 32" wire to see what it may have been.Where would I go about getting replacement wire for that? Everything I can find is replacement cables that go from the headset to the headphone jack, or 3+ conductor cables. Would there be any special considerations since the wire is for headphones, or would any similar wire work?edit: it seems to be two 27 gauge stranded (8 conductors each), with a total diameter of 15 gauge. I can't figure out how to search properly in order to find that.below is what I have:

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 10, 2018, 05:16:59 pm
content: 3 feet of wire is going to have negligible resistance. There’s probably more variability in the driver coils than would occur due to that length of wire to one side. (If you know how to measure that low a resistance correctly, you’d probably already know that it won’t matter in this application.)Just choose some wire that mechanically makes sense. Or see if Sennheiser sells it as a replacement part.

author: MyHeadHz
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 10, 2018, 06:24:29 pm
content: I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out how to search for those wires at all. So far, the only thing I've been able to find isthis one, but that has two 26 gauge pairs. The original 27 gauge sires seem to be a tight fit already. And I can't tell if those are solid or stranded.any search tips? The vast majority of wires seem to be larger than 24 gauge, or in quantities starting in hundreds of meters...

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 10, 2018, 06:57:32 pm
content: Easiest is to go to the local cellphone shop and buy any phone headphone that has the right diameter wire in the lead that connects the phone and the earpieces, and simply use that wire instead. Probably less than $2 to get the sacrificial unit, and it will have either 4 or 5 wires in it, so use them in parallel to get the required 2 wires.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 10, 2018, 09:16:39 pm
content: Quote from: MyHeadHz on July 10, 2018, 06:24:29 pmYou don’t need anything that heavy. (By the way your URL is borked. Quote me and look at the reply source code to see the fix.)I can tell you without even looking that the wire is stranded. You would NEVER use solid wire for a high-flex application like that.SeanB’s suggestion is a great one. It’s really hard to get good headphone wire at retail. eBay and AliExpress have a little bit.

author: MyHeadHz
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 10, 2018, 09:59:01 pm
content: The biggest limiting factor is the overall outer diameter. It is quite a tight fit from the factory. I suppose they don't want the wires moving or vibrating. Every two-conductor cable I have is either too short or has a diameter that's too large.There were a lot of unknowns as well- whether I could reassemble it without damaging anything else, whether I could reassemble it at all, whether that was the only problem, and so on. I found some 4-wire cable but it was just too big, so I stripped off the insulation to the enameled wires. I then used two wires each in parallel and just threaded that through and assembled it (which was no small feat). It actually seems to work fine now, though it isn't really a permanent fix. There are a few spots where the wires could rub or hang. I may put some hot glue on those joints and see how long it lasts before doing anything else.

author: Gregg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 11, 2018, 04:23:21 am
content: The older wired hands free cell phone ear pieces are just what you might need. I am looking at one that was issued to me probably 15 years ago to be used with a company phone and from the jack it has 1.37 OD mm wire parallel like zip cord to the little mic node then a single 2 conductor wire to the earphone. You probably could find one in a thrift store for a dollar or if you PM me I'll cut off the earphone, stick it in an envelope and send it to you.