How To Fix A Set Of Er-6 Earbuds

First you have to remove the wire and take off the plastic shrink wrap (exacto knife does wonders) then pick out the hot glue from the top and bottom of the molding. Then lift off the moulding from the speaker chamber. Push out the speaker from the sound hole with some kind of small rod or plunger. I did all this before I decided to document it for vfrd content? Opps.

Now you need a set of doner wires, having ripped the old wire off its almost impossible to soldier earbud wire back together cause it is made from coated wire, sometimes wrapped with nylon thread. Solider does not like to adhear to this kind of wire. luckly if you remove the doner wire from a cheap set of ear speakers the manufacture already prepped the ends to soldier. I got a free set of ear speakers from somewhere - cant remember but they were really uncomfortable and the sound wasnt so good, no way would I use them for riding! ER-6 speakers from Etyomotic are designed to fit inside your ear comfortably and they seal out a good deal of ouside noise, so you dont have to crank up the tunes. They act like ear plugs when you turn off the sound. Ideal for riding IMHO!



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Find a doner pair Harvest the wires

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pull on the earphone edge they usually just pop right off

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With a hot solder iron heat up the solder and remove the wires from the speakers then untie the ends and thread the wire out of the housing

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Notice the color of the wires Right speaker has a red wire Left speaker has a green wire the ground wires go on the left side of the speaker bond pads - this is standard

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Thead the wire through the molded holder there is an open side that goes on top - when you take it apart there is some hot glue you must pick out with a pick careful do not break the molded plastic.

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Solder the new leads to the er-6 speakers after you thread the wire through the top - careful do not break the flexible bond pads tie a knot at the end

Here you should test the connection and see if you have sound in both speakers before you put them back together!

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Slide the speaker into the chamber I used my forceps to push it back inside until the plastic tines on the side snapped around the speaker

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gently slide the moulding back over the clear speaker chambe they snap into place pull the wire taught as you slide the moulding to the speaker then replace the band around the end

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almost done

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cut some shrink wrap to size slide it over the body

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using a heat gun shrink the wrap dont linger with the heat gun or you will melt the speaker body

+1 on the ER-6 ear buds. I use mine anytime I'm going to be riding for extended periods at highway speeds. They block out 75-80% of all wind noise and don't sound half bad either. I modified mine a little to help prevent the wires from ripping out. I took the rubber ear plug part off and tied a 1" piece of fishing line onto the plastic stud. I then slipped the ear plug back on to hold the fishing line in place. A couple of little knots at the end so that I could grip the line. This really helps in pulling them out, as I don't have to pull on the fragile wires anymore to get them out. The fishing line is thin enough that I don't notice it with my helmet on. I do still catch them ocastionaly on my jacket or helmet strap, but this should help them last a little longer.
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How about a drop of glue or epoxy where the wire goes into the housing, so that when/if you pull the wire, it pulls the housing, and not the solder joint?

And I thought the way to fix the wire was to buy a set of Big Ears. :dry:

After zipping the cords of two sets of ear buds in half with the zipper of my jacket,

(No there's something about mary references please!)

I decided to try something a little more 'industrial'.

I got a set of SkullCandy Full Metal Jacket buds. The cord is encased in what looks and feels like steel braiding.

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Circuit City @ $60 YMMV

:warranty:

I did not rip the cord pulling them out of my ears, they cord is plenty strong to do that. I had them threaded into the back of my aerostich and they hung out over my shoulders. I snagged one on the hanger in the closet and it ripped off.