publish 2025/04/18/headphone-repair.md

content/blog/2025/04/18/headphone-repair.md

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+title = 'Thanks to 3D printing, my headphones are fixed!'
+date = 2025-04-18
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+
+Earlier this week, one of the hinges on my headphones broke. One moment it
+works; the next moment it flops around and doesn't sit right on my head.
+
+![Broken hinge](broken-hinge.webp)
+
+Like many other times where expensive things break, I initially got pretty
+bummed about it. It's easy to blame myself for being too rough with things
+because, well, I am. Regardless, sooner or later, everything _will_ inevitably
+break in some way. Quite often, something that should be a cheap fix will
+cripple a device because of a lack of spare parts.
+
+But now, unlike most of my life, I have the power to do something about that! 3D
+printing technology has become way more accessible in recent years. Replicating
+plastic parts to a reasonable level of precision is so much easier and cheaper
+(once you put in the initial investment of at least a few hundred USD).
+
+I was lucky to find a printable [model] online, so I didn't need to do any
+modeling myself this time. It printed in less than half an hour without much
+hassle, besides a few blemishes from support material that weren't too difficult
+to clean up.
+
+[model]: https://www.printables.com/model/167047
+
+![Replacement hinge](replacement-hinge.webp)
+
+Thankfully, these headphones seem to be designed to be taken apart. Getting at
+the hinge was just a matter of a few screws that were easy to reach, and a
+couple of plastic clips.
+
+The most annoying part of this process was actually getting the original hinge
+out. A cable needs to run through the hinge to get to the other ear. In the new
+part, there's an open channel for the cable, but in the original part, it
+completely surrounds the cable - it is stuck on there like a bead on string.
+
+I ended up taking flush cutters to the part to free it from the cable, but I
+nicked the cable in the process. It still works for now. In hindsight, I now
+know that it would be way easier and safer to open the ear assembly and desolder
+the cable in there - then it could be unthreaded more gently.
+
+Whew. After all of that, we are so back.
+
+![Fixed!](fixed.webp)
+
+These headphones have lasted me almost 3 years before needing repairs. It would
+have sucked to effectively lose $100 because of a piece of plastic. I'm
+fortunate to be able to fix it for just a few cents, plus a model provided by
+the collaborative efforts of a massive online community.
+
+It's not often that my printer pays out dividends like this. But this is one of
+its greatest and most satisfying superpowers - singlehandedly improving the
+repairability and longevity of many devices. I'm hoping that it continues to do
+so for me and for many others.