diff --git a/content/blog/2025/04/18/headphone-repair.md b/content/blog/2025/04/18/headphone-repair.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..37df2ee --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2025/04/18/headphone-repair.md @@ -0,0 +1,57 @@ ++++ +title = 'Thanks to 3D printing, my headphones are fixed!' +date = 2025-04-18 ++++ + +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. diff --git a/static/blog/2025/04/18/headphone-repair/broken-hinge.webp b/static/blog/2025/04/18/headphone-repair/broken-hinge.webp new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0b5eb59 Binary files /dev/null and b/static/blog/2025/04/18/headphone-repair/broken-hinge.webp differ diff --git a/static/blog/2025/04/18/headphone-repair/fixed.webp b/static/blog/2025/04/18/headphone-repair/fixed.webp new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b521556 Binary files /dev/null and b/static/blog/2025/04/18/headphone-repair/fixed.webp differ diff --git a/static/blog/2025/04/18/headphone-repair/replacement-hinge.webp b/static/blog/2025/04/18/headphone-repair/replacement-hinge.webp new file mode 100644 index 0000000..098233a Binary files /dev/null and b/static/blog/2025/04/18/headphone-repair/replacement-hinge.webp differ