Comments on: electronicsgeekfilter

Question: electronicsgeekfilter

banjomensch — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 19:09:01 -0800

I need to solder on a new plug for the cable of my stereo headphones. They are not hard-wired; the headphone end has a stereo plug the same size as you'd use for a cell phone. The other end, now that I've clipped off the offending (molded-on) plug, has three colored wires -- red, green, copper. Which colors are left, right and ground when I do the soldering?

By: freq

freq — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 19:30:58 -0800

here's a lovely illustration to assist you

By: fvw

fvw — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 19:37:19 -0800

The unsheathed copper wire will be the ground. You're probably best off testing which is left and right, but if I had to go out on a limb I'd guess the red wire was the right one.

By: fake

fake — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 19:56:14 -0800

Ground will be the unshielded wire, which is usually wrapping the other two wires. I've always used red=right and black or green = left, and I've yet to be wrong.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 21:23:58 -0800

Red right. Always red right.

And when there's a black cable, black=ground. Always. Just one of those universally accepted electrical engineering agreements.

By: o0o0o

o0o0o — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 22:33:39 -0800

And when there's a black cable, black=ground. Always. Just one of those universally accepted electrical engineering agreements.

Also, just to clarify, while in this case red is "right". Universally speaking, red is always "ring" and green is always "tip". This is true of power adapters, telephone connectors, etc.

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 04:10:16 -0800

When I do this sort of thing, I cut off the old plug with some of the cable still attached. Then I can check continuity from the wires in the cable to contact-surfaces on the plug, and correlate with the new plug. (Assuming that not all the conductors in the old plug are broken.)

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 06:44:00 -0800

Then I can check continuity from the wires in the cable to contact-surfaces on the plug

This is definately the best method, particularly when hooking up a speaker--just because something's labeled +/- doesn't necessarily make it so, and a single reversal can mean improper phasing. It's worth it to spend $20 and take a couple of minutes to learn how to use a voltage meter. With headphones this isn't much of an issue, since the ground is often wrapped over the signal leads.

By: whoda

whoda — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 06:45:18 -0800

And when there's a black cable, black=ground. Always. Just one of those universally accepted electrical engineering agreements.

This doesn't apply to home electrical wiring, where Black is HOT, White is Not, and Green is ground.
Don't get yourself dead playing with those 3 wires next week.