Headphone jack broken off in the... headphone jack?

October 25, 2021 5:36 PM

Ideas and suggestions welcome, from buying a new computer to just working around this! I have the tip of a 3.5mm/1/8" headphone jack stuck in the headphone jack(??) (port??) of my laptop. It's stuck all the way in. How can I get it out?

I really don't think the make and model of the laptop are that pertinent to this conversation, but I've got a Lenovo Flex 6 14" laptop. I had a pair of old Bose desktop speakers (maybe Bose Companion II?) plugged into lappy. At some point I pulled out the plug and the very last segment apparently got stuck in there. At the very end of the tunnel. So I can still plug in the broken plug, it makes the connection, and sound plays from the speakers. Yay! But when I pull out that broken plug Windows thinks there is a plug inserted and won't let me switch to the rotten speakers in the laptop itself. But I can switch to Bluetooth audio output and that works. So Windows isn't offering the choice between external plugged in headphones/speakers and internal speakers because, well, Windows. I've seen examples and screenshots of right-clicking on the sound icon down on the bottom right, and in the sound settings menu there also isn't an option.
But I'm not really worried about the software problem. How can I get that little tip out? I need to buy a Torx driver to open up lappy (which I need to do anyway; adding RAM and fixing the slowly breaking trackpad mechanical click function are also things I need to do). How easy is it going to be to get that tip out? Should I just drop $750 on a new laptop with more RAM, a working mechanical track pad, and no plug stuck in there?
I'll be stopping in occasionally to answer other questions, and TIA!

posted by Snowishberlin to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

If you've got access to something like a hot glue gun, you could turn your laptop jack-side-up, fill the jack cavity with a small plug of glue, then once it's cooled, try to remove the whole lot?
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 5:40 PM on October 25, 2021

Have you tried the WD40 straw / ball-point pen tube trick? See this video: How to remove broken stuck headphones jack plug tip from your device audio port. If that doesn't work, maybe try the GripStick Headphone Plug Extraction Tool. In my experience a WD40 straw is the most successful approach, but sometimes a GripStick will work when the straw/tube will not (but the GripStick fails often when tried by itself).
posted by RichardP at 5:55 PM on October 25, 2021 [3 favorites]

A hesitant suggestion, but since the broken part of the jack roughly mates with the remainder that is removed, it may be possible to super glue the two bits together and pull the tip out after it dries. It goes without saying that this could lead to complications. I would try the suction method above. They also make little devices called solder suckers to remove liquified solder that might work. They can be as cheap as 5 bucks at a hobby shop or online.
posted by Short End Of A Wishbone at 6:19 PM on October 25, 2021 [3 favorites]

If you are opening the laptop to make other changes, why not see how easy/hard it is to replace the headphone jack. Probably unscrews easily but not sure if it is a plug attached or if you have to do a small amount of soldering.
posted by AugustWest at 7:02 PM on October 25, 2021 [3 favorites]

Depending on the design of the socket, you may well find that if you can open the case and get access to the back of it, there will be a hole that allows you to push the broken plug out with a pin or small screwdriver.
posted by offog at 1:06 AM on October 26, 2021 [1 favorite]

Well, the laptop model was actually useful in finding the Hardware Maintenance Manual, which you generally want to have at hand to see how to get at certain parts. In this case the bottom has to come off, and you would probably want to remove the SSD module and disconnect the battery. You may have luck in finding that the headphone socket indeed has a hole at the back that you can push a WD40 straw or something similar into to push the remains of the plug out.

I would be wary of trying to get it out from the outside using superglue and a WD40 straw, and I would certainly advise against getting out the soldering iron to replace the entire socket, especially since it's fitted straight to the mainboard:
- working on computer components is not everyone's cup of tea anyway, and you have to have the right tools and take precautions to prevent static electricity turning the part you're working on into electronic waste.
- getting the mainboard out, and back in, is rather involved; see the manual.
- you need to find the exact replacement for the socket as it has to have the right layout with the connections going to the right 'pads' on the mainboard so that the audio driver can again recognise a plug being inserted or not.

Sometimes the headphone connector is on a small separate board, and it would usually not be very expensive to get and difficult to replace, but for this model that's not the case.
posted by Stoneshop at 2:59 AM on October 26, 2021 [2 favorites]

On your software problem, the issue is probably that some sound cards create separate sound devices for the headphone jack and the speakers. And some don't, electrically switching instead. If you don't see separate Windows audio devices for the two then you probably have the latter and there's not much you can do about it.

If it were me I'd take it to an unlicensed repair shop, the kind that swaps out broken mobile phone parts for cheap. One that isn't just phones, but laptops too. Those folks are experts at disassembling stuff and can probably get inside enough to force out the stuck part. Worst case they can disable the headphone jack entirely so your speakers work.
posted by Nelson at 9:16 AM on October 26, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Well. These all look like great answers!

RichardP: The WD40 straw was the most intriguing, and I would have tried it first.
offog: Opening it up and finding that I could just get to the hole and push it out would have been my second attempt.
Soneshop: I've replaced internal things before in other laptops, so that doesn't really bother me. BUT, finding the exact replacement and getting the connections right might put me off. But thank you for finding the manual! That would have been very helpful.
Short End Of A Wishbone: That was going to be my last attempt. And in fact it most closely resembles what happened today!

I plugged in the speakers, listened to something, and pulled the plug out and the tip was attached! And then I immediately plugged it back in to see what would happen.

Jk, I had the replacement cord right there. So thank you all for the answers! I'm not sure if I can mark any of these as a best answer because I never actually got to try them, but I favorited the ones I would have actually tried.
posted by Snowishberlin at 12:01 PM on October 26, 2021 [1 favorite]