Broken headphone jack stuck inside motherboard

Flay

The jack for my headphones broke off this morning after I tripped over my headphones. Unfortunately, the end of the pin is still stuck inside the audio port, preventing me from plugging anything else in there.

Does anyone know if there's any way I can remove it, or if it's even possible?

Tef

Could you fish it out with a pair of needle nose pliers? I can't think of a way that ou could get it out without fishing around an physically pulling it out

Flay

Unfortunately I haven't been able to a pair small enough to fit inside.

But I'll keep looking.

Tef

Maybe have a look for electronics maintenance kits. Not electricians, as they're different again, but ones made for working with electronic components would be the go. I've got a kit that I picked up from my local PC store that has a set of delicate tweezers.

Failing that, maybe ask your mum or female friends if you can borrow their hair plucking tweezers. that may work

chrishallett83

If it is just the tip, stuck way down in the socket, pin-piont tweezers may do the trick. If those don't help, might I suggest a small twist drill bit - poke it in the socket until you feel it touch the broken piece of the jack plug, then apply a small amount of push to the bit whilst you twist it, be careful - you just want it to bite into the end of the jack plug so you can pull it out.

Aioua

Have you popped the case open yet? There's a (smallish) chance that the design of the socket will let you push it out from the other side.

mcdermott

Out of curiosity, is this a laptop or desktop?

jungleroomx

Soldering iron works. We get pins stuck in our truck radios often, they're tiny little ones (gold coax ends, about half the width of a headphone jack). We put a little solder on the end of a paper clip or a nail or something similar and bind it to the pin, as soon as it cools you pull it out with ease.

Edit: This may not work if the pin is sunk in too far, but even with pins flush with the socket we've had a lot of success getting them out.

Blake T

You can also try a dab of high strength glue on the end of a steel rod.

jungleroomx

Yeah. It all depends on how far down the pin from the headphones is stuck in the jack.

mcdermott

Well, with glue it really shouldn't matter how far down it is, other than needing a steady hand.

Flay

mcdermott wrote:

Out of curiosity, is this a laptop or desktop?

It's a desktop.

jungleroomx wrote:

Soldering iron works. We get pins stuck in our truck radios often, they're tiny little ones (gold coax ends, about half the width of a headphone jack). We put a little solder on the end of a paper clip or a nail or something similar and bind it to the pin, as soon as it cools you pull it out with ease.

Edit: This may not work if the pin is sunk in too far, but even with pins flush with the socket we've had a lot of success getting them out.

I don't have a soldering iron, but I may know someone who does. I'm a little worried about sticking hot metal or glue in there though. The advice I've gotten from a couple of computer repair places is that there's a good chance it'll never work again anyway, unless I buy a sound card.

mcdermott

Flay wrote:

I don't have a soldering iron, but I may know someone who does. I'm a little worried about sticking hot metal or glue in there though. The advice I've gotten from a couple of computer repair places is that there's a good chance it'll never work again anyway, unless I buy a sound card.

This is bullshit. Odds are it just fucked up the headphone's male connector, and the female connector on the mobo is fine. Especially if you don't see any obvious physical damage to the jack itself. Even if not, many motherboards use fairly standard connectors, and you could probably hunt around for a couple days and just replace the damn jack (ask your friend with the soldering iron for a hand), and be good to go.

DiannaoChong

mcdermott wrote:

Flay wrote:

I don't have a soldering iron, but I may know someone who does. I'm a little worried about sticking hot metal or glue in there though. The advice I've gotten from a couple of computer repair places is that there's a good chance it'll never work again anyway, unless I buy a sound card.

This is bullshit. Odds are it just fucked up the headphone's male connector, and the female connector on the mobo is fine. Especially if you don't see any obvious physical damage to the jack itself. Even if not, many motherboards use fairly standard connectors, and you could probably hunt around for a couple days and just replace the damn jack (ask your friend with the soldering iron for a hand), and be good to go.

He's right, that is bullshit and they want to sell you a sound card.

nexuscrawler

At worst it's not going to hurt anything to try. I'd use caution using a soldering iron on the mobo itself though. Smaller components might not be able to handle the amount of heat a regular sized iron generates

Burtletoy

nexuscrawler wrote:

At worst it's not going to hurt anything to try. I'd use caution using a soldering iron on the mobo itself though. Smaller components might not be able to handle the amount of heat a regular sized iron generates

The plan was to put some solder on another object, then insert that into the jack, not to take a soldering iron to the motherboard.

mcdermott

Actually, I was talking about replacing the entire jack if it was damaged. But in retrospect, probably unwise for the inexperienced.

Flay

Thanks for the advice guys! Eventually I just ended up replacing my old motherboard with one my brother wasn't using.

I'll still speak to my friend with the soldering iron, no point in letting a good motherboard go to waste.