HELP the plug broke off my headphones & got stuck in my phone's headphone jack

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1/8" stereo, it's in there pretty deep. Any of y'all music-lovers dealt with this before?

Heroic melancholy continues to have a forceful grip on (bernard snowy), Monday, 22 June 2015 11:13 (eight years ago) link

so far my ideas are:
- chewing gum on the end of a paperclip
- go to a jewelry store run by a friend and ask to use her tools

Heroic melancholy continues to have a forceful grip on (bernard snowy), Monday, 22 June 2015 11:15 (eight years ago) link

this happened to my phone. i subsequently bought a new pair of headphones and then did EXACTLY the same thing with my ipad a few weeks later. a couple of days later i dropped the phone (yes...i am clumsy) and the screen shattered so i just had to get a new one anyway. the ipad still has the headphone jack in there and it basically useless. i remember watching a lot of youtube life hacks of how to get it out but none of them worked for me.

tpp, Monday, 22 June 2015 11:16 (eight years ago) link

tiny bead of superglue on the (non lighty) end of a thick kitchen match. very carefully. worked for me.

adam, Monday, 22 June 2015 11:19 (eight years ago) link

how tiny are we talking? like, smallest-imaginable, barely visible to the naked eye?

Heroic melancholy continues to have a forceful grip on (bernard snowy), Monday, 22 June 2015 11:21 (eight years ago) link

I was able to extract a 1/4" jack that had broken in the connector of an amplifier using a screw - it was hollow, and the "thread" (is that what it's called?) of the screw took hold of the inside of the jack. So maybe if you have a very small screw you can do that.

niels, Monday, 22 June 2015 11:37 (eight years ago) link

re: tiny beads--you want enough to adhere to the (presumably jagged) end of the jack but not so much that it spreads when you push them together and adheres to the cylinder of the female end of the jack. too little and you can always try again/try something else. too much and now you have a piece of wood sticking out of your phone. that said it worked on the first try for me.

adam, Monday, 22 June 2015 11:56 (eight years ago) link

How much of the headphone jack is stuck in there? I had this happen with an iPod once but it was just the very tip that had broken off, I got it out using a section of inner tube from an old biro (with no ink in obviously) with a tiny bit of superglue inside, it was a perfect fit.

Gavin, Leeds, Monday, 22 June 2015 12:15 (eight years ago) link

depending on what the center of the jack looks like, you might be able to tap one of these into it or maybe even a smaller easyout

micah, Monday, 22 June 2015 12:22 (eight years ago) link

Super glue + wooden match did the trick, thanks a million!

Heroic melancholy continues to have a forceful grip on (bernard snowy), Monday, 22 June 2015 13:01 (eight years ago) link

love that this was on ILM

the spieth hole-ease impresseth us (imago), Monday, 22 June 2015 13:07 (eight years ago) link

congrats

micah, Monday, 22 June 2015 13:12 (eight years ago) link

ugh unfortunately the headphone port itself seems have been damaged somehow -- tried using rubbing alcohol to clean to contacts but it's still not working so I'm thinking one of the clips got bent :/

Heroic melancholy continues to have a forceful grip on (bernard snowy), Monday, 22 June 2015 18:52 (eight years ago) link

Two words: Bluetooth headphones

Gerald McBoing-Boing, Tuesday, 23 June 2015 03:24 (eight years ago) link


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