Savoir comment réparer un casque audio!

How to mend broken headphones

With a bit of solder and nimble* fingers bring a new lease of life* to your headphones and avoid* shelling out for an expensive new pair

nimble = agile, vif ; a new lease of life = une seconde vie, un regain de vitalité ; to avoid = éviter ; to shell out = casquer, payer 

Things you will need to mend* broken headphones. Illustration: Emma McGowan

to mend = réparer

You will need:

small screwdriver 
= petit tournevis
wire cutters or scissors = pince coupante ou ciseaux 
soldering iron and solder (or a friend who has these) = un fer à souder et de la brasure
craft knife or similar sharp blade
 = cutter ou lame coupante
plastic self-adhesive insulating tape = ruban adhésif

A pair of headphones is made of:
a plug* which plugs into the socket* on your MP3 player, mobile phone or whatever, which connects to ...

a lead* with some wires* in it which connects to ...

the headphones/earbuds/earpieces themselves

a plug = une prise (de courant) (mâle), une fiche

a socket = une prise (de courant) (femelle)

a lead = un fil, cordon

wire = fil électrique

All the components of a pair of headphones. Illustration: Emma McGowan

Identifying the problem

If you have a pair of headphones that no longer work, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you know how they stopped working? Were they dropped*? This can cause something to come loose* in the earpiece.
• Did the cat chew* the lead? This may mean you’ve got a break* in the wires inside the lead at that point.
• The lead got yanked* while it was plugged in? That may have pulled* the wires out at the plug.
• Does one side work but not the other? That probably means that the wire connecting to one earpiece is broken or disconnected at either end.
• Are they crackly* or very faint*? This suggests that a connection somewhere is loose, but not completely broken. If you listen carefully, you should be able to tell which side is affected.
• Is the problem intermittent? That would mean that a connection is only just broken: the wires are touching occasionally.
• Are they completely non-functional? In other words, is there no sound at all, or can you get some sound out of them somehow*? If they are completely “dead”, then both sides (left and right) need repairing.
• Can you make it better or worse* by moving things around*? If so, what and how? If the sound comes and goes when you wiggle* the wire near one of the earpieces, there is probably a loose wire in the earpiece.
• Ditto* the plug: sometimes pushing the lead gently back into the plug can cause the sound to magically reappear. If so then there is a loose lead in the plug which needs to be reconnected.

to drop = laisser tomber, lâcher

to come loose = se décoincer, se desserrer, se débrancher

to chew = mâchouiller, mâchonner

a break = une coupure

to get yanked = être arraché/ tiré d'un coup sec

to pull out = arracher, déboiter

crackly = crépitant, grésillant

faint = faible

somehow = d'une manière ou d'une autre, pour une raison ou pour une autre

worse = pire

to move (things) around = déplacer, remuer

to wiggle = agiter, remuer

ditto = idem


The most common problems involve one or more of the wires inside the lead becoming disconnected either in the plug (see 1, below), in the headphones (2) or in the lead itself (3).

Fixing the problem*

(1) In some headphones the plug is moulded-on*. In other words, the lead and the plug are not separate: just one continuous piece of plastic. If the wires inside a moulded-on plug break, you’ll probably have to cut the plug off the lead using your wire cutters or scissors (simply cut off the lead where it meets the plug) buy a new plug of the same type as the old one, fix* the new plug on to the lead: this will involve stripping* the insulation* off the lead then soldering* the wires on to the plug.

to fix a problem = résoudre un problème

moulded-on = moulé, fondu

to fix = fixer

to strip = dégarnir

the insulation = l'isolation

to solder = souder

In some headphones the plug is moulded on - the lead and the plug are not separate. Illustration: Emma McGowan

If the plug isn’t moulded on, you should be able to unscrew* the back of the plug to get at the wires inside the lead: in this case, if one or more of the wires has become disconnected inside the plug then they will need to be soldered back* on.

to unscrew = dévisser

to solder back = re-souder

(2) Usually taking a pair of headphones apart* is fairly simple: often the padding* just pulls off* but you may need a small screwdriver such as a size 0 crosshead* to get the tiny* screws* out. You can get these from most DIY or hardware shops*. Once* you’ve disassembled the headphone part, you will be able to see the tiny wires going from the lead to the headphones.

to take apart = démonter, désassembler

padding = coussinet

to pull off = enlever, ôter

crosshead = cruciforme

tiny = minuscule

a screw = une vis

a DIY or hardware shop = un magasin de bricolage ou une quincaillerie

once = une fois que

Taking a pair of headphones apart is usually fairly simple. Illustration: Emma McGowan

If you can see that one or more of these has become disconnected, then that’s your problem: you need to reattach it.

(3) Over time, the wires can break somewhere inside* the lead. This kind of break is more difficult to track down*, but sometimes you can see the damage or feel a kink* or break in the lead. In this case, you need to carefully* cut open the lead insulation* where the break has happened, find the broken wire*, then rejoin the broken wire ends by soldering*.

inside = à l'intérieur

to track down = finir par localiser

to feel a kink = sentir un défaut/ noeud 

carefully = soigneusement

the lead insulation = l'isolation du cordon

the broken wire = le fil (électrique) coupé/ cassé

by soldering = par une soudure

Soldering uses a special molten* metal alloy* (“solder”) which is melted* by a soldering iron to stick wires to connections or to join* two pieces of wire together if they’re broken. You may need to carefully strip the insulation off the ends* of the wires using wire cutters or scissors to reveal bare* metal before soldering. (If you don’t have a soldering iron, you could try asking at an electronics repair shop, or better still, attend your local repair café if you know of one.) Once you’ve rejoined the broken wires you can wrap* some insulating tape round the join, then finish off by wrapping* some more insulating tape round the lead to neaten up* the repair and avoid further damage*.

molten = en fusion

an alloy = un alliage

to melt = fondre

to stick = coller

to join = assembler, relier

the ends = les extrémités

bare = à nu

to wrap = envelopper, enrouler, emballer

to neaten up = rendre propre

further damage = de plus amples dégâts

One last thing: some headphones use a type of wire which has no visible plastic insulation around it, instead the metal is covered with a very thin layer* of coloured varnish* which provides the insulation. To solder this, you need to heat* the end of the wire with the soldering iron until the coloured insulation is all burned off* (avoiding inhaling* the fumes) then solder the resulting bare metal wire as before.

a thin layer = une mince couche/ pellicule

coloured varnish = vernis coloré

to heat = chauffer

to burn off = brûler au chalumeau

to inhale = respirer

David Lukes
theguardian.com, Friday 23 May 2014 10.00 

How to mend broken headphones

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/may/23/how-to-mend-broken-headphones