Repairing an Audio Handle: A DIY Journey

A different type of repair for y’all today.
I got a audio handle here.
Uh, one of you guys shipped it in
because this little plastic deal broke off,
and when that broke off, it ripped out the cable.
Luckily for them, the cable doesn’t seem to be damaged.
So I’m going to have to take this apart to reattach this cable,
and then find some way to glue it all back together.
So let’s go ahead and get started.
Instead of just blindly going in and removing every screw in sight,
I watch a YouTube video of someone else doing it first.
And even though they didn’t have the proper tools,
and also remove some screws that weren’t necessary,
it still gave me an idea of how to go about taking this thing apart.
On the exterior, we had eight Philips screws to remove
before we could take the face plate off.
And after that,
we have one more screw and a cable to disconnect to take the board out.
The top board is what the cable that got ripped out connects to.
For now, we’ll just disconnect the second cable that’s attached
and set it to the side. Now it’s time to come up with a game plan
on how I’m going to glue this thing back together.
Obviously, first,
we have to see how both pieces fit,
I have to think about what I’m going to use to clamp them together.
Once I’ve applied the Glue.
My first bright idea was to use some rubber bands to hold it together,
but that didn’t work because the pressure applied wasn’t even.
So I went to my local auto parts store
to buy the JB Weld I’m using for the repair
and was hoping to find a clamp there,
but I didn’t. So now,
instead of using a clamp,
I’m just gonna hold it together for 15 minutes
until that JB Weld cures. And before applying any glue,
we’re gonna make sure that both areas are clean.
And before we mix the glue together,
just one more test fit to make sure I get it right.
It’s finally time to apply the glue,
and I’m being as precise and as careful as possible,
bending that flex cable away from where I’m applying the glue
to make sure I get none of it on it.
And then we can finally attach the head back to the rest of its body.
And then I was stuck like this for about 12 minutes.
But after 12 minutes,
I decided that the glue was cured enough for me to put rubber bands
without worrying about the uneven pressure.
Just needed the rubber bands to hold it a bit
so I can go ahead and mix up some more JB Weld
so I can add a big
old slather of it around the whole area where it’s cracked.
And after another 15 minutes,
we could finally remove the rubber bands and see The final results
doesn’t look too bad if you ask me.
I was glad that I was able to find the J B.
Weld that, uh,
cured in black. Some of them cure in a grayish colour,
so it helps blend in with the rest of the piece.
Now we can put it all back together,
reattach the cable that got disconnected,
and take a look at our final result.
I’m happy with how it came out.
I hope the customer will be also.
He sent it in all the way from New York,
so time to send it back
so he can get back to doing his thing behind the camera.
Anyways, that’s it for me.
Thank you all for watching,
and I’ll catch you on the next one later.