Question: repair cable failure headphone Excalibur 2

[Kossie]

I wonder if anyone can help me out. The cable to the Koss headphone of my Excalibur 2 has a failure. I pinpointed it to where it enters the ear cups. I'm considering two options for repair before thinking about replacing the entire headphone. The warranty has expired:
1 Strip the outer mantle around the failure. Cut the cable at the spot, reconnect it by twining and seal it by applying double heat-shrink tubing to the inner and outer mantle. The fix can be hidden inside the ear cup. Will the double tubing be sufficient to restore water-tightness?
2 Cut the cable below the failure and solder it again to the speaker. The soldering to the speaker is sealed but the seal must be broken. What kind of putty is the best option to seal it again? Will it be water tight again or is this a no-no.

Thanks for the advice. Kossie

 

[OldBeechnut]

If it failed there it will fail some where else later. A very regular occurrence with all excaliburs, both head phones and coil cable. What kind of hunting do you do? Deep, under, wading, wetsand?

 

[Kossie]

My Excalibur hasn't failed me until recently. I've had some trouble in the past with the cables of my Explorer. More specific the jack of the headphone cable. My latest fix on the Explorer works for at least 1,5 years now.

Wading and wet-sand make up for 99% of my Excalibur activities. The remaining 1% is for snorkeling in fresh water. No scuba diving for now. Maybe in the future in the Caribbean. So, the fix doesn't have to withstand more than 10ft of water pressure.

Is a replacement of an original headphone on the Excalibur feasible for an amateur or better left to a pro?

 

[Ism]

Heatshrink alone will not be sufficient to keep water out of the repair. Neither will the adhesive type of heatshrink.
I would place a dab of silicone adhesive sealant around the wire and insulation before you slide the heatshrink over the repair.
You won't need a lot because the heatshrink will displace most of it. Or you could go over the outside of the repair with a liberal ammount of silicone adhesive sealant.
The reason I mention adhesive is because plain silicone sealant will not create a good water seal.

 

[Critterhunter]

Go to the Sovereign forum and click on the Excalibur Accerories sticky thread at the top of the forum. You'll find thread links in there to threads on headphone repair/shorts/etc. Also, for coil cable issues, click on the Coils Sticky and you'll find thread links to repairing those and such. Plus, I think in the Accesories sticky for the Excalibur there are links to coil cable that is suitable for it. I believe there are now forms of heat shrink tubing out there meant for waterproofing cables. The stuff probably has a glue sealer inside the tubing. Or, using regular heat shrink, just paint over the coil cable that it's going to cover with some sealent like silicone (you want something flexible) and then while still wet just heat shrink the tubing over it. Should do a good job. Heat shrink can be shrunk with a hair dryer or a lighter if you don't have a heat gun. Love the stuff for various projects, or to say fix an electrical short on a car under the chasey. Just normal heat shrink is good enough to keep moisture out in a car's situation. I always solder wires on 12DC car wiring, because wire nuts will just end up letting in moisture and even if they don't the non-physical solder connection not being used in DC circuits causes oxide to build up over time, causing a short.

 

[OldBeechnut]

Here is a set I just repaired..look how easy....belongs to A diver, Diggingrings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy333gQjGZ8

 

[Kossie]

Gentlemen, thanks for your wisdom. Oldbeechnut, thanks for the instructive video. I've bought some tubing with glue liner and I'll go after some sealant in a minute. I'll keep the replacement of the headphone in mind as a last resource.

Regards, Kossie