Headphones not working on your mobile? So you can fix and clean the plug

Although more and more brands are choosing not to include a 3.5 headphone jack port, the truth is that many users still prefer conventional wired headphones to wireless devices.

Bluetooth headphones have many advantages, we are not going to fool ourselves. They are very comfortable to wear, we forget about cables and their sound quality is quite high. However, wired headphones do not have to be charged, they do not have interference in case the bluetooth malfunctions and they are generally much cheaper.

Now, wired headphones have a slight problem compared to wireless headphones and that is that they break much more easily. To this we must add the fact that for them to work perfectly, they also depend on the jack port, so if it breaks down or doesn't work, we won't be able to listen to music or podcasts.

For what reasons does the headphone jack usually break?

As with all technology, the headphone jack ports on a smartphone can also be damaged. Think that we always carry a smartphone with us, we put it in our pockets, bags, we leave it on top of any surface... so it is possible that one day when we want to listen to music, we find that our headphones don't work.

And no, the headphones are not broken as they work on other devices so it's the fault of the jack port of our smartphone. Because it does not work? There's a solution?

Most of the time troubleshooting a "bad" headphone jack is really easy. The main problems are almost always related to dirt and water, so the fix is ​​easy to solve.

How to solve dirty jack problems

When carrying the phone in your pocket or bag, dirt may have gotten into the jack causing the headphones to not make contact and therefore "not working". Dust, fluff, fibers... are usually the most frequent causes. Therefore, if something is indeed stuck in the headphone port, it will have to be removed very carefully.

For this we will use a thin utensil such as a round toothpick or a pin. With it we will carefully collect all the dirt that may have been trapped inside the port. Finally we will blow on the hole to finish removing any other remains.

The only thing we have to be very careful. If we do it abruptly we can permanently damage the jack port so then there will be no solution. Remember that they are quite delicate parts of the device so you have to be patient and careful.

How to dry the plug if water has gotten inside it

If for some reason water has gotten inside the plug, the solution is a bit more complicated. It is possible that we have dropped a glass of water on top of ourselves or accidentally dropped it into a pool and this has caused the headphone jack port to stop working.

To dry this port and remove any remaining liquid that has remained inside, we will use an ear swab. With the mobile turned off and the swab slightly moistened with alcohol, we will proceed to clean the port. Once this is done we will blow to finish drying it.

Unfortunately this method is not as effective as the previous one, since it depends a lot on the amount of liquid that has entered the jack port and above all, the time elapsed since it got wet. Unfortunately, some component could be permanently damaged, so it would be necessary to go to more extreme alternatives.

If nothing works, it's time to change the plug

In the event that you have followed the advice above and the headphone jack port still does not work, it will be the extreme measure of changing the plug. This means disassembling the terminal and losing the warranty if it is still valid, so keep it in mind.

The truth is that what we recommend first is to take it to the technical service, let the professionals take care of it. The problem with trying to fix it ourselves is that there are fewer and fewer phones with a 3.5 jack port, so finding spare parts for these parts is more and more complicated.

In the event that even the technical service cannot fix it and we cannot find a replacement part, unfortunately it will be time to say goodbye to our mobile phone and buy another one. But don't worry because even today, we can find incredible smartphones with a headphone jack.

Related Topics: Headphones, Technology