Broken Megadrive headphone jack

[moonwhistle]

I use a scart lead with separate phono jack that plugs into the headphone socket. Trouble is the socket has been on it's way out for a while now and only barely works. It's a very loose fit. Can these sockets be fixed? I'm reluctant to buy a new md as my one is double switched for region and hz.

[MattyD]

Yes they can be replaced and very easily too. You'll need a 3.5mm RCA headphone socket, which you can buy in places like Maplin for less than a quid. Annoyingly enough I can't find them on their website but I know they sell them as I bought one a couple of weeks ago.

All you then need to do is unscrew the casing, take out any heat shielding that gets in the way (some models have more than others) and assuming you have a MD 1, the socket is on a tiny board all of its own in the bottom left of the machine. You can unplug this board from the main board to make it easier and safer to work on. Then all you gots ta do is desolder the existing connector and replace it with a new one. Dismantling the case and screwing it all back together is the hardest part!

[dannywhac]

Ta daa:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=1191&&source=14&doy=search

[MattyD]

There you go, 79p a throw. Every time I did a search I just kept getting stuff like aircraft headphone adaptors

[dannywhac]

There you go, 79p a throw. Every time I did a search I just kept getting stuff like aircraft headphone adaptors

Aye - the Maplin search function on their site is poop - always use the Google one instead

[moonwhistle]

Many thanks chaps.

[MattyD]

No, like I said you just have to open the machine, desolder the component and solder the new one in its place. Not counting the time it takes to dismantle the case it will take seconds.

Don't worry about buggering up any sensitive components with the soldering heat either as the headphone socket has its own little board which as I said can be unplugged from the main board and then plugged back when you're done.

[chaoticjelly]

That socket should work just fine.

The ones that can be bought tend to have additional metal pins on the bottom compared to the old Megadrive one.

All you need to do is be very careful and with a pair of side cutters just snip off the "additional" metal pins on the replacement jack, as obviously there are no holes for these extra legs.

The same jack is also used on a few other systems, Amstrad CPC 464 springs to mind !