I found this post after this happened to my macbook pro. I tried a combo of some of the varied suggestions (thanks for helping me come up with this solution). Using a product called superglue tape, which is a type of strong double sided tape with a thick gel consistency I cut off a tiny piece and crammed it on to the broken end of the jack plug with a blunt needle then pushed it firmly into the jack socket and hey presto, pulled it out with broken end attached. I think this may be a safer way than applying glue or solder etc.
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Help! One of my headphones broke off inside my Macbook
- Thread starter SuperSnake2012
- Start date
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I had the same problem and manage to resolve it using the glue technique thank for the tips!
If It can help I took an old pen which I unscrewed, took the long plastic bit and in fact it goes into the audio thing perfectly and is just about the right size to go around the little part of headphone I had left (maybe for some wouldnt even need the glue) I just had to add a little bit of glue inside of the plastic tube (I also made sure I wouldn't have any excess of glue by testing with a toothpick first) waited some time and it was done!
I'll attach a pic so you can see which part of my headphone was broken inside so you can see if you have the same problem
http://hpics.li/600f84f
If It can help I took an old pen which I unscrewed, took the long plastic bit and in fact it goes into the audio thing perfectly and is just about the right size to go around the little part of headphone I had left (maybe for some wouldnt even need the glue) I just had to add a little bit of glue inside of the plastic tube (I also made sure I wouldn't have any excess of glue by testing with a toothpick first) waited some time and it was done!
I'll attach a pic so you can see which part of my headphone was broken inside so you can see if you have the same problem
http://hpics.li/600f84f
It worked!!!
I'm coming back here in 2013 after reading through all these posts dated 2008-2012, to report that the Superglue/Toothpick trick worked for me!!!
Thank you to whoever came up with that brilliant idea. It saved me a fortune, got my audio working again on my MBPro, and literally only cost me 4 bucks!
Here's exactly how I did it for any future visitors who find themselves with this scary problem:
About 3/4 of my audio jack was stuck in the headphones port. I had a warning that this could happen because the jack had bent about a week ago, but like an idiot I still kept using it. Eventually the audio was spotty so I kept bending and pulling on the jack which caused it to break off.
So I searched for answers and despite several posts here and mostly in other forums saying that Superglue was too risky, I figured it was really my only hope. I don't have the money for any other more serious type of fix. I could not see myself attempting to drill, that seemed too extreme.
So, off to Walmart I went to get this: Loctite Super Glue with Extra Time Control. It is a thicker formula than a liquid, but not a gel. It gives you more time to align correctly because it takes longer to dry. Which at first I thought wasn't good, because I was scared the toothpick wouldn't stay steady.
I held the laptop on its side so that the toothpick stood up vertically.
I cut off the point of the toothpick near the tip with scissors so I could align a flat surface to the little nub left in the center of the broken-off audio jack.
I dipped the flat end of the toothpick into a drop of the superglue. I used VERY VERY LITTLE OF THE GLUE. So little I thought it might not be enough, but I wanted to take NO chances of any pooling in the headphone port. It didn't.
I admit I kept checking the toothpick periodically throughout the hour I waited for it to dry. I moved it from each side to see how ready it was. I probably should have left it alone, but ...
it worked anyway! After 1 hour of letting toothpick sit vertically against broken off audio jack, I turned the laptop back to its normal flat position with the toothpick pointing horizontal. Then I held the toothpick (I think with 2 fingers) steady & closer to the base of the toothpick (near the port area, but not right up against it), and gave it one quick, steady yank out. Not too hard, not too light.
I was shocked that the entire audio jack came out with the toothpick, clean and clear! I noticed after that the glue was still actually a bit wet, so surprised it actually still worked. Probably because it was the time control superglue.
I can't say I'd recommend another method, because the way I did it worked. At first I thought glue was too liquidy, but the trick was making sure to only use a tiny amount, and making sure the toothpick was positioned steady, flat and dead center against the broken-off jack's center (the nub part that stuck out from it a bit in the middle).
I hope my description helps someone. Give it a try. Any method has risks, but at least many have found that this way worked, and it's cheap!
p.s. I should note that I said a prayer just before pulling out the toothpick. Thank you, God
I'm coming back here in 2013 after reading through all these posts dated 2008-2012, to report that the Superglue/Toothpick trick worked for me!!!
Thank you to whoever came up with that brilliant idea. It saved me a fortune, got my audio working again on my MBPro, and literally only cost me 4 bucks!
Here's exactly how I did it for any future visitors who find themselves with this scary problem:
About 3/4 of my audio jack was stuck in the headphones port. I had a warning that this could happen because the jack had bent about a week ago, but like an idiot I still kept using it. Eventually the audio was spotty so I kept bending and pulling on the jack which caused it to break off.
So I searched for answers and despite several posts here and mostly in other forums saying that Superglue was too risky, I figured it was really my only hope. I don't have the money for any other more serious type of fix. I could not see myself attempting to drill, that seemed too extreme.
So, off to Walmart I went to get this: Loctite Super Glue with Extra Time Control. It is a thicker formula than a liquid, but not a gel. It gives you more time to align correctly because it takes longer to dry. Which at first I thought wasn't good, because I was scared the toothpick wouldn't stay steady.
I held the laptop on its side so that the toothpick stood up vertically.
I cut off the point of the toothpick near the tip with scissors so I could align a flat surface to the little nub left in the center of the broken-off audio jack.
I dipped the flat end of the toothpick into a drop of the superglue. I used VERY VERY LITTLE OF THE GLUE. So little I thought it might not be enough, but I wanted to take NO chances of any pooling in the headphone port. It didn't.
I admit I kept checking the toothpick periodically throughout the hour I waited for it to dry. I moved it from each side to see how ready it was. I probably should have left it alone, but ...
it worked anyway! After 1 hour of letting toothpick sit vertically against broken off audio jack, I turned the laptop back to its normal flat position with the toothpick pointing horizontal. Then I held the toothpick (I think with 2 fingers) steady & closer to the base of the toothpick (near the port area, but not right up against it), and gave it one quick, steady yank out. Not too hard, not too light.
I was shocked that the entire audio jack came out with the toothpick, clean and clear! I noticed after that the glue was still actually a bit wet, so surprised it actually still worked. Probably because it was the time control superglue.
I can't say I'd recommend another method, because the way I did it worked. At first I thought glue was too liquidy, but the trick was making sure to only use a tiny amount, and making sure the toothpick was positioned steady, flat and dead center against the broken-off jack's center (the nub part that stuck out from it a bit in the middle).
I hope my description helps someone. Give it a try. Any method has risks, but at least many have found that this way worked, and it's cheap!
p.s. I should note that I said a prayer just before pulling out the toothpick. Thank you, God
Last edited:
-1
I don't think drill bits and laptops belong together.
They work well if you use a hammer to push the drill bit in
Hi guys the same problem happened to me today.
I tried the superglue trick twice unsuccessfully, but the dried glue left on the broken part actually added some grip which allowed me to use a small pair of tweezers from a Swiss army knife to retrieve it.
I tried the superglue trick twice unsuccessfully, but the dried glue left on the broken part actually added some grip which allowed me to use a small pair of tweezers from a Swiss army knife to retrieve it.