Headphone Jack is Toast,any ideas?

The headphone jacks have always been the weak link and mine finally went.Just as i always feared it would.I get no sound whatsoever unless i hold the headphone cord in place.This,for obvious reasons is unacceptable.Any ideas? Just let me add that i’ve had my Fuze since they first came out and slowly over time this became a problem.For a while i could give the cord a bit of a twist and the sound would come back but now the innards of the jack have so loosened up that the only way to get audio is to literally hold the cord whilst applying no small amount of pressure.I can pull the cord out a wee bit and get some audio but it is degraded.The worst part about this is that i knew eventually the jack would fail.From the very first Walkmen until 2009 this problem has never been solved. 

Message Edited by shmincev2 on 07-16-2009 01:59 AM

Unfortunately small or thin players are plagued with cheap jacks. There are some very nice jacks out there (Klipsch Promedia uses hi quality spring-loaded contact jacks), but they are 4 times as large as the jacks in this handheld stuff.

Panasonic had some nice jacks in their portable CD players. Sony cassette Walkmens were terrible. Sony portable CD players were a mix, depending on the model price. The Sansa jacks are middle ground, not super-cheap or super-good for low profile jacks.

The mechanical stuff in current portable equipment seems to determine it’s life nowdays. The headphone jacks and tactile switches seem to go first. People tend to worry about the batteries in this sealed stuff, but they will probably outlast the mechanical components.

If you get 2 years out of this stuff nowdays, you’re doing good.

Yes,i totally agree with you on this one.It was only a matter of time before the headphone jack failed and it’s too bad because otherwise the Fuze is fantastic.I guess my only alternative is to buy a new one at this point.But, i should warn others because this isn’t only a potential problem it is almost certainly going to be a problem for many if not all Fuze owners.I should note that this problem occured through normal everyday use not through any abusive practices on my part!

This headphone jack problem isn’t a isolated sandisk problem, to tell you the truth it happens with all manufacturers.  Talk to any sales person at the apple store and you’ll find out how big of a problem it really is. You see too many companys are making cheap products now days and in order to compete with apple sandisk has taken the road to china. to say it nicely. When mine breaks I just remember how little I paid for my sandisk product before I complain unlike over priced apple stuff. it’s not really sandisks fault it’s our own doing. we buy this cheap stuff and expect it to last forever. I guess thats the price we pay.

My fuze 8gb cost less then a 100 dollars, a 100 dollars. you can’t even take a girl out for dinner for a 100 dollars anymore.  thats not bad when you think about it. how much use you get out of it and how well it works. I’m very pleased with this little player. You don’t even have to buy battery’s anymore and next year I’ll buy something else when this one breaks and move on.  

Seems like everything is made like this anymore. Made in china with built in obsolescence.

Just the way our world is.

Message Edited by jarrycanada on 07-17-2009 04:40 PM

 You know,really i wasn’t  expecting my Fuze to last forever. Considering that i bought my Fuze on 4/06/08 ,i don’t believe expecting it to function properly for a  couple of years was all that much to ask.   As i said in a previous post,i was expecting the headphone jacks to fail.What i wasn’t expecting is that it would happen so soon.I guess like jarrycanada here,i just need to lower my expectations…  

Message Edited by shmincev2 on 07-18-2009 09:44 AM

Message Edited by shmincev2 on 07-18-2009 09:46 AM

Message Edited by shmincev2 on 07-18-2009 09:47 AM

Well to make matters worse for me looking at my little player today I noticed the writing with the serial number on the back of mine has completely warn off my fuze. so even if it was under warranty I am screwed now. ;-)  I better hope it doesn’t break. mind you I am careful with this little player.

if you Look at the apple Iphone. you need to buy a special case just to protect it and if it drops, it breaks. Thats not a cheap phone to replace but it’s case in point is that everything is make like ■■■■ anymore. all of the new phones are like that. built to break and be replaced.

Ya it’s upsetting to say the least. no one repairs stuff anymore. I remember in 80’s the good old commodore 64 days there was all these little computer repair shops all over you could take stuff and get it repaired. Those days are well over and all replaced with RMA and landfills.

It’s sad what type of world we are building.

Message Edited by jarrycanada on 07-18-2009 10:17 AM

You’re right about the serial numbers,mine is long gone.Believe me there is no bigger proponent of the Sansa Fuze than i am.The Fuze does absolutely everything i ask of it,i have the 8gb version with a 16gb microSD card.I have nearly 3,000 songs and over 8 hours of TV.This really the  first problem i’ve expierienced (other than the SMC which i think everyones had trouble with).Unfortunately for me this is a unfixable problem. 

I guess i should be happy i got more than a year and three months out of my Fuze at least.The only thing stopping me from buying another Fuze is the thought that this will undoubtedly happen again.  

I wonder if Sansa tech knows about this problem? I’m betting they’ve known all along…

There is some thing you can do to help prevent the player’s jack from breaking. Only plug a right angle headphone plug into the player. Never plug a long straight headphone plug directly into the player. If your headphone has a long straight plug, then plug that into a Y cord or headphone extension cord with a right angle plug, and plug the right angle plug of that into the player. A long straight plug plugged directly into the player will act like a lever, and magnify any pressure placed against the plug making it easy to damage the jack.

I have a couple of “replugs” which is a little adapter for your headphone jack.  If too much pressure is applied the tip detaches (you can reattach it).  They’re not expensive and they work pretty well.  I think abi had a review at some point.

Hey,thanks those are good ideas.I’ll try it .

@jarrycanada wrote:

Well to make matters worse for me looking at my little player today I noticed the writing with the serial number on the back of mine has completely warn off my fuze. so even if it was under warranty I am screwed now. ;-)  I better hope it doesn’t break. mind you I am careful with this little player.

 

@shmincev2 wrote:
You’re right about the serial numbers,mine is long gone.

 

If you connect in MTP mode, right-click & go into Properties, the serial number is displayed. Each model has it’s own serial number embedded electronically to solve the issue of it rubbing/wearing off the back and to prevent fraud. :wink:

The headphone jack was the Achilles Heel of the e200 series; especially the v1 models. Yours are the 1st two posts I’ve seen here describing this problem with the Fuze (actually there is one more current thread on this issue now bringing the total up to 3). Given how long it’s been out and the volume of units sold vs. the complaints on it here, I think we can safely say the Fuze’s jack is a vast improvement over it’s predecessor. Another testament to that would be that a good percentage of new Fuze owners think something’s wrong with their new player simply because the jack is too tight.

Knowing the shortcomings of this ‘weak link’ I have always used an intermediary plug permanently left in the machine, so I’m not constantly plugging & un-plugging the earphones directly. The break-a-way model is an interesting concept; I’m not familiar with how well it works in the ‘real world’, but the right-angle plug adaptors work well to alleviate the stress placed upon the jack itself.

As we’ve all seen here, there are many things that can (and have) gone wrong these these players, requiring replacement (usually under warranty). The headphone jack issue is just one of them.

Yep,you’re right in that the jack is only one of many things that can go wrong with the Fuze.Unfortunately, it is a crucial one.As my fuze is a v1 i believe we will begin to see this problem appear more as time goes by…I don’t know if you’re post was meant to make me feel better(it didn’t) but this “small” headphone jack problem is what my  teenage kids would   call   a “deal breaker”.One other thing pertaining to you’re comments,“considering how long it’s been out?” Really,you’re seriously going to go with that? As stated earlier,i purchased my Fuze in April of '08. Then too, this particular problem would, i suspect,not necessarily happen over night.Whether      or not there are many people with this issue is irrelevant(to me).Either way this Fuze is just as dead… 

Message Edited by shmincev2 on 07-27-2009 07:29 AM

Did i mention i get degraded audio if i pull the plug out a bit? 

Okay, how about a “shameless plug” for the Replug device.  There are many factors involved that can contribute to damage to the Sansa’s headphone jack, such as placing the unit in a pants pocket, and sitting accidentally, or in the front pocket, bending and applying force to the plug.

Of course, nobody intends to damage the device, but things do happen.

Because of its small size, it’s hard to reinforce the jack against all potential forces, of course, but they are considerably tougher than in the past.  The Replug is clever- it pops apart , leaving the tip in the jack, rather than applying force to the socket, and can be reassembled.

µsansa

Hey,thanks for the link microsansa.Now all i have to do first is buy a new Fuze…

Do they sell these replugs at Best Buy ect.? 

I got mine dirt cheap from ebay

Hey Tapeworm, thanks for the info on the serial number, i’ll make sure to make a screen shot of that right away in case, just in case.  Cheers good buddy. good to know…