Bottlehead Forum

Bottlehead Kits => Crack => Topic started by: Futureroast on October 21, 2019, 04:32:36 AM

Title: Loud popping when plugging in headphones
Post by: Futureroast on October 21, 2019, 04:32:36 AM: Hey guys I just picked up a used BHC+SB locally and was trying to listen to it last night but I get very loud popping sounds when plugging in the headphones, as well as if I twist or move the headphone plug within the jack. I did hear music coming out with the volume around 25% but didnâ€™t spend any time listening as the pop had bothered me and I wasnâ€™t sure if everything was okay with the amp. I was looking through the manual and noticed a difference on the under side of the headphone plug socket on the BHC. My amp has a straight metal rod/wire soldered across the T R and S connections on the opposite side from where the leads are wired into it. It has the three resistors all ending on the Tip, but the straight solder across all three seems very strange. Is this ever practiced? Iâ€™ll upload pics of mine when I get home from work.
Title: Re: Loud popping when plugging in headphones
Post by: Jameson on October 21, 2019, 04:39:09 AM: You'll want to compare what's in the manual, both from a wiring (which it sounds like what you did) and a resistance/voltage standpoint, to your amp. Do you have a multimeter to do the measurements?

Definitely agree that posting pics will help.
Title: Re: Loud popping when plugging in headphones
Post by: Paul Birkeland on October 21, 2019, 05:11:33 AM: You almost certainly have a bad solder joint on the headphone jack itself.
Title: Re: Loud popping when plugging in headphones
Post by: Futureroast on October 21, 2019, 06:36:47 AM: Yea I got a meter. I briefly glanced over the connections and didnâ€™t see anything notably loose. Iâ€™ll dive into it and send pics + updates when I get home. Thanks for the quick responses.
Title: Re: Loud popping when plugging in headphones
Post by: Doc B. on October 21, 2019, 08:43:14 AM: Yup, start with a reflow of the joints on the jack. That will probably fix the problem.
Title: Re: Loud popping when plugging in headphones
Post by: Futureroast on October 21, 2019, 11:19:44 AM: Here's a picture of the headphone jack. Now that I look closely the black lead coming from the potentiometer is loose as it passes through the lead in side of the headphone jack.... Is there any explanation for the T R S being soldered together on the other side?
https://imgur.com/eDn8PeZ
Title: Re: Loud popping when plugging in headphones
Post by: Futureroast on October 21, 2019, 12:10:59 PM: I re-soldered the black wire into the headphone jack, and I took the wire off the other side just because. No popping noise anymore! Thanks for the tips.

P.S. Sounds nice :D
Title: Re: Loud popping when plugging in headphones
Post by: Paul Birkeland on October 21, 2019, 12:11:19 PM: The wires soldered together on the other side of the TRS jack need to be there. These short the output when you have no headphones plugged in, which minimizes the voltage spike when turning on the amplifier.
Title: Re: Loud popping when plugging in headphones
Post by: Futureroast on October 21, 2019, 12:17:32 PM: Ah I see. I'll re-attach it.
Title: Re: Loud popping when plugging in headphones
Post by: ufotofu on October 24, 2019, 04:01:16 PM: Thank you everybody, I was having the same issue hearing a very loud pop when plugging in my headphones. Turned out to be a loose ground connection on my jack just like suggested!