Need help with U87 XLR jack repair

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joninc
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Need help with U87 XLR jack repair

Post by joninc » Tue Dec 10, 2019 5:20 pm

Seems like my month for maintenance as the pile of stuff going to my tech grows each week... He's away for another week so I thought I'd see if I could fix the XLR jack on my U87. It pulled out with the XLR cable a few days ago as I tried to unplug the mic cable.

I seem to recall this happened once before and there's a little set screw which holds the connector plate for the mic cable to connect with - it must have loosened off so it gave way when I went to remove the mic cable and broke the solder joints on the connector.

So it seems like not too hard to re-solder this BUT i can't seem to figure out how to tighten the set screw - or how it even works?? It connects to a little plate inside the connector but doesn't seem to do anything.

So i don't want to repair it only to have it happen again next time I unplug it from the cable.

Anyone point me in the right direction?
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winky dinglehoffer
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Re: Need help with U87 XLR jack repair

Post by winky dinglehoffer » Tue Dec 10, 2019 5:34 pm

Sometimes the set screws on XLR connectors turn opposite normal screws--so maybe that's one thing you're missing?
Generally the idea is that the screw will line up with a hole in the mic body (or connector body--or whatever) and you turn the screw so that it comes up into the hole & locks the connector in place.

Does this help at all?

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Re: Need help with U87 XLR jack repair

Post by joninc » Tue Dec 10, 2019 5:49 pm

yes totally that helps - Thank you!
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Re: Need help with U87 XLR jack repair

Post by joninc » Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:36 am

quick follow up... maybe this is worthy of it's own post but i'll start here.

I need to strip a little insulation off the ends of the wires that broke at the connector in order to resolder but these are VERY TINY wires and i doubt I can use a wire cutter and not cut the wire for something this small..

I saw a youtube video yesterday where a guy used a lighter to burn the end off of small wires - is this a bad idea? it definitely works well to remove the wire but not sure if it will impede the conducting effect somehow by sort of charring the wire?
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Nick Sevilla
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Re: Need help with U87 XLR jack repair

Post by Nick Sevilla » Fri Dec 13, 2019 8:35 am

joninc wrote:
Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:36 am
quick follow up... maybe this is worthy of it's own post but i'll start here.

I need to strip a little insulation off the ends of the wires that broke at the connector in order to resolder but these are VERY TINY wires and i doubt I can use a wire cutter and not cut the wire for something this small..

I saw a youtube video yesterday where a guy used a lighter to burn the end off of small wires - is this a bad idea? it definitely works well to remove the wire but not sure if it will impede the conducting effect somehow by sort of charring the wire?
Dude. Send it in for repair before you totally screw this mic up. Spend 250 bucks, save a multi thousand dollar microphone.
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joninc
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Re: Need help with U87 XLR jack repair

Post by joninc » Fri Dec 13, 2019 11:23 am

Normally I would but it's 3 small solder points on a jack - not rocket science!
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Re: Need help with U87 XLR jack repair

Post by vvv » Fri Dec 13, 2019 11:34 pm

Yer own risk and YMMV (and we talked about thumbnails in the other thread) but I find that on very thin wires I have been able to solder them without stripping them - the heat of the iron removes the insulation at the solder-point.

But what Nick said is definitely best practice, if not the cheapest approach.

And I would have to feel very confident doing what I'm doing messing with something like a U87; try and find something to practice on - and not a U67! :twisted:
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Re: Need help with U87 XLR jack repair

Post by jimjazzdad » Sat Dec 14, 2019 4:54 am

joninc wrote:
Fri Dec 13, 2019 11:23 am
Normally I would but it's 3 small solder points on a jack - not rocket science!
Exactly. No Biggie. But if you are not familiar with prepping and soldering small gauge stranded wire, buy a spool of 24AWG at you local electronics store and practice on it until you are comfortable enough to tackle Herr Neumann...
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Re: Need help with U87 XLR jack repair

Post by cgarges » Sat Dec 28, 2019 8:47 am

joninc wrote:
Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:36 am
I need to strip a little insulation off the ends of the wires that broke at the connector in order to resolder but these are VERY TINY wires and i doubt I can use a wire cutter and not cut the wire for something this small...
I had to do this recently with a U48 I just bought. Stripping the insulation with a wire stripper was just pulling the insulation. In my case, it was just easier to replace the entire section of wire with a small piece of Mogami multi-pair.

Hope this helps!

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

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