How to Replace the Main Wire in Beats Solo 2 Wired Headphones (Right Side Not Working)

If the right side of your Solo 2 wired headphones has stopped working, there is a good chance that you need a new main wire. The main wire runs from one side of the headphones to the other and is a common failure point for the Solo 2 wired headphones. 

 

 

If you would prefer to read a written repair guide, check that out below. Or if the tool cost seems prohibitive for a one time repair and you would prefer that we complete this repair for you, check out our Repair Catalog to see if we offer repair services for this device. 

Are you a business? We offer wholesale discounts on our repair services if you are sending numerous units in for repair or want to send us continuing batches of devices for repair on a regular basis. Contact our support team for more info Info@JoesGE.com (This email is only for wholesale inquiries, please contact Support@JoesGE.com for other inquiries).

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Repair Difficulty: Difficult

Time to complete: 1-2 hours (this repair is very time consuming so make sure that you have enough time to complete the repair and not be in a hurry).

The tools and parts that you will need for this repair:

    1. A New Main Wire
    2. Pry Tool (your fingernail, a guitar pick, or the dull side of a butter knife can also do the trick)
    3. A soldering iron (around 15 watts is good for small electronics and would be cheaper than purchasing a temperature variable unit).
    4. Solder Flux (To ensure clean solder joints)
    5. A Small Phillips Screwdriver 
    6. A Small Flat Edge Screwdriver
    7. Some Precision Tweezers (Only necessary if the hinge pins fall out)
    8. Some T8000 Glue

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1. Remove the earpad 

***Sometimes the issue can be caused by a faulty speaker which you can check by removing both speakers and swapping them to the opposite sides. If the speaker from the non-working side of the headphones works on the side that was working, you have a faulty wire, if the speaker does not work, you have a faulty speaker. 

 

Insert your pry tool into the small gap between the leather of the earpad and the plastic of the speaker housing then pry up. Repeat this process around the entirety of the earpad until you can pull it off with your hands.

Removing the earpad 

Removing the earpad 

 

Remove any excess adhesive that is on the speaker housing or earpad.

Removing the speaker screws 

Removing adhesive from the earpad

 

2. Remove the speaker and housing

Remove the screws that hold the speaker into the headphones then pull the speaker up and out of the headphones.

Removing the speaker housing screws

 

Desolder the wire from the contacts on the speaker driver. The main wire usually rips at the point where it runs through a small hole in the plastic housing so your wire might already be ripped and loose. 

Desoldering the main wire from the speakers 

 

Remove the black circular sticker from the center of the housing to reveal a single Phillips screw. Remove that screw to allow the back of the speaker housing to become loose. 

Removing the black sticker that covers the center screw 

Removing the center screw 

 

Using a dull ended pry tool or something similar, push the rubber tabs out of the plastic housing so that you can remove the housing. 

Pushing the rubber mesh out of the speaker housing 

Removing the back of the speaker housing 

 

Using your Small Phillips Screwdriver enlarge the hole that the wire was running through in the speaker housing. This will prevent the wire from being worn down by the housing in the future.

Enlarging the hole that the main wire passes through in the speaker housing  

 

Remove the four screws that hold the rubber mesh onto the inside panel, then remove the mesh from the panel and set it aside. 

Removing the screws that hold the rubber mesh in place 

 

3. Remove the inside and outside panels and hinges

Insert your pry tool (or just use your fingernails) into the gap between the two panels that make up one side of the headphones. You want to start prying them apart on the side of the round part of the headphones then work your way around the rest of the round part.

Separating the inside and outside panels 

 

Hold the two panels apart with your thumb then pry the straight part of the panels apart from each other. 

Prying the upper straight part of the inside panels apart using a thin pry tool 

 

Once again, using your Small Phillips Screwdriver enlarge the hole that the wire was running through in the inside panel by pushing the screwdriver all the way through the hole. 

Enlarging the hole for the main wire in the inside panel

 

Pull the wire out and upward, away from the metal hinge extensions. 

Pulling the wire away from the metal hinge extension

 

Lift up the edge of the rubber headband cushion using your Small Flat Edge Screwdriver to expose the two screws that hold the metal hinges onto the headband. Remove the two screws. These two screws are smaller than the other screws in the headphones so make sure to keep them separated.

 Removing the two screws underneath the headband cushion

 

The hinges should now freely slide away from the headband. There are two metal pins inside of the hinges that can fall out of place if you open and close the hinge while it is removed from the headband. If the pins do, fall out, you can use some Precision Tweezers to put them back in place. 

Removing the hinges from the headband 

 

4. Repeat the previous steps on the other side of the headphones

Now that you have removed an entire side of the headphones from the headband, repeat this process for the other side of the headphones before moving on to step 5. 

 

 

 

5. Remove the headband cushion

The rubber headband cushion has small tabs at each end of it that are glued on to the plastic headband. Use your Small Flat Edge Screwdriver to cut through the adhesive and loosen the tabs. 

Removing the rubber headband cushion tabs 

 

The rubber headband has a plastic frame inside of it that clips onto the plastic headband. You can pop the plastic frame free by inserting your pry tool into the gap between the rubber and plastic then prying upwards. You will hear a click when the headband cushion has come free in that spot.

Removing the headband cushion

 

Once you have a corner of the cushion pried up, you can lift up the rest of it using your fingers. 

Removing the headband cushion with your fingers 

 

6. Remove the wire

The wire should come off with the headband cushion, however, if it does not, simply pull it out and upward to remove it cleanly from the headband.

Clean any leftover adhesive or rubber wire shielding from the headband and the area where the rubber tabs were glued in place. 

Removing adhesive from the headband 

 

7. Install a new wire

The wire needs to be about 2-3 inches longer on the left side of the headphones than it does on the right so you want to start by folding the wire in half then give a couple of extra inches to the left side.

Line up the new main wire so that the wire for the left side of the headphones will be 2-3 inches longer than the right side 

 

Place the midpoint of the wire into the middle of the wire canal in the headband.

Placing the mid point of the wire into the headband 

 

Once you have your slightly shifted middle marked, you want to apply a very small amount of super glue or B7000 Glue to the inside of the headband where the wire will sit. We usually put a small dot of glue on a flat edge screwdriver or pry tool and apply it to the wire channel. You do not need very much glue for this. 

Putting glue along the wire canal in the headband 

Pushing the wire into the headband canal on top of the glue

 

Repeat this process on both sides of the midpoint.

 

 

8. Install the headband cushion

Use some rubbing alcohol and a rag to clean any dirt off of the headband and headband cushion. 

Cleaning any residue off of the headband and headband cushion

 

There is an arrow on the plastic frame of the headband cushion indicating the right side. Make sure to line the headband cushion and headband up with each other as they have a slight bend in them. 

Make sure that the headband cushion is facing the right way 

 

Installing the cushion is simple as it just clicks into place. Line up one end of the cushion with the headband and apply some pressure to it until you hear it click into place. Make sure to also press the rubber sides of the cushion in towards the center of the headband as you click it in place so that they do not stick out past the edges of the headband.

Installing the headband cushion 

 

9. Install the hinges

Thread the main wire through the hole on each hinge, then slide the hinge up the wire and onto the plastic headband. 

Threading the wire through the hinge 

Installing the hinge onto the headband

 

Insert the two screws that hold the hinge in its place into the hinge and headband underneath the headband cushion. 

Inserting the two screws that hold the hinge in place 

 

Using the same method as you used to secure the main wire to the headband, glue the wire to the canal in the metal hinge extension. Remember, you do not need to use much glue at all, the less glue the better. 

Applying glue to the wire canal in the metal hinge extension

 

Using a screwdriver or pry tool, bend the thin metal bump out of the hinge a bit more. This piece is used for the position locking click that you hear when you slide the hinge extension up and down. Don't push it super far, but give it an extra bit of exposure so that your hinge locking can be extra solid. 

Bending the adjustment clicker out more so that you have a more solid lock in the different lengths of extension 

 

10. Install the inside and outside panels

Put the inside panel onto the metal hinge extension like so. 

Installing the inside panel 

 

Run the wire through the hole in the inside panel that you enlarged previously. 

Threading the wire through the enlarged hole in the inside panel 

 

Align the outside panel with the inside panel with the hinge extension midway extended then apply pressure to them to snap them together starting one side at a time near the top straight part of the panels. 

Snapping the inside and outside panels together

 

Once the top of the panels is connected, slide them up and down on the metal hinge extension to make sure that they slide uninhibited by the wire. 

Making sure the hinge extension clicks into place smoothly 

 

Before snapping the panels entirely together, separate the round part of the two panels and make sure that the wire is not pinched in between the panels. It should go around the center round part of the panels.

Making sure the wire is going around the center of the two panels and is not pinched 

 

Grab the rubber mesh and guide the wire through the smallest hole in the mesh. 

Threading the wire through the small hole in the rubber mesh 

Threading the wire through the small off-center hole in the rubber mesh

 

Secure the mesh onto the inside panel with its four screws.

Inserting the screws that hold the rubber mesh into place 

 

Slide the wire through the hole in the backside of the speaker housing then secure the speaker housing with its single, center screw and place the black circular sticker over the screw. 

Threading the wire through the backside of the speaker housing

Screwing in the center screw

Placing the circular sticker over the screw

 

Using your pry tool (don't use anything sharp for this) push the rubber tabs of the mesh through the holes in the speaker housing. You can also use a set of pliers to pull the rubber tabs all the way through the holes once part of the tab is stick out. This will take some time and patience so go slow and be patient :)

Pushing the rubber mesh tabs through the back speaker housing 

Pulling the rubber tabs all the way through the speaker housing with pliers

 

Repeat this process for the other side of the headphones so that they look like this.

 

11. Install the speaker and earpad

Now you can resolder the wire to the right side speaker and the AUX port on the left side of the headphones. There are two different colored wires in the main wire, make sure that you run the same color of wire from the positive connection on the AUX port to the positive connection on the speaker. 

Soldering the main wire to the speaker 

 

Install the speakers back into the main housing and make sure that the wire is not pinched and the speaker sits flush with the housing before inserting the screws, then install the screws into each speaker housing to secure the speaker into place. 

Inserting the speaker housing screws 

 

If you purchased New Replacement Earpads for your headphones, they would come with tape already installed on them. If you did not get new earpads, we sell the new wire in a kit that comes with two pieces of earpad tape Here. Install the new tape by removing one side of the adhesive cover and lining it up with the holes on the earpad. *If you have difficulty removing the paper backing on the tape, cut across it lightly with a razor blade then use the tip of the blade to peel up the backing.

Peeling the paper backing off of the earpad tape 

Placing the tape on the earpad 

 

Install the earpads with the seam in the leather facing straight down and use the two plastic pegs on the speaker housing to make sure that the earpad is properly seated. Then apply pressure evenly on the earpad for 30 seconds to ensure that it has been secured. 

Pressing the earpad onto the headphones

 

12. Get back to jamming out 🎶

If you have any questions in regards to this repair, feel free to shoot us an email or text and we will do our best to reply to you as quickly as possible. Please inquire using our Repair Catalog if you are wondering how much a certain repair will cost. If you do not see your item in our repair catalog, it means that we do not offer repair services for it. 

📧 Support@JoesGE.com

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