Sennheiser Freeport capsule wiring

[MarkPAman]

I've been asked to try and re-attach the capsule which somebody has ripped out of one of these mics. I seem to have two problems.

 

1. There are two black wires & one red. Now I can see where two wires attach to the coil & that the third goes to a metal ring which runs around the outside, but which is which?
   
2. These wires are too short to re-solder, even if I did know where they go. I've removed the two screws that are under the battery, but still can't get the body apart. It's an all plastic body, so I guess some part needs to bend slightly to get the thing to slide open - but which part, I don't want to force it & break something. I guess if I do get it apart I'll be able to answer question one myself.
   

Another problem is that he didn't think to give me the receiver, so I've no easy way of testing it at the moment.

 

So, if there's anybody out there who's fixed one of these before, I'd be very grateful for some information.

 

Mark

[MarkPAman]

OK to answer my own question for anybody else who wants to know this :)

 

To get the thing apart does just require a bit of force. Open it up to remove the battery and by pulling the edges of the gap apart, slide the whole of the case past the stops and off the microphone. Don't bother about the circuit boards, there's nothing of interest there. Undo the two screws that are under the battery. This is the bit where you think it's going to break - gently bend the plastic bit (with Sennheiser written on it) outward in the middle until it unclips at the bottom end & can be removed. You can now get to where the other end of the three wires are soldered to a little PCB.

 

You will now see that both blacks are wired together. So one black goes to the ring bit to make an "earth" contact for the grill, & black and red go to the capsule itself - there's a blue dot indicating -ive side.

 

So then you can solder three new wires to the capsule & push it back where it should be. Cut the wires to the right length & solder them onto the little PCB.

 

Put it all back together - job done.

 

Note - these wires are not long enough to pull the capsule out without first disconnecting them -so don't do it. :)

[jona1984]

I'm also repairing one of these (for my sins!) but my little PCB that solders to the TINY capsule wires has come off and I can't seem to see how best to re-solder it.... Any ideas?

 

The two wires coming off the capsule are almost too small to even see...!! Is there an easy way to do this??

[sam.spoons]

I'm not sure what you mean by the "little PCB tha solders to the wires has come off"? do you mean the wires have come off the PCB or the PCB has become detached from the mic body? either way you probably need to replace the wires with some longer ones to make life easier. It's a long time since I repaired one of these so hopefully somebody who has done one recently will be along soon.

[MarkPAman]

Well, over 5 years since I last did one it seems. Can't really remember anything thati didn't write down. I know I'd have been useing a big magnifier with lights built in. And I did fit new wires.

[BradRWills]

Use some desoldering braid to give a good connection - although you might ultimately be better off buying a replacement capsule - I've never heard a repaired one sound anything other than "not quite right"....