Useful tip: PTFE Pipe thread tape on headphone cords

[Chester]

Hello: I just wanted to share this method I have been using for awhile now. Around my headphone cords, I wrap the white PTFE (Teflon) thread seal tape in a 'spiral' fashion starting at the 'head end' working my way down to the 1/8" plug. I have not yet put heat-shrink tubing around the end of the Teflon yet (to keep it from unwinding, however unwinding does not really happen anyways (heat-shrink would just make a more durable setup). I typically wrap the cord twice, one time clockwise and then the other counter clockwise, this helps keep the cord from having an odd twist to it from the tension applied by the twisting of the cord when you wrap it.

Now you may be asking WHY would I wrap my headphone cords with Teflon tape? The answer is body oils; Teflon keeps the oils from my face and neck from getting on the cords. Over time the oils will either break down or stiffen the material of the cables, causing the headphones to wear out quicker. PTFE tape costs around $1.50 at the Home Depot, so the investment of your time and $1.50 can help your headphones last substantially longer. Also, the 'slipperiness' of Teflon keeps the cord from getting so tangled, and the tension, along with the added thickness causes the cord to 'want to be straighter' which also helps keep things from getting tangled (especially with earbuds).

I will post some pics to demonstrate in a little while

I have also (recently) figured out a way to 'coat' my JVC HA-FX34 (the marshmallow style ones for ~$20 at Walmart; cheap but they actually have excellent sound for the price) the foam 'marshmallow' style ear inserts with Teflon (the inserts seem to break down/harden after ~2 months of use from oils too). I will give some details on that as well

Hope this helps some people save some money on headphones

[Chester]

Here are the pictures I mentioned The headphones are Sony MDR-EX55, the teflon tape shown has been applied for ~2-3 months now and has received regular use.

You may notice some areas are more translucent; after applying pressure to the teflon wrap it appears to squeeze some air out and make a better 'bond' (as if you were to stick scotch tape to paper and then press it on with your fingernail). For those who have not used pipe thread tape before, it is a bit like Saran wrap/Glad cling wrap though there is less stretch to it.


I used my thumbnail (the 'flat part' not the edge) to press the teflon down, causing the translucence shown below.

Shown below is the 'termination point', the teflon is wrapped starting at each ear-bud and stops at the branching point shown here. From the termination point, I then wrapped towards the plug.

This shows the translucency on the cord, I realize it does look like there is only one direction of wrapping, however there are two layers, in opposing directions.



Here is a 'demo' of the wrapping using my pair of JVC HA-FX34 'marshmallow' headphones. The cord around the ear-buds has already hardened (from skin oils) so I did not cover the entire cord, this was just to show some of the application methods I have figured out.

If you pull/stretch the teflon tape so it is a bit "wider" it can aid in a smoother application. It is also helpful to try and keep the cord taught while wrapping.


I mentioned the marshmallow ear inserts getting hard from oils too (this is my second pair of 'marshmallows' to do so) using three 1" long strips of teflon, I managed to wrap them around the foam ear inserts

[Lordoftherings]

Cool. And looks good too. And Teflon is a good insulation also, plus more durable cords. Great tip.

I think that might work well also for all your wiring, speaker wires, interconnects, HDMI cables, etc.

* Snake oil, maybe, but more protection for sure. And more protection in Audio is a good thing. Teflon is good stuff.
And these pipe's rolls are very affordable.

Thanks mate,
Bob

[Chester]

Thanks, yeah, I was shooting for the durability angle; through the years I have had A LOT of headphones have cords get messed up... This is my solution I suppose it would improve insulation for other types of cables too... (may not be noticeable) It really is great as far as keeping the cord from getting tangled though and keeps the oils from wrecking the rubber

[Lordoftherings]

I knew that you were giving the tip as for durability, I just extrapolated a bit further, that's all.

[Chester]

gotcha, I am sure there would be some merit to coating wires with teflon... especially if the signal was high voltage

[Lordoftherings]

Teflon is a good insulator, I don't see why not.