Audio Technica ATH-M40X Headphone hinge replacement by taitywaity

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

Replacement part designed for Audio Technica ATH-M40X headphones but might work on other similar headphones like M50s (I haven't tested this). If you ask me I would be willing to make a few small changes to the design if its simply widening a hole or something to make it fit, or I can send you the fusion files.
PLEASE READ BEFORE PRINTING
There are 3 parts you need to print, the inner pivot piece, band piece, and outer skin. you will also need 4x M3 x ~5mm long bolts (mine were from an old 'Mechano' toy set), and I can change the dimensions for the bolts you have available if you really can't find any that will work. Also some ~4mm wire/rod (I used a tent peg and cut it down). Additionally you will need some headphone wire and the ability to solder it. there is a <2mm diameter hole to feed this through so most 2 core headphone wire would work, I didn't have any so used individual strands but wouldn't recommend this.
ASSEMBLY:
This is a little awkward,

disassemble the hinge part and cut the wire where it starts to go behind the metal adjustable band. you can see in the last photo how far taken apart it needs to be. Keep all screws and the small plastic part that holds the axle and the metal band.


Cut 4mm rod to length (I think this was ~24mm but don't remember but you can measure this and check it fits yourself)


Finish 3D printed parts - minimal required, maybe some aesthetic sanding and cutting the brim off the inner pivot piece. Fit the rod through this and check it fits with the plastic part over the rod. You will now need to sand down the bottom of the inner pivot piece so it just touches the inside of the bracket when it lines up with the bracket. This acts as the stop for the metal rod pivot.


Solder your wire to the headphone wire and insulate with tape/heatshrink only at one end, and feed it through the hole in the inner pivot piece. Now you can solder the other ends together and check continuity with a multimeter - these wires can be awkward to get a solid joint.


Heat up the metal band with a soldering iron and press the band piece against it to give it a bend. Make sure not to squish it too much as it's easy to buckle it at the cut out for the solder joint.


'Tap' the holes by heating up the bolts a little and screwing them through the band piece into the outer skin, ensuring both parts are pressed tightly together. Unscrew them enough so the outer skin can be removed.


Press the outer skin over the inner pivot piece and push it down so the small protrusion goes into the slot. push the band piece into place and try to route the wires in its trough so they aren't clamped when you tighten it (this is very fiddly). Insert the metal band once it's cooled down into the slot that's between the skin and inner pivot piece making sure it is all the way to the bottom. Make sure the solder joint is in the cutout in the band piece, now hidden behind the metal band.


Tighten the bolts so the is a only a very small (<1mm) gap between the outer skin and band piece. If there is still a big gap you can try using pliers to bend the tab on the metal band to be less bent. Screw in the screw that was holding the metal band in place before, making sure it goes through the hole in the metal band.

Reassemble. Place the black clip over the band piece (some trimming off the top part with a knife might be needed to get it to fit well) and slide it back into the headphone band. Screw together the plastic ends of the headphone band over the top. File/drill a small hole/slot in the inside part of the headphone cup bracket to pass the wire though and screw back together everything. Finally I pushed the excess wire into the back of this bracket to hide it away.
DONE!! (well except for the other side ;))
PRINTING:
No supports needed for any parts, 2mm wall shell and 1mm top/bottom for strength, 50% infill (there is very little infill volume). Printing time: 1.5-2 hrs.
Inner pivot piece - orient so the axle is facing up and rotate 15 degrees so the bottom surface is on the plate (this is the flat side facing right in the thingview preview), use a brim, 0.15mm layer height
Outer skin - orient so the wide side is o the plate, use 0.1mm layer height for smoothest looking results
Band piece - lay flat (opposite way to how it it in thing view at top), 0.2mm/0.15mm layer height
FEEL FREE TO ASK NY QUESTIONS, I know my instructions aren't great