19 replies to this topic

[rhs856]

For those of you who have teenagers in your life (or those who ARE the teenager in your life), you have probably seen countless pairs of headphones get used and abused. At the high school where I teach, broken headphones are a daily "emergency" and I have some students who go through a couple pair a month! Anywho, after finding pieces and parts on my floor, I noticed that there was some interesting colored wire inside the headphones. I started passing the word around that kids with DOA headphones should bring them my way.



Top left is your typical pair of Apple earbuds. These are what I get most of my wiring. Most come with a gold colored wire in each side paired with either a red or a blue wire. Different headphones come with different colors - green, grey, black, even that red/green combo that's just crying out to be put in a Christmas themed car!

You can also scavenge other parts, like screen (shown) and magnets. You'd be surprised what's inside these things. Just let your kids/grand kids/friends know that you are their new Earbud Recycling Facility!

[Dr. Cranky]

Very cool.

[my80malibu]

Excellent Tip

[Harry P.]

Great tip. Old, broken electronics in general are a treasure trove of wiring and various little gadgets that can be used to detail models cars.

[southpier]

in tact, i put a stereo system in a nova wagon with an ear plug. i had to crank the transistor to hear anything, but it worked.


this was back in '64.

[mnwildpunk]

Cool beans thanks for the tip

[carrucha]

Useful tip. Thanks.

[rel14]

Little diodes make great fuel filters

[moparmagiclives]

I didn't use the wire, but the insulation makes for cool boot material.



One of the guys at work was at auto zone and picked up a pair of ear buds on clearence, but the insulation is a cloth weave. I'm in the hunt !

[cwobeaman]

great tip!...... I just destroyed an old DVI cable when I switched a monitor over to HDMI.... The interference wrap also comes in handy for creating heat shielding.

[wisdonm]

Why mess around when you can get the correct stuff for only $2 delivered?

http://www.ebay.com/...984.m1555.l2649

[johnbuzzed]

Video (monitor) cable and mouse cable has good small gauge wire, too.

[MAGNUM4342]

Great tip. Old, broken electronics in general are a treasure trove of wiring and various little gadgets that can be used to detail models cars.

Absolutely! Those little clear diodes make awesome fuel filters!

[priest3131]

Tore apart an old amplifier that I had blown. I used the RCA outputs (the chrome part) for an exhaust tip on a tuner Honda, looked perfect

[clavender17]

idk if this has been said on here or not but in the end of an eletric ciggerit or however you spell them "NOT A SMOKER" but there are a few little wires in them that are good use for very small wiring for lights and etc ....

[lanesteele240]

there was a computer mouse in thetrash At work. i cut the wire off skinned back the outter sleeve and wow. i also use the charging cable for my iphone after it went bad. worked just the same.

[Swamp Dog]

great tips..

[Pro Wrench]

Why mess around when you can get the correct stuff for only $2 delivered?

http://www.ebay.com/...984.m1555.l2649

Because a big part of this hobby for a lot of people is the feeling of accomplishment from scratchbuilding realistic looking stuff using stuff that has been scrounged for free. Not to mention the fact that 2 bucks in my pocket is still better for me than that same 2 bucks in someone elses pocket.

[StraightSpeed]

Pro Wrench is a wise man.

[greymack]

Nothing better than cheap tips