TRS Jack & Resistors Replacement

[suttonri]

I'm just not happy with the solder job I did at the headphone jack. It's just such a mess that it's beyond solder wick. I just want to cut it out and start anew.

1. Is there anything to be gained by buying a pricier jack?
Like this:

4802.2300 | DigiKey Electronics

Order today, ships today. 4802.2300 – 3.50mm (0.141", 1/8", Mini Plug) - Headphone Phone Jack Stereo (3 Conductor, TRS) Connector Solder Eyelet(s) from SCHURTER Inc.. Pricing and Availability on millions of electronic components from Digi-Key Electronics.

www.digikey.com

2. Anything to be gained by swapping out the resistors on the jack, like a Vishay Dale metal film? Any suggestions? How critical is the 2.49 kohm spec? What happens if I use 2.7? How critical is the 1/4 watt rating? Is 1 watt OK? How tight should matching tolerance be, 1% OK?

Thx
RS

 

[Paul Birkeland]

NYS212 is the headphone jack we provide. I would suggest buying both the jack we provide and the jack you linked to, just so you have options. It is critical that the metal shell on the jack you've linked to doesn't touch the chassis plate, so keep that in mind as you evaluate using it.

The resistors on the headphone jack are not at all critical. They should be rated for at least 1/8W, and you could use anything between 2K and 3.3K without much in the way of negative consequences. There's very little signal current flowing through these relative to the load, so don't sweat too much about buying something super nice.