How to Remove a Broken Headphone Plug from Your iPhone

When you have a problem with your phone, there are always going to be forums that tell you how to fix them. The problem with these, is that they are often difficult, not adjusted to our knowledge or skill-set, or require some odd collection of tools that the average Joe doesn’t have lying around.

One of the scariest issues your technology can experience is a jack or plug breaking off into one of its many ports. It’s scary because, you always think you can get it, maybe with tweezers. I mean, you can see it in there, taunting you. Maybe something small and sharp? Trying not to hit the connectors or sides, damaging it further. The worst thing you could do is get it stuck in there further, rendering your port a useless, forever-plugged void that will cost a lot to repair.

You may have luck with the tweezers when it comes to the wider,more rectangular ports of your device, what about that pesky headphone plug. It’s 3.5 mm! Nothing you have can grab it safely without marring your device. Some of these online tutorials required dremel tools and burrs, which are not things that we all have readily available around the house. So to remove a broken headphone plug, try this instead.

What you’ll need:

1. A basic ink pen (like a Bic or Papermate)
2. A lighter

Instructions:

Simple enough.

1. Pop the tip off of the pen and remove the ink tube.
2. Slightly melt the top of the plastic tip. It is important to heat it just enough so that it is pliable, sticky, and slightly soft. You don’t want a gooey, bubbled mess.
3. Now insert the melted tip of the ink tube into the headphone jack and press firmly.  Hold for 2-3 minutes or until the melted plastic has thoroughly cooled.
4. Once you are sure it has dried and cooled, remove the ink tube and voila!  The broken off headphone jack or plug should be stuck in the end of the tube.  If it doesn’t work at first, you may not have sufficiently heated the ink tube enough to stick to the broken jack. Try again.

This process is pretty simple, and it only takes a few minutes. No dremels or other strange tools required. The best thing about this is that it will work even for headphone plugs that are broken off at the base.