# Razer Carcharias Broken, Need fix!



## Buska103

My headset is garbage. It's the first headset and Razer product I've had, and so far, all I have learned about it is that Razer has design flaws. I have owned a total of two of these headsets after RMAing the first headset for not hearing out of the left ear, and after I got my second headset, the same problem occurred.
The problem is with the volume control casing. After 6 or so months, I can't hear out of my left ear unless I move the wire next to the casing to a very strange angle. I assume that after use, the contacts that control the volume become loose, and the wire has to bend an extraordinary length to get the left channel working again.

This is the volume control casing.









And this is my ghetto solution to fix the problem for the last week or so.








Yes, that is scotch tape. I can barely hear out of the left ear now, the angles are more picky now...

What are my options?

I can't RMA because I already RMA'd my first headset - and the one they send back is a white box and only comes with a 90 day warranty (I'm at least 6 months too late).

I'm thinking about completely cutting out the volume control casing, but my father (electricity dude) said that there would be at least 3 channels (left, right, microphone) and that chances are would be that each channel contained many tiny wires to enhance flexibility. Things may be different where he learned in the old country







Does anyone have any experience with 3.5mm headphone wires? Could I cut out the volume control casing and wire together each channel?

BY THE WAY, just in case this headset doesn't make it, does anyone have any headset recommendations? Under $100, microphone preferred but not necessary. I have no sound card...


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## ghettogeddy

you should be able to pull the volume control apart and re solder the points if they look broken.


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## Narzon

I can't much help you with fixing the headset, but I can tell you that for $100 the AD700s would probably be the best choice. Even without a dedicated sound card, they'd sound worlds better than the Carcharias.


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## Buska103

I'm thinking more like taking the whole thing apart. I have had waaay too much trouble with this kind of thing, plus, I have no idea how to open the casing.

My keyboard has volume control buttons, I'm golden no matter what route I take.


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## ghettogeddy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Buska103;13933183*
> I'm thinking more like taking the whole thing apart. I have had waaay too much trouble with this kind of thing, plus, I have no idea how to open the casing.
> 
> My keyboard has volume control buttons, I'm golden no matter what route I take.
> 
> Might I have some problems with resoldering the wires? Are they all separate and color coded? I can solder, but I really don't want to open the sleeved wire only to see hundreds of exposed copper wires! I've never tore down a 3.5mm wire before! >_<


i tired to do this with some old logitechs i had and had no luck. but i also have no experience. you will most likely mess them up if you have no experance. how long ago did you buy them?

if you buy new ones, you can go the ad700 route or http://www.amazon.com/JVC-HARX700-High-Grade-Full-Size-Headphone/dp/B0013OWPV4]jvc harx 700[/URL]

with a zalman clip on


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## Buska103

Experience with what?

I can get it soldered fine, but I'm not sure with what is under the factory sleeve covering the cable.


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## Khaotik55

Well isn't this a coincidence.

http://www.overclock.net/13923369-post3.html

I had no problems with the actual wire on the volume control, just the wheel itself. However I did have an issue with the wire right where it went into the left ear cup.

I cut out the "infected" part like a tumor and spliced the wires and attempted to twist them together. Which proved very frustrating because they're so small so I just gave up as I'm buying some studio headphones anyways.

I couldn't get the sound to come back out of the speakers.

There are two copper strands which use very little wires for each twisted together. One white wire. And then red colored strands, and green colored strands (each twisted together into one wire.)

I think the left copper and white wire are the mic, and the right copper and green/red wires are for each ear cup.

Here's a picture of where the wire goes into the left ear cup:








I broke the white wire off of the solder point.

*Edit:*
I took apart the volume control just for you <3








..and as an added bonus it even tells you what's what.

Also I present OCN with my latest creation. The Raze-tronics Carpoorias.









It sure beats the old ear pads. I just gotta clean the old headset up a bit.


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## ghettogeddy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Buska103;13933631*
> Experience with what?
> 
> I can get it soldered fine, but I'm not sure with what is under the factory sleeve covering the cable.


small tiny wire soldering lol thats what i had an issue with


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## Khaotik55

Yes you need godlike hands.


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## iJustin

Or you can rewire the whole thing like a pro.


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## Buska103

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Khaotik55;13933720*
> *Edit:*
> I took apart the volume control just for you <3
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ..and as an added bonus it even tells you what's what.


Oh jeez. You may of have just saved me from throwing away an $80 headset.. I'll see where my disassemble goes.

Thanks a lot for the pictures! +rep

EDIT: May I ask how you opened the casing? Or did you just rip it apart lol?


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## Khaotik55

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Buska103;13944400*
> Oh jeez. You may of have just saved me from throwing away an $80 headset.. I'll see where my disassemble goes.
> 
> Thanks a lot for the pictures! +rep
> 
> EDIT: May I ask how you opened the casing? Or did you just rip it apart lol?


I... ripped it apart. Use needle nose to pry one side up and then just use force to pry the other side off. Start on the razer logo side. That's where the screws are that fasten the board to the other side.

I grabbed one end, squeezed and twisted, and the two sides started to separate. From there I pulled up. It's scuffed but I didn't break it.


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## Buska103

Would it be possible to put the casing back together? Is it like a clip fastener?

I'm debating whether to cut the whole thing out or try to repair it... it would always be a better shot to try to repair it first!







I'm pretty sure I can handle the soldering.


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## Buska103

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Khaotik55;13944593*
> I... ripped it apart. Use needle nose to pry one side up and then just use force to pry the other side off. Start on the razer logo side. That's where the screws are that fasten the board to the other side.
> 
> I grabbed one end, squeezed and twisted, and the two sides started to separate. From there I pulled up. It's scuffed but I didn't break it.


Do you have any pictures of the inside of the casing? How are both sides secured? Is it like some push-in clip or is it simplify glued together? I want to open it with as little damage as possible.

EDIT: I'm taking apart my headset tomorrow. I'll take pictures


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## Buska103

Triple post









Anyway, I got my headset working. If anyone else ever had the same problem, give this soldering thing a shot!
The wiring is terrible IMO. Razer really needs a revision if they keep on planning to sell these things, my first one broke, I RMA'd, my second one broke, I repaired.
Razer support was not helpful at all explaining or showing me a wiring diagram. They said it was "confidential". So confidential that they decided to color code the wires, and put labels on the sound control PCB... sounded like they wanted me to buy another headset from them.. not ever gonna happen.









Getting everything ready...









Took of the casing using a kitchen knife, it's a clip securer thing. Tiny philips screwdriver.









Sheeesh, look at that wiring. I tested the left and right channels using a multimeter. Right channel (red wire) was working, left channel (green) was NOT.









Straying wires. Let's fix that.









Cut down the sleeving a bit. Marked the GND (ground) with some tape because it is the same color (copper) as the M- (microphone -). Didn't want that getting mixed up...









Cut down the wires a bit and resoldered. The wires are tough as hell to cut!! I tested it before I put it together...









I assembled it back, and I kept the tape on the ground.. because I didn't see a reason to take it off. If I ever need to repair it again, it'll still be there

















It works.

EDIT: PS, if anyone else has a headset that is broken and doesn't work, I'll take it off your hands for you! hehe...


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## Atherus

Hey all, I also fell prey to the left side distortion/death. Volume box seems to be intact. I can wiggle it to work very rarely, but it needs reworked. I am pretty mechanically inclined, and can solder, but would rather not if I can just twist em back up with some artfully cut 'lectric tape. xD Did anyone do a sucessful ear slot rewire? Thanks


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## aroc91

Are the two copper wires bare? Wouldn't there be a risk of a short?


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## Atherus

I thought so too at first, because the jiggling helped. But when I opened up the left phone I noticed the 5 wires were tied in a knot, and then went on to the solder points. A knot in which the coppers were touching xD. But I pulled out my solder gun, ground a tip down, and am ready to get dirty. I'll let yall know how it goes!


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## Buska103

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *aroc91;14596011*
> Are the two copper wires bare? Wouldn't there be a risk of a short?


Lol, sorry that I'm late, but since this is the internet and also used as a reference for other people, I may as well say what I'm going to say.

Those two "copper wires" aren't actually copper - they are wires surrounded by some sort of microthread. In that case, the microthread was gold colored.

That microthread is what makes it a pain to solder together. You need to get the wires in the center of the thread and not the thread itself.
I would assume the reason why it isn't the standard wiring method is for increased flexibility.. but then again, the reason why it lost contact was people the center wire was so thin.. lol


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## Gunner6777

What brought me here is an issue with feedback in the mic. The feedback appears to be somewhere in the wiring with only the left speaker. When sound is playing through the left speaker, the sound seems to leak into the mic, but not with the right speaker. I did a test with balancing the audio from the left to the right speaker while recording a tone and i go this result.










Now what i came here to post is, do you have this same issue with your headset, and if you don't know can you test it and get back to me, I'm thinking it might me originating from that volume control case like the issue you had. Thanks.


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## Burhan

First of all thank you all for your post and seriously i was soo relieved after reading all your comments and pictures that i am not the only one suffering this issue ! Thanks Buska103 and Khaotik55 for your great contribution ! you literally sacrificed your Headphones for us. my headphones weiredly has different solution , actually the problem is i am getting low volume from both sides i mean it was like 50% less volume from both sides soo i by mistakenly found this great solution for my headphone, wished i had seen this site before i purchased this headphones


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## Siigari

My girlfriend who I gave these headphones to (don't hurt me) just had this same problem. One channel was disconnected but if you fidget with the miniplug jack you can get sound out of at least one channel. I will probably take this apart and fix it myself.

Razer makes such cheap products, I suggest avoiding them completely.


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## Aardor

Any way to reconnect the two sides without the volume control?


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## Buska103

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Aardor*
> 
> Any way to reconnect the two sides without the volume control?


Sorry for the late reply.
I ended up scapping the whole sound control PCB because it was cutting out the sound again, yeah, it'll work. Just label the wires and connect them to eachother. I personally kept them in the same little sound control box and taped up the open holes.


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## sabun

Man, did I have the same problem.
After EXACTLY 6 months my Charcharias started to lose its sound on the left ear.

I did exactly like Buska103 and took apart the volume controller.
In my case the left channel (green) was NOT working exactly the same. I only resoldered that, since I am not good at electronics I did not mess with anything else.
Here I am, happily using it again. Thanks man, no joke I'd be without a headphone set right now if not for you. My Roccat Kave aluminium hinge snapped and even after melding it back it just snapped all over again. So I opened my Razer Charcharias that I boxed (after it broke) and tried what you did.





The silly Roccat hinge that snapped...By just putting it on my head.

Even after melding it back, it just snapped all over again.

Despite how expensive these peripherals are, my silly AVF (no clue what model) which cost USD5 lasted me 2 years! I dropped the crap out of that, and it still worked.
Both the Roccat and Razer broke after 6 months of safe use (never dropped or pulled, because I was scared of breaking them).
What rubbish...


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## morgan4700

Ok, so did you just re solder the wires in the volume control module, or were they broken from the beginning?


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## sabun

If you're asking me then,

The wires were not broken in the beginning. Somehow, along the way that small green wire for the left channel lost contact with the board. (Nothing visibly apparent externally)
I heated it and that released the green wire. Removed the old solder.
Then I cut off some of the green sleeving to reveal more of the underlying wire (like Buska103).

Then held the green wire down firmly and applied new solder on to it, making sure to NOT touch the other wires solders but giving enough solder that the green wire made proper contact with the board.
I only resoldered that single green wire. Didn't touch anything else, or take anything else apart.

If you're not asking me then, sorry I can't tell. Hope this helps someone else.


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## Hexidecimal

How the hell did you get those rubber stoppers off? theyre being a real pain for me!


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## Blimp

Old thread, but I had the same problem, sound in left ear was cutting out and going to mono sometimes, turned out it was the volume controller. I don't even use the volume controller so why not solder some wires to bypass it?

The red wires I soldered on worked fine for a few months, then another problem. Left ear was cutting out again. This time it was a bad wire inside the left ear speaker. Took it apart, cut about 5 inches off the braided cable, and soldered them on. This was by far the hardest part and I suck at soldering, it took about 3 hours lol


Headset worked perfect, untill I find out the mic wasn't working. Decided to cut out the entire PCB and just solder the wires directly together.

Decided I will still use the old volume controller's case, so I added on the rubber things on each side and stripped the wire. I used a lighter to melt the braided cable then pulled it off

Sort of twisted the wires together before soldering

My crappy soldering job

Wrapped with electrical tape to prevent shorting

Inserted it into the shell, wires turned out a bit too long, so I squeezed them in


And good to go, the mic and speakers work perfectly









Whole thing took a good 5 hours


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## Moolah328

So I have had a problem with my Razer Carcharias for a while. I didn't have a warranty because my cousin had given them to me.

The problem was that the volume out of the right speaker was bad unless I applied pressure to the case. At first I thought that this might mean the PCB was cracked, however, the main cause of problems with these types of electronics is generally with the wire or the solder joints. I decided to start with the looking for and fixing cold solder joints (because I didn't feel like dealing with the wire just yet.) I re-flowed the solder on both wire connections as well as on the potentiometer. This appears to have fixed my problem.

tl;dr Try re-flowing the solder joints on the volume control before removing it all together, it worked for me.


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## IJustAKid

I having problem too ! My Razer Carcharias wire connected to the headset started to loosen .
What can I do with it ? I am only 16 btw ._. Can't do solder


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## CreationArt

Hey guys, sorry to bring up an old thread. My left speaker went out.upon ooening, my green wire was severed. I soldered another wire to it and the board with no luck. Any suggestions?


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## taiiat

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Moolah328*
> 
> tl;dr Try re-flowing the solder joints on the volume control before removing it all together, it worked for me.


time to ressurect this thread again









worked out nicely, just resoldering the left channel wires. been afraid to take apart the volume control for a long time because i didn't know what to expect and didn't want to permanently break it.
but i'm not terrible with using a soldering iron so i spent more time waiting for the thing to heat up than i did fixing it xD

i'm glad the volume control module was built decently atleast, easy to take apart and fix. those wires tied in a knot worry me but i'd rather leave the rest of the solder connections alone if they're fine, which they seem to be. can't even find my spool of solder anyways, lol.

anyways, +1 for this thread existing, don't think i found any useful information anywhere else. and now my headset works nicely again! i wouldn't buy another one... but i don't need to spend more money for the time being.


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## derpickson

Good thing this thread is resurrected haha. My Carcharias just crapped out on me last night. Volume comes out of both speakers and the mic works fine, but the sound in both speakers is really distorted. I've never seen anything like this before. It's really irritating. Does anybody know what the problem with mine would be?


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## taiiat

i'd just go and assume it's bad connections like everyone else








the volume control module isn't exactly amazing, try twisting the two sets of wires together (without crossing them, lol) and see if it fixes the problem. don't solder them or anything, just twist them and maybe tape them a bit to make sure they make a connection. go ahead and solder if you find that it's crystal clear without the volume module. and it might be! i'm thinking of cutting that piece of crap out myself.


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## Atree

Although I'm probably just poking a dead thread with a stick... I'm having the same issue where the left ear has gone out.
I've broken it down and attempted to simply twist the wires together and bypass the controls completely, but I can't get any sound.
I'm not exactly an expert on wiring and don't have a solder gun, so... what exactly are my options? If any...
Or can anyone be bothered to give me some step-by-step instructions for re-connecting the wires so the ground will work properly and such?

Any help would be appreciated.


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## Tjj226 Angel

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Atree*
> 
> Although I'm probably just poking a dead thread with a stick... I'm having the same issue where the left ear has gone out.
> I've broken it down and attempted to simply twist the wires together and bypass the controls completely, but I can't get any sound.
> I'm not exactly an expert on wiring and don't have a solder gun, so... what exactly are my options? If any...
> Or can anyone be bothered to give me some step-by-step instructions for re-connecting the wires so the ground will work properly and such?
> 
> Any help would be appreciated.


It is sort of sounding like your left channel driver died.

Try taking some photos and maybe someone/I can find the issue


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## Icewind007

I am also having a problem with this headset... A few months after getting this headset, what I think is the center channel stopped working. Voices and sounds from straight ahead would be missing from music and games. I RMA'ed them and the new pair did the exact same thing several months later, past the time I am able to return them again.

So I am attempting to open them up and fix it myself, however I can't figure out what exactly controls the center channel. Both ears receive sound, just not what is coming from the center. Any suggestions?


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## Atree

Okay, I FINALLY got some time to sit down and mess with these things...
I really just need some information here.

Do I need to twist/solder all 5 wires to make anything at all work?
Can I bypass doing the headphones' 2 wires and just get the mic working?
Can I bypass the mic's 2 wires and just test the headphones' connection?
If I don't twist/solder the ground properly, will anything at all work? How would that effect the result? (So I know what I've done wrong)

I got everything twisted together and got no sound at all out of them, but when I would mess with the mic's wire, I could see static/feedback registering on my computer.
I still couldn't get the actual mic to pick up sound.
Is it possible that I've pulled the wires loose at the driver area? And if so, how do I open this dang thing without breaking it ._.?

Answers to any or all of those questions would be greatly appreciated, and I'll toss some pictures up when I get the chance.

*Also, I picked these up for 30 bucks, pretty much assuming they were broken.
It's mostly just a project for me, because my old mic broke and I figured hey, why not get a cheap headset and fix it?*


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## Blimp

I think the connections only work once you solder it. The solder burns away the coating, making the connection. just twisting these wires together wont work


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## Atree

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Blimp*
> 
> I think the connections only work once you solder it. The solder burns away the coating, making the connection. just twisting these wires together wont work


This is pretty much all I needed to hear and makes quite a bit of sense.
Thank you very much, my good man.


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## aatckay

Hi guys. the left side of my headphone RARELY has sound when i bend the wires OR PUSH DOWN the rubber at the very end of the wire connected to the headset (in the picture shown) I have no problems adjusting the volume control(the right side works perfectly fine),

and after taking off the casing of the volume control and testing out the connection it all works fine.

I even took off the left headset casing and tested for connectivity between all the wires and its all connected.

So where did i missed out or what must i do? Do i just resolder all the green wire and see whether it helps?

Or do i have a broken connection somewhere?


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## Sourcefour

I just want to post that I completely bypassed the volume and microphone mute PCB by cutting it out, resoldering each wire to each other and E-taping them to separate each other. Microphone and headphones are working fine again.

I originally tried re-soldering wires to the PCB, but still had left ear cutting in and out.


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## Coilernl

I've managed to get the volume pcb out after my left ear didn't generate sound but somehow when soldering the tin doesn't seem to stick at all. I've had tried cleaning up the ends of the wires but somehow the tin doesn't stick. Any idea's?


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## Sourcefour

You have to burn the ends with a lighter because the wires are covered by a very thin thread. Burn about 3/8" off each end, twist the ends together, dip in flux and try again. If you try to solder without burning the thread it won't stick because the solder is being contaminated by the thread.


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## Lannowar

Can we revive this thread ?? My Carcharias just having the same issue... Want to repair it but dont have any exp on audio wiring =\ , its just the left ear that gradualy stoped working and im sure its not the volume controler cause it works when i touch the cable near the head set

20160131_010823.jpg 1314k .jpg file


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## Buska103

tldr; razer carcharias not even worth fixing, even if you have the knowledge and experience

it's like they designed this thing to make it as difficult to repair as possible.
The wires are some sort of fancy multistranded fabric-plastic sheaved ultra thin wiring and its a PITA to work with. Any simple repair would take you upwards of 2 hours probably.

I ended up picking up a pair of AD700s and have been happy since, for 3-4 years now. Only repair was replacing the 3.5mm input jack about a year ago and it took like 20 minutes


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## Lannowar

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Buska103*
> 
> tldr; razer carcharias not even worth fixing, even if you have the knowledge and experience
> 
> it's like they designed this thing to make it as difficult to repair as possible.
> The wires are some sort of fancy multistranded fabric-plastic sheaved ultra thin wiring and its a PITA to work with. Any simple repair would take you upwards of 2 hours probably.
> 
> I ended up picking up a pair of AD700s and have been happy since, for 3-4 years now. Only repair was replacing the 3.5mm input jack about a year ago and it took like 20 minutes


Well after 4 hours of trying i managed to fix it by simply burn the cables with a lighter to make the connection. In the processe the mic stop working... burn the cables in direct connection and start working too.. Now that im used ill probably buy the material to fix it properly.
Anyway thank you buska,and if anyone having the same issue ask me for help cause i can probably help out


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## Maxc110

Push in the wheel of the volume and tape it in. That is how i fixed my carcharias


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