Problem getting sound through both ears of headphones

[a4wdguy]

Hello all,
I have two detectors, an '80's White's 5900 Coinmaster and a '90's White's 5900 Coinmaster. I have a set of White's Pro headphones (marked Blue Max) and a set of White's Royal GT headphones.
The White's Pro headphones work just fine in both detectors, but I only get sound in one ear with the Royal GT headphones.
Because of this, I thought the Royals were bad, but then I plugged them into the stereo receiver, and they work just fine for music. I have compared the plugs of both headphones and can find no difference between them, so I am at a loss to explain why one set of headphones won't work properly on the detectors.
I am reasonably sure the jacks on the detectors are mono jacks, since there is only one speaker on each detector, so I am considering replacing the stereo plug with a mono plug on the offending headset.
Has anybody else experienced this situation? If so, how did you remedy it?

Thanks,
Warren

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[stoney56]

Is there a switch, kind of small, on mine that allows to switch from stere to mono.

 

[a4wdguy]

Thanks, Stoney. I have looked very carefully, and the only controls on the White's Royal GT's are the left and right volume knobs. No ST/MO switch anywhere. Good thinking though....

 

[stoney56]

Contact White's. Maybe the service center knows why there is an incompatibility problem. Possibly they are made for the newer models. They might even offer to replace the headphones at no cost but shipping. Just a thought. Best of luck.

 

[a4wdguy]

Thanks for all the replies and ideas, guys.
No adapters involved, I'm afraid...
The only thing I can come up with is that the plug of the one set is different from the plug of the other set in some way that I can't identify, though it doesn't appear to cause a problem for most folks (figures I'd be the one to have a problem ).
Or this could just be a case of the eBay scurvey (did I mention I bought the Royals off eBay?)
I think my next step is to go ahead and change the plug to a strictly mono type.

HH all!

 

[stoney56]

Since you only hear one side , does that mean you'll only find half as much trash?

 

[Arthur]

I had the same problem ; only hearing in one ear with set of stero headphones. I went to radio shack; they sold me an adapter that fitsover the original plug, It now works great. I also have White 6000D roldmn












i







i

 

[hollowpointred]

i think you hit the nail right on the head wrvond....with the mono jack. one other thing you can try is to only insert the offending headphones jack about halfway into the female jack. that should make your stereo phones operate in mono ,although you probably wont want to hunt this way,at least it will tell you if you should replace the jack or not. good luck with it.

 

[a4wdguy]

Thanks for all the input guys, the problem is solved!

I took the detector apart (even had to remove the speaker) to get to the jack. Investigation showed the jack (the female connection) is actually wired for stereo. The problem was one of the connectors inside was bent back to the point it no longer came in contact with the plug. What was throwing me off was the second set of headphones worked just fine. My micrometer shows a 0.0015" difference in shaft diameter between the two plugs. Bending the springy connectors inside the jack made everything right.

Again, I want to thank everybody for taking the time to share their thoughts on this problem. You provided the impetus for me to actually do something about the problem, rather than merely sit and wonder about it!

Warren

 

[ghost surf]

I had this on my machine and bought a jack that makes a one sided earphone work for both sides..Go to radio shack or you store of chioce and ask them for help...They would be glad to help.
I have a good pair and I have a jack that makes the sound come in even better for those deep tones undetectable..it is plugged into the cord of the maching and then to the head phones and gives you great sound.and is independent of the sound from the machine.
My brother never liked earphones and siad they hurt..beceusa they help your batteries last longer ..he came up with a speaker he made for his and worked better and did not hurt the ears..hooked it right to his belt!
He told me he was in the woods when a dog came up to him and almost bit him..With the ears phones he did not hear him approaching untill he almost jumped him...That dog was put down...So when working in the woods this was safer..and it worked at other times...So it;s just a caution to be aware of yur surroundings because you never know whats in the dark!

 

[Born2Dtect]

The easiest way to eliminate the Mono/Stereo question is to look at the plug of the working set of phones. Is it the same as the plug of the other non working phones. Mono plugs have 2 separate areas of metal and stereo will have 3. They will look different if the are not the same. You just cant get stereo out of mono jack without modifications or an adapter.

Ed