this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2024
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Mildly Interesting

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Image on left is from 4 days ago, but the pimple was slowly forming over around 2 weeks.

The goop was sticky, not oily. Earphones are Panasonic RP-TCM130.

I was not able to find an explanation.
Something to increase cable lifespan, lubrication, rubber disintegrating, sweat and earwax that somehow got into the cable, dielectric grease, SCP-1407, no clear answer.

At first I thought the wires just somehow twisted. Nope.

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[–] UsernameHere@lemmy.world 51 points 4 months ago (2 children)

High resistance in a wire inside the sheath would generate more heat at that point, causing the plastic sheath to melt/bubble. So if the wire inside the sheath got damaged, pinched or some of the strands of wire were broken.

[–] fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 37 points 4 months ago (1 children)

These are earbuds, not big ass speakers. There shouldn't be enough power going through those cables to do melt anything.

[–] Orbituary@lemmy.world 14 points 4 months ago (1 children)

You would be incorrect. If the power source shorts, it would heat the wires sufficiently.

[–] fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 4 months ago (3 children)

And how much power do you think the DAC in a phone is going to output?

The built in DAC in a phone can barely drive my headphones, let alone melt a silicone cable. They typically output less than a watt. On a good day. Rubbers melting point is 365c and 1 watt isn't gonna do that.

[–] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 9 points 4 months ago

They typically output less than a watt.

Sounds optimistic. Checking a few USB to 3.5mm dongles, they seem to be around 25mW max at 32Ohms. Not sure how much that would change with short circuit, but I guess not much more.

[–] Chewget@lemm.ee 1 points 4 months ago

It's more to do with wire gauge...

[–] UsernameHere@lemmy.world 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Have you verified the specs on OPs headphones?

Maybe I missed it but I don’t see where OP said this happened while connected to a phone.

They're earbuds. You're going to using them with a phone, maybe a laptop, or even in a pinch maybe a desktop. None of those output enough power to melt through a rubber cable without severely destroying themselves and never working again. OP would be posting "my phone exploded and I'm deaf now" not about the cable having a pimple.

Even my dedicated amp, a Shiit Magni outputs 6 watts with both channels combined, and ain't nobody connecting shitty earbuds to an amp. The rest of the cable is going to sink away the heat from 6 watts before the rubber could get hot enough to melt.

[–] altima_neo@lemmy.zip 5 points 4 months ago

Doesn't explain the goop though