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How to tighten internal male xlr in MKH 416 ?


Chris G

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The xlr jack on my sennheiser 416 is looser than I would like..

I think in conjunction with female xlr jack on my boom pole,

they are creating some noise I would like to eliminate.

I am planning on opening the mic up to work on it,

but not sure on how to tighten or shim the connector once the mic is open.

Does anyone have experience with this? My schoeps MK41 is not as bad

but could probably use help eventually if all goes well.

I've done searched the forum for this topic, but have not found any info..

Thanks..

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The xlr jack on my sennheiser 416 is looser than I would like..

I think in conjunction with female xlr jack on my boom pole,

they are creating some noise I would like to eliminate.

I am planning on opening the mic up to work on it,

but not sure on how to tighten or shim the connector once the mic is open.

Does anyone have experience with this? My schoeps MK41 is not as bad

but could probably use help eventually if all goes well.

I've done searched the forum for this topic, but have not found any info..

Thanks..

If memory serves me correctly I think the small set screw is reverse threaded. You screw it in go loosen or remove the collar.

Then unscrew it (Counter clockwise) until it backs out into the hole and firmly presses against the collar to lock it in place.----

But my 416s are about 28 years old.

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If memory serves me correctly I think the small set screw is reverse threaded. You screw it in go loosen or remove the collar.

Then unscrew it (Counter clockwise) until it backs out into the hole and firmly presses against the collar to lock it in place.----

But my 416s are about 28 years old.

Switchcraft uses/used that same reverse thread on their XLR connectors set screws.

Eric

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I've never had that problem on a 416, and being familiar with Switchcraft XLRs, I would suspect a reverse thread.

A camera op friend had a Sony 672 with a loose XLR base connector, the entire interference barrel needed to be removed to access the set-screw. Wasn't that hard, but not a job for twitchy folks.

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Thanks for all the responses.. I carefully tried tightening the set screw, but it did not really make a difference. :(

Earlier today I spoke to a tech at Sennheiser named Dave who was very friendly and helpful..

I was quite surprised how good their customer support was in this day and age. (they called me back!)

Dave also recommended tightening the set screw, but mentioned that if it didn't work

I could experiment and try to put some kind of washer or thin plastic against the u-clip/xlr base

as a temporary solution to at least eliminate movement/noise.

And lastly, I can always send it in for them to fix for @ $108 which I will probably do at some point

when I know I won't be working for a period of time.

Dave mentioned that the older 416's are built differently, so I'm gonna guess they might have the reverse thread

that some of you have mentioned.

If anyone has successfully experimented with washers or anything else as I mentioned, please let me know.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've just bought a secondhand MKH 416 with the same problem. It looks like its a fair bit older than the other I have so I'm guessing its a common wear and tear problem. It was also a couple of dB lower in level. The level issue was fixed by recalibrating the louder one down since both were at the maximum and to fix the XLR issue, I cut out a few bits of plastic packaging - the thin but rigid type - in about the same shape as the circlip that holds the socket in. I placed these under the circlip and it wedged the socket in nicely.

None of the screws I found actually had anything to do with holding the socket in. The one that goes straight through the body is to hold the casing in place whilst I couldn't figure out what the smaller one inside was for. Neither are reverse threaded. I had tried to take the XLR socket out completely but it would only come out so far. I suspect that the wires were too short and holding it back and that I may break them if I continued so gave up with this.

Bottom line, if you can get the circlip out (its a bit tricky without the correct tool but can be done), packing it out underneath seems to have worked a treat.

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  • 3 years later...

I've had the same problem off and on for a while. I'll eventually have to have the screw replaced inside the mic, but I've always done a quick tightening after opening the back shell and that solves it. I've also recently done what others have said here and just taped the connection together so my shock mount will stop loosening the mic backing from the shell. Gotta love the small adjustments we all know and make.

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Is it just the pins themselves on the XLR jack that seem loose? Or is it the actual bottom piece of the mic? I've noticed, oddly enough, that the pins always seem to have a little play to them, this is something I've seen across the board on most 416's. If the whole bottom piece wiggles when you move it, you can remove the little screw on the mic, and slide off the outer cover. There should be a second little screw that is now visible right by the XLR connector. If this screw is loose, it will definitely cause problems.

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  • 4 months later...

Does anyone know the IDC (mA) Maximum current rating specification for the two 22µH 3.3Ω axial RF choke inductors on a Sennheiser MKH-416?  The RF chokes connect the XLR plug-body to the PCB.  I believe they are rated at either 144mA or 190mA, can anyone positively confirm which maximum current rating is specified?

I am repairing the loose XLR-M pins, stabilizing RF coil cores & replacing the RF chokes too.

(Not sure if I should have posted this in the http://jwsoundgroup.net/index.php?/topic/28183-repair-mkh-416-p48/ "Repair MKH 416 P48" string...  It all started with loose XLR pins)

Thanks for any help!

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  • 4 months later...

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