moisture absorbing balls stuck in headphone jack

Joined
Nov 27, 2009
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I have an unusual problem. I have read threads about getting broken headphone pieces out of the headphone jacks, but the fixes suggested there don't seem to work for this problem. I have a ball from one of those "Do Not Eat" bags that come in shoes, backpacks, purses, and many other things. I would like to be able to use headphones again.

Any idea how I might get a moisture absorbing ball from a "Do Not Eat" bag out of my headphone jack?

Thanks for any advice you may have.
 
Joined
Sep 23, 2006
Messages
893
Reaction score
20
Points
18
Location
Las Vegas, NV USA
Your Mac's Specs
iMac, and Macbook Pro
Try this. Use your household vacuum cleaner. Put a funnel over the suction end, thereby reducing the size to the diameter of the funnel spout. Use this "little" vacuum to suck the offending ball out of the jack.
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
Another thought (and this one you would have to do VERY carefully). Take a toothpick and put just the slightest dab of super glue/krazy glue on the end. Carefully touch it to the ball and NOWHERE else. Hold it for about 30 seconds and you should be able to extract the object.
 
Joined
Jul 24, 2009
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Sussex, Wisconsin
Your Mac's Specs
Macbook5,1
Just slam it against the ground, audio jack down! :p

Well a real solution may be Cyber Clean Foil Bag seen at radioshack:
Cyber Clean Foil Bag (75g) - RadioShack.com

they work PHENOMENAL! believe it or not...(depending on how deep it is in there)
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
I wonder if that would work for the "grill" area that flanks the keyboard on either side of my pre-Unibody MacBook Pro. I noticed that there's gunk wedged in there that doesn't want to come out with compressed air. Might have to try it.
 
Joined
Nov 23, 2009
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Two suggestions -

the ball may shrink if dried intensely so blasting it with a hair dryer might loosen it up

The headphone jack is pretty robust. I would get an ordinary sewing needle and use it is a chisel to smash the thing up. Have some trial runs with another little ball, but That should work.
 
Joined
Jul 24, 2009
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Sussex, Wisconsin
Your Mac's Specs
Macbook5,1
I wonder if that would work for the "grill" area that flanks the keyboard on either side of my pre-Unibody MacBook Pro. I noticed that there's gunk wedged in there that doesn't want to come out with compressed air. Might have to try it.

Probably...We use it at Radioshack on our computer keyboards and it works incredibly great, especially at getting into small spots. And its relatively cheap-worth a try.
 
Joined
Dec 14, 2008
Messages
40
Reaction score
1
Points
8
Location
WV
Your Mac's Specs
Alum. Mac book 13", MacBook Pro 15"
ShopVac, funnel, duct tape - tape it together, seal it and taper it down as small as possible. Wont hurt anything if it does not work.
 
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Proven method!

Alright, this just happened to me and I know it's more than a year later..but to anybody still searching for an answer that doesn't involve super glue, duct tape, a heavy duty vacuum.. read on. The moisture ball I had was the perfect size to get stuck... it could move in the jack but it would not come out on its own.

These moisture absorbing balls can be slowly chipped away at with a sewing needle. Or if you don't have one of those, a nail (not finger) or a saftey pin kind of bent out at an angle. Just keep digging into it firmly yet with care. It will chip, little pieces or dust will fly out. But eventually the piece will break down and get small enough to fall out on its own. If while you're chipping away at it you notice a red light that's just the light that goes on when something is inserted into the jack. It's OK, your computer will be fine. Just be careful though.. you gotta dig at it but don't want to scratch anything up that doesn't need to be.
 
Joined
Jul 24, 2010
Messages
252
Reaction score
5
Points
18
Location
Dayton, Ohio
Your Mac's Specs
2 iMacs, 1 MBP, 1 UMB, 1 mini
How is that you get these balls stuck in the headphone jack? Seems kinda odd to me....
 
Joined
Oct 5, 2011
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Alright, this just happened to me and I know it's more than a year later..but to anybody still searching for an answer that doesn't involve super glue, duct tape, a heavy duty vacuum.. read on. The moisture ball I had was the perfect size to get stuck... it could move in the jack but it would not come out on its own.

These moisture absorbing balls can be slowly chipped away at with a sewing needle. Or if you don't have one of those, a nail (not finger) or a saftey pin kind of bent out at an angle. Just keep digging into it firmly yet with care. It will chip, little pieces or dust will fly out. But eventually the piece will break down and get small enough to fall out on its own. If while you're chipping away at it you notice a red light that's just the light that goes on when something is inserted into the jack. It's OK, your computer will be fine. Just be careful though.. you gotta dig at it but don't want to scratch anything up that doesn't need to be.

Thank you so much! This just saved me! A used a small nail and it chipped away in 5 minutes.

(To the person above: it happens because there is a bag of these balls in the case when you buy it. If you forget to take it out, you'll probably end up with one stuck.)
 
Joined
Apr 3, 2012
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
moisture ball stuck in audio jack

I have that problem too. It just happened 4 days ago. I took it to a Mac store and they told me that a moisture ball from the moisture absorption plastic containers was stuck there. What I can't understand is how in the world did it get there? My mac book always goes from my desk to the case and back. I haven't even bought those moisture absorption things in years. I am beginning to wonder if this is not an apple mistake and I should not be charged for having it removed. What do you think?:\
 
Joined
Dec 11, 2012
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Alright, this just happened to me and I know it's more than a year later..but to anybody still searching for an answer that doesn't involve super glue, duct tape, a heavy duty vacuum.. read on. The moisture ball I had was the perfect size to get stuck... it could move in the jack but it would not come out on its own.

These moisture absorbing balls can be slowly chipped away at with a sewing needle. Or if you don't have one of those, a nail (not finger) or a saftey pin kind of bent out at an angle. Just keep digging into it firmly yet with care. It will chip, little pieces or dust will fly out. But eventually the piece will break down and get small enough to fall out on its own. If while you're chipping away at it you notice a red light that's just the light that goes on when something is inserted into the jack. It's OK, your computer will be fine. Just be careful though.. you gotta dig at it but don't want to scratch anything up that doesn't need to be.

This worked for me too. Thanks so much. SO annoying.
 
Joined
Dec 18, 2012
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
moisture ball stuck in macbook headset jack

I have just bought a brand new macbook retina and new case and like you found the headset jack would not go in. After accusing my poor kids of breaking off a headset jack in there I found lots of small silica gel moisture balls running around in the seams of my case, so the culprit was obvious. Sure enough, poking and feeling with a torch and safety pin revealed a plastic, shiny ball was stuck in the headset jack.

The "poke it until it breaks up" tactic suggested in this forum worked a treat for me. I tested with a push-pin on a separate gel ball on the table first to gauge how much force would be required. Then it was a case of pushing the pin into the ball, hearing the little crunching noises, turning the macbook over to shake out the bits, and repeating about five times. Two minutes later what was left was too deep for the push-pin so I switched to the bent safety pin and carried on. Two minutes later I was convinced it was done but the headset jack did not quite go all the way and made a small plastic crunching noise, so I pulled it out and pried the last two pieces of plastic free.

Rebooted the macbook and all is perfect.

So I am a fan (if the culprit is plastic) of the "break it up and dig the bits out" strategy. The headset jack looks pretty robust but don't overdo it !
 
Joined
Dec 26, 2012
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Needle did the job!

Followed the advice; using a needle to scratch away at the surface of the silicone ball until it was out of shape and easy to prise out using a small pin. Thank you for the idea, just thought I'd add my success, if you have this problem then just do the same - was considering using superglue but probably a little risky! Last resort I think...
 
Joined
Jul 12, 2014
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Safety pin works great

For those of you with an iPad (mine's an Air but doubt that makes much difference).

After reading this thread i decided to go for the "Smash the ball" technique scrapping away at the ball with medium force. There was a little cloud of dust at first then a little "crack", shook my iPad upside down and the fragments fell out. Tested with some headphones and all seems fine.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top