Replacing a capsule on a Sennheiser hand held wireless

[gafftaper]

I've got a Sennheiser EW 100 G3/ 835 handheld microphone. It appears that the diaphragm or capsule has gone bad. The mic transmits RF, but no sound comes through. While trying to figure out what was wrong I unscrewed the top to look at the insides and see if anything was visibly wrong. In the process of screwing it back together I accidentally touched the copper contacts on the side of the capsule, there was a loud pop in the system. This tells me that everything is transmitting fine I just need to replace the capsule.

Make sense?

I see new capsules available online for about $140. Is this a simple fix I can do myself? Or is it best to pay for it to be done?

 

[Footer]

I would probably just buy a new capsule and screw it on... http://www.musiciansfriend.com/micr...0@ADL4MF-adType^PLA-device^c-adid^30424555107

You can do it yourself. If you have another unit I would swap the capsules just to be sure it is the capsule. A good drop will sometimes do that. Be sure you unscrew the capsule from the base and are not just removing the cage.

You should see something like this...

 

[gafftaper]

So it's seriously just screwing a new one on? Is there any sort of set screw or locking mechanism?

 

[lakota651]

Yep, just screw it on. It holds really well. I forget if the G3s do this, but the 2000 series auto mutes so you can hot swap them if you so choose. It also identifies the capsule. But like Footer suggested, try swapping capsules with another unit if you can just to be sure.

If you have the budget and would like to step things up a bit, you might want to consider getting a 935 capsule. Or better yet a 965, but then again that cost quite a lot more. The 900 series sounds quite a bit better than the 800s, in my opinion.

 

[gafftaper]

I unscrewed the wind screen this morning but I thought that the little line below the wind screen was just cosmetic and not a crack to unscrew the mic at. I have two of them so I can easily swap capsules and test if that's the problem.

 

[Footer]

I unscrewed the wind screen this morning but I thought that the little line below the wind screen was just cosmetic and not a crack to unscrew the mic at. I have two of them so I can easily swap capsules and test if that's the problem.

Nope! You can in fact buy aftermarket capsules from people like Heil and a few others: http://www.heilsound.com/pro/products/wireless-capsules

Just know that you can not put a shure capsule on a sennheiser and vice versa... learned that the hard way.

 

[lakota651]

Footer is partially correct. However DPA is the only manufacture that makes a Sennheiser G3 compatible capsule outside of Sennheiser themselves that I am aware of. Heil, and others like Earthworks, only make capsules for Shure, Lectrosonics, and others that use the 3 ring model. Rat Sound is supposedly working on an adapter ring for them and Shure capsules to work on Sennheiser transmitters, but I don't believe they have a production model yet.

 

[gafftaper]

Thanks for the help guys. I swapped capsules and that's all that is wrong. I got a new capsule today and back in business.