Logitech G533 microphone arm

A lot of Logitech G533 headsets appear to share the same failure mode: after a while the microphone starts to cut and eventually stop working altogether. This is due to a design limitation of the headset. The microphone is connected through tiny little wires, and each time you move the microphone arm these wires get damaged a little. Over time, they break altogether.

If you have one of these headsets, and this has happened to you, you might have tried to open up the ear piece and replace the wires. You would have noticed that this is far from realistic for a typical person. The wires are absolutely tiny and tightly linked to the microphone arm.

Therefore, I have designed a new (hollow) arm, which can be 3D-printed and through which new wires can easily be connected. This is not a beginner-friendly fix, if you attempt this, you will need to:

1. Modify the provided step file, using e.g., the free personal edition of Fusion 360. This is because I did not use all of the original electronics (because I broke them), and replaced them with different ones. Hence, you likely do not have the same electronics.
2. Export the models yourself.
   • I'm not providing any ready-to-print models.
   • Because I expect you to have to modify these files.
3. Solder wires to the electronics, both in the earpiece and the microphone arm. You can use wire that is quite a bit thicker and sturdier than the original. The electronics are small, so this is not trivial.
4. Take the headset apart and put it back together. This will require a Torx screwdriver, and some puzzling.

The step file consists of 3 components:

• The actual “Arm”, which should be fine as-is. It contains a rather large cutout which can be used to house any electronics.
• An “End cap”, which is basically just a little screw-on cap. This is not required or anything, but may keep stuff together a bit better and look cool. This, too, should be fine as-is.
• Finally, the “Electronics holder” which holds all electronics in place. You will probably need to modify this. My model only has space for a round microphone with a 6mm diameter (not original). You may want an additional hole for the indicator led, an a different sized microphone.

Remarks, in no particular order:

• The original arm contains two bits of electronics and four wires: two for the microphone, and two for the indicator led. I personally managed to break the led during soldering so my model does not have a cutout for this led. The headset works fine without it, but if you want to have the indicator led, you can reuse it if you add a cutout in the “electronics holder” component.
• Since I broke the original microphone, I used some random cheap 6mm microphone off of Amazon. The original was a pain to try to solder, and I failed horribly.
• This was printed on a Creality CR-10 V3 using PLA.
  • With rafts on all components, to avoid all adherence or warping issues.
  • Using supports, because the pieces are not flat. However, some pieces can be oriented to be mostly flat.
  • Some cleanup was necessary.
  • Other print settings or materials will probably work too.
• If you manage to take the arm apart, and not break anything during soldering, then you can reuse an additional part. The microphone and indicator led are originally housed in a piece of rubber-like-material. The cutout on the arm component should be able to house this, as it was originally designed for that. Hence, you could reuse the microphone, led, and this piece. However, be aware that attempting to solder the original microphone and led is far from simple.
• It might be interesting to attempt to salvage the aforementioned rubber piece, without taking out the led or microphone, and keeping the original solder joints on those intact. If you can simply attach new wires to a section of the old wire, you may have a much easier fix.
• This fix will most certainly void your warranty. Do this at your own risk.