3.5mm headphone jack broken less than 2 months after purchase of tower

epierrej

I bought a Fractal Meshify C tower on April 5th as part of a computer build. The 3.5mm headphone jack has had an issue with consistently sending sound to my headphones since the beginning, but I managed to ignore it be twisting the headphone plug just right get it to actually work. However, just yesterday, the jack will only play through my headphones through the left ear only. I looked into the sound/playback settings on my computer and both left and right sides were balanced.
I know the issue is with the jack on the tower and not the headset because when I plug the same headset into the USB3 port, sound comes out of both sides, but the sound quality is much worse than the 3.5mm, and when I plug a different headset into the 3.5mm jack, only the left side has sound.
Is there a way to get this issue addressed/fixed?

TSTonyV

Hello @epierrej! Welcome to the Community. Based on what you've described, it doesn't sound like there's any physical damage on it. 

Just to be safe, I'd recommend undoing and re-seating the front panel connectors to make sure they're properly plugged in, and if that doesn't help, we can see about doing an extension on the return period. 

epierrej

@TSTonyV I've replugged the panel on the motherboard and the problem is still there. Is it possible to repair/replace just the one panel connector or would the whole tower have to be replaced? If so, I had to build the computer myself, so would I have to build it again, or could MicroCenter rebuild it?

PowerSpec_MikeW

Do you have a picture of how the 3.5mm connector attaches to the chassis? We could see if it's possible and if it's easily removable I might suggest just contacting Fractal and asking for a replacement. I have gotten parts like this and removable panels from case manufacturers in the past. If it's not easily removable or Fractal won't offer a replacement, contact us via text with your information. We'll get it over to a manager and see if there's anything we can do.

epierrej

@TSMikeW
Here's the inside of the case at the front panel

PowerSpec_MikeW

Looks like you can remove the add in board and install it. Have you reached out to Fractal to see if they'll offer a replacement? I would check with them. If they're not able to send a replacement part, let us know and we'll see what we can do.

epierrej

I've started a support ticket with Fractal. I'll see how it pans out.