GHD 4.2 Model (various colours)

This model is a MK4 pair of GHD straightener in various different colours. It was also given the label 4.3, but they were in fact exactly the same as the 4.2 irons. For information about repairing this model, see the Mk4 debugging page.

There are two design variations - we call them type 1 and type 2. To work out which variation you have see the type 1 vs type 2 page. There are also more details about the design variations below.

For photos of the special edition coloured versions see the following pages:

Normal operation is as follows:

Switch on => Beep Once, LED on constantly
Reach operating temperature => Beep twice, LED flashes continuously.

If the temperature of the irons is below 5 degrees C then they will not work and the will emit a continuous beeping sound. To fix this, just bring them back up to normal temperature (gradually!) and then try again.

They commonly suffer from an R8 or R11 50 ohm resistor failure thanks to intermittent cable connections. For more details see the R8 resistor page.

We have stock of various 4.2 spare parts in our shop.

Design Variations

It seems that GHD did a reasonably significant redesign of the straightener without changing the model number. Therefore there are a couple of different designs which all have a label stating 4.2B. To see the design differences side by side have a look at the Type1/Type2 comparison page.

Type 1

This type of GHD 4.2B is very similar to previous models and uses the same cable connection etc:

This type uses the normal GHD Cable which looks like this:

Type 2

The differences are as follows:

Cables

The type 2 GHD 4.2B straighteners have a different cable connection to all previous GHD straighteners. To add to the confusion they also changed the type of cable and socket at some point!

The original type 2 4.2B iron used a cable like this:

This style of connector has a problem where the contacts for the central pin get bent outwards and stop making contact with the pin. Therefore if your GHDs are dead, try gently bending those contacts back in with a small screw driver. For more details see the type2 cable socket page. We would recommend replacing the cable socket with an upgraded part that does not suffer from this problem.

Then at some point (probably around when the GHD Mk5 Gold series was launched) they change the cable socket for a new design which we call the type 3 cable socket:

The type 3 cable is available via our shop here - GHD Type 3 Cable.

There is a video that shows how to replace the type 3 cable here.

Heater Plates

In all previous models of GHD the heater plate are held in by plate mounts that just clip onto the heater plate with plastic clips on the mounting part. In the 4.2 type 2 irons they use extra metal clips to hold it all together. This is a good thing as it removes the problem that previous models had with the plastic clips breaking off and the plates falling out. Since this was written the metal clips have been ditched in favour of the all plastic clip on mounts.

We've put together a couple of videos showing how to take the heater assemblies apart: