2. Common Faults
  3. Cable

GHD Cable / Flex Problems

Due to the hard life that a cable on a pair of hair straighteners tends to receive, they have a habit of breaking. In some cases they even go flash bang when they fail due to wires inside the cord touching each other and shorting out!

A good indication that the cable is failing is when the power light flashes when you move the cable. If this starts happening then I would recommend replacing the cable ASAP rather than waiting for it to fail catastrophically.

To fix this problem it is a matter of finding the break (using "scientific wobbling"!!) and shortening the cable to remove the break. Most of the time however the break is very close to or within the strain relief at the GHD end of the cable. This means you'll need to fit a new cable. (If you've got 3.1b's then you should probably work through the Electrical fault finding procedure before deciding to replace the cable).

Please note that continuing to use a mains cable that is arcing/sparking can cause more serious damage to the irons. Examples would be damage to the PIC processor, which, in turn, can cause over heating and damage to the thermal fuse and elements.

When we fit new cables or cable sockets, we apply a thin layer of Electrolube CG60 high voltage grease to lubricate the rotating joint to decrease wear and therefore increase longevity.

There are a few types of cable used in genuine GHDs:

The Original Type 1 GHD Cable

The original GHD cable. This has a male coaxial connector and was used on GHDs from the very first pair through to the early 4.2Bs. This is the most proven design of cable and works well.

We stock this cable in black in our online spare parts shop.

For details of how to fit a new cable to GHD 3.1b / SS please see the GHD 3.1b Cable Replacement How-to.

The Type 2 GHD Cable

The "middle generation" irons in the 4.2 range used a different design of cable that has proved to be particularly unreliable. If your irons are 4.2Bs then you may have this cable and it is probably causing you problems (unless the cable socket has already been replaced!). Later GHD 4.2B irons switched to the type 3 cable (see below).

To find out which type of 4.2 iron you have see the type 1 vs type 2 page.

If you have this type 2 cable then have a read of the type 2 cable socket page for details of what goes wrong with it. We would recommend completely replacing the cable and the cable socket with the Type 3 design which is compatible and available from our shop.

For details of how to fit a new cable to GHD 4.0 / 4.1 / 4.2 please see the GHD Mk4 Cable Replacement How-to.

The Type 3 GHD Cable

The GHD 5.0 Gold Series models and the more recent GHD 4.2B irons use a third type of cable. We can supply brand new cables that are compatible with this type 3 cable socket via our shop. See the GHD 5.0 page for more details

For details of how to replace a type 3 cable please see the GHD Mk5 Cable Replacement How-to.

 

 

The Eclipse Cable

The GHD Eclipse model uses a 4th type of cable. We have compatible cables available on our shop - Mk6 Eclipse cable.

There a guide to dismantling the Eclipse model here.

 

The Platinum Cable

The GHD Platinum mains cable is now available from our shop HERE

It fits the following; Platinum S8T261, Platinum Plus S8T262, Gold S7N261, GHD S7N421 Max, Original, Curve collection (wands & tongs), Oracle and Glide hot brush.

 

Fake Cables

Some fake GHD's use a different cable style to real GHD's and often people do not realise they have fake GHDs as they do look identical to the real thing (on the outside anyway!). We do not stock any cables suitable for fakes.

Examples of damaged cable

 

Tips to prolong the life of your GHD cable:

FAQ

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