Sudden volume increase problem

Same problem here. I think the moisture theory is a good one. I have had this happen with the headphones that came with my iPhone (that i used to use to work out with before the 3G shuffle). I also have used the new apple in-ear headphones and I have never had this problem with them.

I would assume this is something apply can fix with a little sealant or some way to shed the water after it drips down the headphone cord.

I'm just adding my "me too." Volume maxed out, when I finally got it to turn down it, it went to zero volume - struggled with max and zero for awhile. This was my 5th workout with the same intensity and sweating about the same as the previous 4. The gym did seem more humid, though. It seemed fine after I turned it off and tried again when I got back home. At any rate, I'll try the loop and see if that helps...

I think the blinky orange light means that you're at the lowest volume setting. Seems that the signal from the earphones to the shuffle is to continue turning it down - probably still playing in the background.

I'm still of the opinion that it is not a moisture problem, but a device issue. I'm 3 workouts into my new shuffle and no problems.

I would theorize that if it was a moisture problem, there would be a lot more people on the forums and returning them because the majority of shuffle users are working out.

Just my 2 cents. Posting this probably will result in my new shuffle dying tonight.

Has anyone tried any other fix besides the loop? I'll have to give it a shot for tomorrow's run, but I wonder if anything else can be done (besides returning the Shuffle either for a new one or a refund).

While I'm a little relieved to know I'm not the only one who's experienced this issue, I'm frustrated that my brand new 3G Shuffle that I've used once isn't going to be as great for when I run as I'd hoped. I feel a little like I did with my Nike+ sportsband, which had about as much tolerance for moisture as the new Shuffle's headphone controls have: I paid good money for the privilege of being a product's beta tester. Le sigh....

IMO, it's always best to read the forums for about a week after Apple releases a new product, to see what "gotchas" are in store for the early adopters. I'm not keen on buying the first iteration of a product, even after waiting a few weeks to see how it shakes out. Second or subsequent versions tend to be more my cup of tea.

I have the same problem too. Mine worked for about 4 days, but the fifth day I made a different routine where the earphone's controls made contact with my sweaty neck while I was trying to stretch down (kind of hard to describe it). The volume cranked up all of the sudden, tried switching it off and back on, nothing worked. Got home and restore it, and it worked again. I thought that was it, but then again this morning got the same problem.

I hope someone at customer support could comment on what are Apple's solution for this issue.

Had the same problem as everyone else here. Sudden increase in volume then became unresponsive. It was strange because it happened at the same during my workout during two different days.
Sadly, I had to return mine to Best Buy there was no penalty or restocking fee for returning it.

I did the loop suggestion and it seemed to work. But I'm not sure it worked by preventing sweat from dripping down the cord into the controller, or just by shortening the cord. I tend to run the cord down the front of my shirt so it's not bouncing around. This puts the controller right around where my neck meets my chest and it tends to stick to my skin. I'm thinking that's a highly sweaty area when I'm running. By using the loop, the controller was much closer to my ear and never touched my skin at all. I'll see if this keeps working...

OR....you could just take it back and quit fussing with it. 🙂 (I don't have the patience with defective products that others seem to have)

I also am having the same problem. The only difference is I live in the Southern Hemisphere where we are just going out of summer, and I can tell you that if you sweat at all, then in actual heat the problem is a lot worse. The ipod shorts out pretty quickly. It will be interesting to see what Apple can do about before things start to heat up, because I suspect its going to start happening to a lot more people.

Add another voice to the choir. I've been having the same problem. When I'm sweating on the elliptical, the controls mess up. Problems rang from loss of advance, rewind capabilities, and the dreaded volume increase (I thought my ears were going to bleed). Letting the shuffle sit overnight seems to fix the problem, but it always reoccurs during the intense part of my workout when I'm sweating the most.

I've had the same sweat problem since the beginning with the iPhone earbud switch. Of course, there's no volume control issue, but I found that sweat kills the little switch in the microphone very quickly. The earbuds still work, but you can't pause or skip songs anymore.

Until I figured out that sweat was the problem, I was going through a set of replacement earbuds roughly every 10 days. Luckily, I live walking distance from the Soho Apple Store. 😉 I finally gave up on using iPhone earbuds while sweating- I now use earbuds w/o a microphone when I know I'm going to sweat.

This is incredibly annoying. They call the iPhone, the "best iPod ever," but you can't workout hard enough to raise a sweat -- without destroying your earbuds? Ridiculous.

Here I was, hoping that the new design of the Shuffle earbuds might have solved the moisture problem, and I could finally afford to sweat while using my iPhone as it was designed. Instead, the Shuffle earbuds have an even worse problem.

How is it that Apple doesn't understand that people sweat when they work out? How do they expect iPod + Nike to be of any use, when you aren't able to sweat without wrecking your earbuds?

This is incredibly frustrating.

... you describe my problem with the shuffle ...