Shuffle cannot tolerate sweat/moisture

Gene Rynkewicz wrote:
On my 2nd one in less than a month. First one was replaced due to likely moisture in the headset control.

Now the 2nd one, I have saran wrapped and taped the control. That seems to have worked, except now the shuffle itself is giving problems. This morning after about 30 minutes it just shut off. The only thing it would do is tell me how much battery life I had. No light, nothing.

You may have moved the moisture problem to the earphone jack IF you have the shuffle clipped so that the earphone jack is pointed up. Try clipping it on pointing downward...

I reset it and it is working now. But I know this thing won't last another week. I'm really disappointed in the quality of this thing. Having to wrap plastic wrap and tape on the controls is a half-@ssed solution to a problem that shouldn't be happening.

It's an expedient work-around.

Now the player quality itself is suspect. Oh, and why is the headphone cable so much shorted than the ones that come with the other ipods? I'm barely 5'7" and the cables are nearly too short.

Shuffles aren't meant to be clipped to your belt or waistband but higher up.
You're the first I've read complaining of the earphones cable being too SHORT.

"Well I'm worried when the adaptor comes out, apple will make me pay for it."

Worrying never solved anything. You will pay for the adapter.

"I'm barely 5'7" and the cables are nearly too short."

You're not supposed to clip the Shuffle to your feet. Trying clipping the Shuttle to something closer to your ear; perhaps your shirt collar or pocket.

Haha. Very NOT funny. I clip it to the back of my shorts. I have to loop the earbuds over my ears to keep them from falling out. The cable is BARELY long enough. I can hardly turn my head side to side without it yanking on the earbuds.

That's all beside the point. The point is, Why are the cables shorter than the standard earbuds?

Also, my 2nd shuffle 3G died in less than a week. Total use less than 2 hours. I even plastic wrapped and taped the control, but the last use the ipod shut off after 30 minutes with the only thing it would do is report the battery level.

Reset, restore and now no volume on the right earbud. Other heaphones work fine on both sides.

I'm getting the feeling that this thing really is junk and nothing will fix it short of a complete redesign.

Gene

" it is essentially worthless since it cannot even moderate sweat or drizzle"

Do you feel the same about other iPods, the iPhone, and the MB/P/A?

When do you think Apple are going to admit to this moisture problem and come up with an apology and a solution for those of us who spent good money on a product that is NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE

The twelfth of never.

Have you tried putting plastic wrap over the controls?

I'm now on my third pair of headphones. Just ridiculous. Poorly designed product in terms of headphone controls not having some sort of protection against moisture. Did they not think people were going to run or exercise with this product? I'm as big an apple fanboy as anyone, but to those people posting with the self-righteous tones suggesting that we just put saran wrap on it and "get over it": I bought this unit for convenience and design. I'll tolerate saran wrap as a stopgap measure, but the bottom line is: Apple needs to fix this. Now. It is a major design blunder and needs to be addressed immediately. And if they can't address it immediately, they need to refund every single shuffle 3g that they have sold to anyone who requests a refund for this reason, no matter WHEN it was purchased. End of story. And might I suggest that if you're not personally affected by this issue, and disagree that Apple should be responsible for fixing it, that you mind your own business and look for other issues to stick your noses in? There's LOTS of stuff online you can get involved in.

i had my shuffle about 3 weeks and am experiencing all the same problems when running. i have not heard of any real solutions. is everyone just putting up w/it? i feel it is a waste of money if i cannot use it for which it was purchased. no recall from Apple?

Who said "get over it"? I agree it is a major problem but I've also done the saran wrap kludge and it does make it usable while I wait for a control adapter from Scosche so I can use the headphones I prefer and not the cheap ones from Apple. In the meantime Apple can either redesign their headphones, (won't be immediate I would guess), you can keep exchanging your headphones (I would imagine they will do this as many times as you want), or you can contact Customer Service and return the Shuffle. So I am personally affected, I do believe Apple should fix it for those people who want to continue using their headset. And I'll wait until June for the Scosche adapter.

Apple needs to address the sweat issue. Can not bill this as a device for exercising when sweat stops it in it tracks. I am on my second go around. This time I noticed corrosion around the ear bud plug in.

Clip it so the earphone jack faces down... moisture has hard time flowing uphill.

I don't think its a problem with it getting into the device, its a problem with it getting to the remote on the earphone cord.

Er...I was responding to "*This time I noticed corrosion around the ear bud plug in*".

I just purchased a shuffle 3rd generation(3g) and I too am having the sweat/moisture issue. I read the forums about this problem and tried to take the offensive, with SARAN WRAP. Unfortunately, when applying the SARAN WRAP you must be careful wrapping the top and bottom, because i sweat straight down the wire and right through the top. I'm currently letting them dry because this is my second incident with the controller not working. I was really happy with my purchase at first, and I still like the product, but i believe they need to either:

A: develop a water resistant headset.
Or B: develop a water resistant cover for the controller.

The fact that this issue has not been addressed is ridiculous, there is obviously a design flaw with the headset. I'm currently waiting for my headset to dry off from my workout tonight, hopefully it works in the morning and i'll have to do a better SARAN WRAPPING for now. I would just like to share my opinion on this matter, for I have fallen victim to the same flaw as the rest of you. The sleekness of this item caught my eye and the layout of it impressed me, how can a problem like this even arise? Were there no tests before its release?