ipod shuffle 3rd gen headphones problem

The 3rd generation shuffle is a horrible product if you use it when exercising.
Mine is constantly dying and the volume controls stopped working the first week I bought it. If you go to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store, they'll tell you there's a moisture detector in the shuffle and that you must have washed it or something, so you're out of luck. Once again, unless you listen to it while lying in bed or something, it's a truly awful product.

Hiya, there aren't any design changes to the earphones only that the ones affected have a small nick in them on the right earphone cable so this is where the sweat/moisture is getting in. I am on my third shuffle and has survived two gym outings already without any problems 🙂.

I bought my suffle in june and have replaced the ear phones. I have two pairs so I try to alternate them so they can dry out. Well now that it is "marathon training time" and the summer.. this is not working. They stopped working in the middle of my long run yesterday. The headphones to go with the new shuffle are close to 40 bucks at best buy. I decided to go with the old shuffle and just bought it. I learned my lesson. go with what you know.

I just bought my 3G iPod Shuffle July 29th and thought it would be the best thing since sliced bread! I was using the 2G Shuffle, no real complaints but liked the smaller design of the 3G and figured the inline controls might be a plus. Yes, I'm a runner too...and distance is my game. However, I'm not a sweater (so to speak). I am having the same problems as everyone else. 5minutes into a run, the volume either goes so loud I have to turn off the Shuffle or so soft I can't hear it at all. No amount of fiddling changes the volume and the unit IS NOT WET! So, I decided (at least with my headset) the movement of running is causing some kind of short in the volume control.

My question is: do you all think Apple reads these boards and takes into consideration what is being said?

Such a piece of junk. I can't believe they didn't do any r&d on this product to see if it could withstand moisture. It's supposed to be for active use. I've taped over the controls and all the way up the cord, but I can still only run for about 20 minutes before the volume and voiceover starts freaking out. How long will it take for them to introduce something to solve this? They're well aware of the problem.

BEST PRODUCT SINCE SLICED BREAD, WORST DEFECT SINCE TOYOTA CAR MAT...Ok maybe this one won't kill you, but it sure will kill a workout.

Same thing as the rest of the posts...exercised for ~20min, shuffle becomes inoperable (no volume control) then shuts-down and will not start again. Waited a day, used restore function in iTunes, had to reload song list to iPod.

Tried something similar to the wrapping it with electrical tape solution but instead of electrical tape i used plastic wrap with a little tape at each end to keep the moisture out, it did not work.

FRUSTRATED AND INFURIATED, wish i had purchased a used 1g Shuffle at least you can control the music, sound and it works.

I actually tried the advice given below after giving up on my iPod 3G shuffle for 6 - 10 months because of the headphone gremlins (volume, lack of responsiveness, etc.) and after using the shuffle at the gym for 2 hours, I am cautiously optimistic that the electrical tape actually works.

I share all of your frustration with the design and lack of responsiveness from Apple regarding the defects with the 3G shuffle and am still tempted to e-mail their General Counsel to recommend that Apple own up to its faulty designs and to its poor customer service.

For **** sake!! Now I finally know what the issue is, wish I knew about this from the start. What a waste of money! Started a thread about it, and have the same issues people report.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2322507&tstart=0

Im gonna try my wife's 2nd Gen headphones. It has no controls, so I will leave the iPod to just play the songs as is while I run. If I have no problems...then its definitely the headphones. Otherwise it will be the iPod itself, and possibly the headphones too.

So **** disappointing. My first and this will be my last Apple product.

Same problem here. I am just using sports headphones and just playing the songs on random - without controlling sound etc. Mine was clipped on my collar sideways so sweat shouldn't have been dripping into the ishuffle. But it's dead, just won't play anything now! So I think it is either a dodgy ishuffle, or moisture in the unit - which is a serious design flaw IMO.

I've been fighting this for months. Apple has great customer service and has replaced the headphones and unit multiple times. We both know that it is not an issue caused by a defective unit...it's a design flaw they will not fess up to. I would have expected more from a company whose products dominate due to functionality & simplicity...and viral marketing.

I even tried to trade it in for an old shuffle but they won't acknowledge it's design related. *Getting tired of my 15 minutes of music during workouts. Next step is to just throw it in the battery recycling bin and hum to myself.*

This has been quite revealing!
I began having these exact symptoms on my gen3 in the last couple of weeks - thought it was just a connection issue. So, before going out and replacing things, thought I'd check the net to see if anyone else felt my pain...WOW!
It's been interesting reading all the replies. I actually did try the plastic wrap-upside down workaround, and it actually worked - although I'm running in 20+ degree weather here in WI. What amazes me is that so many have complained and "hope that Apple is reading this", and this has been going on for so long! Yet, I haven't heard of any of this in the media. Has anyone alerted them?? Look what it did for Toyota. Big companies will respond to bad news - shareholders don't like to hear bad news. This sounds like a bad product in need of a fix that's being covered up to save $$$. I'm forwarding this info to my local rag. We'll see where it goes from there...

i work for a medical device company, and have resorted to using a super expensive hydrocolloid dressing (normally used in a wound care clinic) to seal off the remote control box on the new shuffle headphones. it works well, but i cant keep stealing product to re-wrap once the previous dressing gets old.

to steve jobs: we know $80 is chump change to you, but it's a pretty big deal to us. make stuff that works for the love of God...this is downright despicable.

I am on my 6th shuffle and 6th set of earbuds. I believe the problem is with the gaps in the switch and the microphone area. I tried using shrink tubing but and size small enough to be useful won't go over the earbud 😟 So I'm going to give some liguid electrical tape or tool dip a try. I'll probably put some on that razor blade that is supposed to be a clip to keep it from slicing my abdomen to ribbons. it dries but stays pliable so I think it shout work. My main concern is how to feel the stuff from filling in the cracks needed to allow the switch to move. My plan is to squirt some WD40 (it is a moisture retardent/remover) along the crack/gap before dunking it in the dip maybe a tiny bead of vaseline? - jsut something to keep the plastic dip from filling the crack otherwise it wont be able to move. This could be a really bad idea but I am sick of starting a effing long run only to have this crap out on me by mile 2 or 3. Amazing how heavy it becomes when it is doing NOTHING but taking up scarce pocket space as a mini-brick. I'll let you know how it works out. anyone have any other suggestions before I operate please add them here. you can see the schmutz I'm gonna use here ( plastidip.com ) you can get it at most hardware autoparts stores and walmart's etc.

Wissh me luck. If it works

I'll post my results next week, but the placement of the Scosche controller seems like it would be less likely to suffer from the sweat issue just based on not being in "the line of fire." The placement of the controller on the Apple earbuds exacerbates the issue...it's always going to be "downhill" from the sweat coming off your head.

I hope the Scosche controller fixes the sweat issue. The shuffle is a perfect device for working out as long as it will work reliably. I also hope that I'm not going to be a Scosche beta tester...

Hey just in case anyone is still wondering how to fix the sweat problem with the shuffle controls... the Scosche solution is actually worse. Great earphones but the controls don't withstand sweat any better (in fact worse) than the apple ones. My apple control would work after they dried out, the scosche controls simply don't work at all any more. And the worst part is that scosche has not responded to two attempts to contact them about replacing them. Too bad.

I don't understand why someone (preferably apple) can't put a sealed flexible rubber cover over the controls so that moisture is not longer a factor. Was assuming scosche did this but no. The only option is to get a control back down on the shuffle which seems to defeat the purpose. I have stashed my shuffle for now - not sure what I will do with it - and bought a nano, light enough back to the normal controls!