Shuffle / Headphone - Sweat Moisture - Failure

Yes there is another person out there with this problem!!! The headphones do NOT work if you sweat into them!!!! So pointless....

I had the same problem with my Shuffle. Had the headphones swapped last Wednesday, and today after 5 days in the gym (would say 6 hours worth in total), they have stopped working altogether!

How anoying - come on Apple!!!

I agree - I am on my third pair now. Two I purchased and one set was swapped for me. It is a miserable combination of a great shuffle and not fit for purpose headphones.

Ditto on the sweat + headphones issue, Ruined my iPhone's and Shuffle headphones by working out with them ...

Ouch. Two (2) iPhone headphones and the Shuffle's headphone all DOA.

This really has to be a quality assurance problem. I understand dunking them in water, or putting them through the laundry would render them useless, but there ought to be some kind of membrane available between the controls and the internal electronics to prevent an occasional sweat droplet, or spittle, or raindrop from completely ruining the controls ....?!

All in all we have one iPod Classic, one iPod video, one iPod Touch, three (3) shuffles (1G, 2G, and 3G), and two iPhone 3GS's and one iPhone 3G in our home at the moment. Been very happy until the NEW volume control headphones were introduced. I can't believe I'll actually have to start shopping around for third party accessories now ...

I had the same problem - my iPod stops working after 15 minutes when I'm working out. I took it back and they said it been submerged, which is ridiculous. They replaced it, but only because I had only had it for two weeks. The same thing just happened with the second one. I am going to take it back again and see if I get lucky, but this is absolutely frustrating!

Misery loves company, so let me join those who have been disappointed by a device marketed for those who exercise and after only 10 minutes find their music possessed.

Is there any solution to this? I'm on my THIRD replacement set of my 4gb shuffle. If I use it to go running, the headphones are toast...the volume controls goes first, and if I keep using it, so will the song advance button. I hear there are other headphones out there with tapstick controls. Anyone out there had any luck with them?

Same problem here. Wore them twice on my treadmill and both time the volume control stopped working. This makes them useless. I am going to return the shuffle for a refund as it is useless without a reliable volume control.

I'm another statistic for the Shuffle 3rd generation earbuds problem. No doubt a sweat moisture problem on the volume and play membrane switch. Hard to believe this wasn't tested, as it only takes about 10 to 15 minutes of exercise to have this experience. Hope they plan on fixing this Achilles Heal!

Apple is going to send me a new pair, which I'm sure will be just as useless, but mine as well play their charade game.

Same thing here. 15 minutes into a workout the volume maxes out and the controls cease to work. Took it up skiing last week. Same thing happened. Really weak product. They should recall them or find a way to make it right.

Yes the headphones are a frustrating joke....28 pairs replaced HA HA oh my it's making me stir crazy!!! Luckily the Apple repair shop is next door to my work. It's like clockwork...go to gym, 5 mins into exercise the headphones go nuts (volume up and down, voice over goes into overdrive, songs stop etc, go to Apple and get them replaced...REPEAT CYCLE.
WHy they even know me by first name basis in that shop!!!! 'Hello Joe' they say, your new headphones are ready 🙂

Hello all,
I am thinking of purchasing an ipod shuffle for the very purpose you all did: exercise. It seems they replace the head-phones relatively easily. However, I was curious as to the length of time shipping takes? Will I need to go to an apple store or can it be a best buy. Also, what happens if you use regular headphones? Can you turn it on, press play with the standard headphone, then replace them prior to walking out my door to go running?
Furthermore, is this even worth purchasing? Does apple have any plans to change engineering? And also, the one response said something about the actual shuffle causing problems. I sweat a fair amount as I run for a relatively long distance. If this is the case, the shuffle is probably useless. I bought an ipod with my first computer, about 6 years ago. It was not functional within a year. My computer worked perfectly, but ipods seem to be a waste of money. My computer finally crashed about 8 months ago, and I replaced it. However, this Mac seem to be of much less quality than my original ibook G4. Beginning to wonder if Apple is becoming just another money hungry company solely based on sales and advertising, rather than decent products.
Any help appreciated. Sorry for the rant.

In my case, the problem of sweat/moisture with the earbuds is temporary. After drying out for a day, the earbuds worked again. I returned these anyway to Apple to make a point. It only took about 4 days to get the new pair, and I returned my original pair in their same envelope.

The cheapest and easiest solution is to use electrical tape, and plastic (I cut plastic from a ziploc bag). Cover the actual switch with the plastic and wrap the ends of the switch tightly with small pieces of electrical tape. It appears the $30.00 fix is the adapter people have mentioned on other posts. I'm going with the cheap fix, which so far has been working.

To me, I shouldn't have to pay $30.00 to make their product work. Hoping they offer a remedy, but I doubt it.

I sprayed/ saturated the controls with Scotchgaurd. (3M 4106D 10-Ounce Scotchgard Fabric Protector for Fabric and Upholstery - Amazon.com) let it dry overnight and have no problems with the controls since, going on about 2.5 weeks now and I use it for cardio 3 time a week.