[mtthefirst]

Hi everyone, it's been less than a month since I got my MH335DW. Today I found this on it.
 

 
Did you guy see it? Here is the closer view.
 
 

 
Yes. It's a crack inside my left stem. The crack is inside and never reach the surface. I have been very careful with it and never once drop it. 
 
It seem that I have more than one unfortunate event with Fitear products. Here is another example.
 
 
 
 

 
Yes. Another crack on 001 cable of my TG334 after four months.

 

[AnakChan]

Yikes. I hope you've contacted FitEar. AFAIK, these are supposed to be solid acrylic?

I guess it's not been placed under extreme temperatures?

 

[mtthefirst]

Quote:

Yikes. I hope you've contacted FitEar. AFAIK, these are supposed to be solid acrylic?

I guess it's not been placed under extreme temperatures?

I already send an email to them with those pictures. Extreme temperature? How about 30 degree C different? Just came back from Thailand last week. While here in sendai is subzero but Thailand is above 30 C.

 

[VisceriousZERO]

Nothing like that on mine... And I'm in the Philippines.

 

[MuppetFace]

@ mtthefirst: Sorry to see you're having problems with your new 335DWs. That is very disheartening! AFAIK, the stem is the weakest part on the body. I seem to recall a few isolated cases of folks having some issues with cracking in their TO GO! 334s as well.
 
@ AnakChan: Fantastic! Please let me know how you find the 335DW paired with the WA7 specifically.

 

[AnakChan]

Quote:

I already send an email to them with those pictures. Extreme temperature? How about 30 degree C different? Just came back from Thailand last week. While here in sendai is subzero but Thailand is above 30 C.

 
Q: how do you store your MH335DW? Do you always use the Pelican case? I can tell you that with my TG!334, I never used the Pelican case and usually used just the grey soft case or the round UM hard shell. Some of these cases are quite right fitting.
 
Quote:

 
@ AnakChan: Fantastic! Please let me know how you find the 335DW paired with the WA7 specifically.

 
Will do for sure. I think I have the WA7 for another week or so then it goes to Shigzeo.

 

[Mython]

Quote:

I already send an email to them with those pictures. Extreme temperature? How about 30 degree C different? Just came back from Thailand last week. While here in sendai is subzero but Thailand is above 30 C.

 
 
I suspect this may be because of the sub-zero temperatures in Sendai.
 
FitEar are unusual in that they fill their CIEMs with acrylic, rendering them 'solid'. This means that they will not be able to expand and contract as easily as a hollow acrylic, because there is so much 'depth' of acrylic. Thus, the outer surface may be exposed to subzero temperatures, making the surface contract relatively quickly, whilst the deeper portions of the acrylic will be somewhat insulated from the cold. Therefore, there will be a difference in the amount of contraction, and in circumstances where they are exposed to sudden extremes of temperature (i.e. when you leave your home and go outside), it is possible for the acrylic material to experience distress.
 
I don't know for certain, but I am guessing that FitEar make their CIEMs in exactly the same way as all the other CIEM vendors - i.e. make a hollow acrylic shell, and then fill it with components. Only then (I am guessing) do FitEar go back and pour in more acrylic, to yield a 'solid' CIEM. The reason I say this is because it implies that there would be 2 seperate curing processes, and if this is true, it would further explain why you could be seeing cracks inside your CIEM, which do not go all the way to the outer surface.
 
As far as your cable plug cracking, too, well, again, it is solid plastic and so exposure to rapid extremes of temperature could also explain it cracking, just like the CIEM.
 
I'm sorry you've experienced this disappointment, but I wouldn't be too quick to feel badly about FitEar. Unless there is actually a fault with their acrylic material (which is possible, but unlikely, unless it is past it's shelf life / use-by date, or if it has been exposed to UV light and poured back into the container  - (e.g. see 04:57 in following video clip) on too many occasions.
 

 
, then it is possibly something unavoidable in situations where the CIEMs are exposed to rapid extremes of temperature.
 
 
 
....or it could just be that you're brutal with the way you handle your CIEMs 

 
 
.

 

[tranhieu]

If you have any high powered torch lying around, place the tip under the beam and see if the crack is just on the surface of the IEM or it goes deep into the the acrylic.
 
All custom iems are lacquered with a special type of lacquer manufactured for audiologists. However that thin layer of lacquer gets cracked pretty often if there's a force applied on the earpiece, the actual acrylic shell underneath is intact though. If it's just the lacquer layer that was damaged, FitEar can have it fixed in less than 5 mins.
 
It would take quite a force to crack that chunk of solid acrylic. 
Quote:

Hi everyone, it's been less than a month since I got my MH335DW. Today I found this on it.
 

 
Did you guy see it? Here is the closer view.
 
 

 
Yes. It's a crack inside my left stem. The crack is inside and never reach the surface. I have been very careful with it and never once drop it. 
 
It seem that I have more than one unfortunate event with Fitear products. Here is another example.
 
 

 

[cravenz]

Quote:

If you have any high powered torch lying around, place the tip under the beam and see if the crack is just on the surface of the IEM or it goes deep into the the acrylic.
 
All custom iems are lacquered with a special type of lacquer manufactured for audiologists. However that thin layer of lacquer gets cracked pretty often if there's a force applied on the earpiece, the actual acrylic shell underneath is intact though. If it's just the lacquer layer that was damaged, FitEar can have it fixed in less than 5 mins.
 
It would take quite a force to crack that chunk of solid acrylic. 

 
I think this is what he said: "It's a crack inside my left stem. The crack is inside and never reach the surface."
 
Good idea re: what you suggested, but I'm guessing it wouldn't work in this case. 

 

[tranhieu]

Quote:

 
I think this is what he said: "It's a crack inside my left stem. The crack is inside and never reach the surface."
 
Good idea re: what you suggested, but I'm guessing it wouldn't work in this case. 

Now that I've had a better look at the photos, I guess he wasn't very lucky this time. Tbh I've never seen any eartips got cracked before unless you step on it or something, that's one of the strongest parts of a custom! 
 
Just had a look at my uv acrylic bottle's instruction and there wasn't anything mentioned about storage temperature after curing. I will shoot my seller a mail and see if temperature is the culprit.  

 

[mtthefirst]

Quote:

 
Q: how do you store your MH335DW? Do you always use the Pelican case? I can tell you that with my TG!334, I never used the Pelican case and usually used just the grey soft case or the round UM hard shell. Some of these cases are quite right fitting.
 

 
I never use the case. Always put it in soft case.
 
Quote:

If you have any high powered torch lying around, place the tip under the beam and see if the crack is just on the surface of the IEM or it goes deep into the the acrylic.
 
All custom iems are lacquered with a special type of lacquer manufactured for audiologists. However that thin layer of lacquer gets cracked pretty often if there's a force applied on the earpiece, the actual acrylic shell underneath is intact though. If it's just the lacquer layer that was damaged, FitEar can have it fixed in less than 5 mins.
 
It would take quite a force to crack that chunk of solid acrylic. 

 
That's the first thing I do. The crack seem to be happen under the surface. May be under the lacquer layer or at the interface between lacquer and acrylic shell. 
 
My room in the winter is always below 10C while outside is close to or under 0C. At work, the temperature in my office is 23C.

 

[nanaholic]

Seeing those cracks are kind of disheartening especially since I just placed an order for a pair!
 
I hope it's not because Fitear is getting a flood of new customers and as a result their quality had taken a dive because of this.

 

[mtthefirst]

Just got a word from Fitear. I need to send my MH335DW to them, so that they can take a look at it. I'll send it out tomorrow and they should get it the next day. 
 
I just found two more cracks on the both side. It's a hairline fracture on the surface of the stem that run from the bore tip along the sound port. This one is happen only on the surface. I can barely see the fracture but can feel it when drag my nail across the fracture. It's possible that this fracture might come from thermal shock due to sudden change in temperature when I took it out of my ear and met the outside temperature of sendai.

 

[cravenz]

Quote:

Just got a word from Fitear. I need to send my MH335DW to them, so that they can take a look at it. I'll send it out tomorrow and they should get it the next day. 
 
I just found two more cracks on the both side. It's a hairline fracture on the surface of the stem that run from the bore tip along the sound port. This one is happen only on the surface. I can barely see the fracture but can feel it when drag my nail across the fracture. It's possible that this fracture might come from thermal shock due to sudden change in temperature when I took it out of my ear and met the outside temperature of sendai.

 
Most probably re: sudden changes in temperature. 

 

[KraftD1]

This cracking talk makes me worry. My 334s were left out in the cold on delivery (-10 C), hope there are no problems...