[ikonomov]

I have had Westone UM3X RC since they were released couple of years ago. I do not have any other IEM so I have used them a lot since I have bought them, many days wearing them for the majority of the day while working. I have oily skin, and this causes the triple flange ear tips that I use with them to get very oily whenever I take them off. This skin oil eventually must be getting into the headphones themselves, because so far I have had them serviced 2 times by Westone because of BA driver failure. This moisture/oil problem must be well known in the industry as almost all CIEM manufacturers recommend using hearing air dehumidifiers. I do use a dehumidifier every night when I use the headphones, and I think it really helps to delay the inevitable, but the problem is that it cannot prevent the BA drivers from eventually failing due to this moisture or oil.

Yesterday after taking them out of the pouch I discovered that the treble and mids BA drivers in the right side have stopped working (somehow while being in the pouch). I know it doesn't happen to all people, but it happens to some, regardless of how much and how careful they use the headphones. I'm pretty sure it is related to my oily skin. However the forums and product reviews are full of people complaining of the problem with all kinds of IEM that use BA drivers. I would like to report an interesting solution that has worked for me, and after doing a few searches seems to be undocumented, so maybe other people will find useful.

Sollution:
First, using a straw I carefully leaked some 91% Isopropyl alcohol into the opening of the IEMs so that it seeps inside and would eliminate the chance for any air to be trapped inside. Afterwards, I totally submerged the IEMs in a small container filled with the same 91% Isopropyl alcohol and let them soak for a few hours. After placing in the alcohol, I made sure the opening of the ear pieces was pointing up and helped any air bubbles to escape by trapping carefully on the container a few times. With some luck, if the alcohol successfully makes its way into the BA drivers, it will be able to mix in with the oil residues and after perfectly drying (as the alcohol does well), leave all the surfaces it comes in contact with clean. After it soaked for a few hours, I took both pieces out, I dried them, and placed them in the Dehumidifier for a few hours. Of course there is no grantee that this will work, but my right IEM piece returned to full volume in its full frequency response range. The sound quality is at its full bloom and I cannot perceive any negative consequence of the alcohol. Theoretically there shouldn't be any, as the alcohol will dry out perfectly, leaving only a very negligible amount of the oil residue and other particles behind. Nothing really that won't get back into the headphones with only a few times wearing them again. I'm not sure how long this can extend the life of the BA drivers, possibly not indefinitely, as nothing seems to last a long time these days, but hopefully longer than just having to rely on the Dehumidifier.

 

[DaddyMojo]

That is an outstanding idea.....if it works. So I am asking, did it work for you? I bought my UM3X and it failed within eight months of my Wstone 3 Gold failing. Westone will not repair or warranty a 3 year old product, so I am interested to see if your remedy works.

 

[Fungus]

  I have had Westone UM3X RC since they were released couple of years ago.  I do not have any other IEM so I have used them a lot since I have bought them, many days wearing them for the majority of the day while working.  I have oily skin, and this causes the triple flange ear tips that I use with them to get very oily whenever I take them off.  This skin oil eventually must be getting into the headphones themselves, because so far I have had them serviced 2 times by Westone because of BA driver failure.  This moisture/oil problem must be well known in the industry as almost all CIEM manufacturers recommend using hearing air dehumidifiers.  I do use a dehumidifier every night when I use the headphones, and I think it really helps to delay the inevitable, but the problem is that it cannot prevent the BA drivers from eventually failing due to this moisture or oil.
 
Yesterday after taking them out of the pouch I discovered that the treble and mids BA drivers in the right side have stopped working (somehow while being in the pouch).  I know it doesn't happen to all people, but it happens to some, regardless of how much and how careful they use the headphones.  I'm pretty sure it is related to my oily skin.  However the forums and product reviews are full of people complaining of the problem with all kinds of IEM that use BA drivers.  I would like to report an interesting solution that has worked for me, and after doing a few searches seems to be undocumented, so maybe other people will find useful.
 
Sollution:
First, using a straw I carefully leaked some 91% Isopropyl alcohol into the opening of the IEMs so that it seeps inside and would eliminate the chance for any air to be trapped inside.  Afterwards, I totally submerged the IEMs in a small container filled with the same 91% Isopropyl alcohol and let them soak for a few hours.  After placing in the alcohol, I made sure the opening of the ear pieces was pointing up and helped any air bubbles to escape by trapping carefully on the container a few times.  With some luck, if the alcohol successfully makes its way into the BA drivers, it will be able to mix in with the oil residues and after perfectly drying (as the alcohol does well), leave all the surfaces it comes in contact with clean.  After it soaked for a few hours, I took both pieces out, I dried them, and placed them in the Dehumidifier for a few hours.  Of course there is no grantee that this will work, but my right IEM piece returned to full volume in its full frequency response range.  The sound quality is at its full bloom and I cannot perceive any negative consequence of the alcohol.  Theoretically there shouldn't be any, as the alcohol will dry out perfectly, leaving only a very negligible amount of the oil residue and other particles behind.  Nothing really that won't get back into the headphones with only a few times wearing them again.  I'm not sure how long this can extend the life of the BA drivers, possibly not indefinitely, as nothing seems to last a long time these days, but hopefully longer than just having to rely on the Dehumidifier.

My es3x (custom version of um3x) also has low volume on the left side. If you managed to get the drivers to full volume again with alcohol, this should be a clear indication that ba drivers that go quiet are not to blame. So for me that's great news since I'm getting them my es3x reshelled anyway!

 

[shiggins9]

Fungus, did you soak your Westone ES3X in alcohol too?  I'm wondering if this helped you.
 
Ikonomov, I see it's been almost 2 months since you soaked your Westone UM3X RC in alcohol.  Are your L&R still outputting at the same volume?  
 
My Westone UM Pro 30 IEMs are working great but I have a set of UE 18 Pro CIEMs and the R side just got much quieter after only 6 months of use.  They're a reshell so I have no warranty on them.  If this is a solution for BA in ear monitors where one side unexpectedly goes quieter, I'd imagine it wouldn't matter what brand they are.  I'm considering trying this method, although I admit I'm a bit nervous as they were purchased less than a year ago for over $1800!
 
Thanks for the help.

 

[ikonomov]

I am extremely happy you guys managed to find my post and show interest.  When I thought about trying what I did, it was out of frustration as there was nothing else that I could think about doing.  I like to fix my electronics, and the total inability to do it with these earphones was unnerving.  My idea came about after watching two videos on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uzFhlpKIvM and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10noamcvsNo that allowed me to gain some basic understanding of the way the BA drivers work.  As you can see from the videos, there are no components of the BA drivers that can be damaged by being in contact with alcohol.  Alcohol is a bad conductor of electricity as well, so even if any is left behind after you dry out the pieces and try them out, there is no potential for damage.  They just might not sound correctly and would need to be dried couple more hours.  The same cannot be said for moisture that gets trapped or oil from the skin.
 
I'm happy to report that both sides still work perfectly, after my "fix".  It is quite easy to test by simply playing the logarithmic sine sweep on this page http://www.audiocheck.net/testtones_sinesweep20-20k.php .  I would recommend using a dehumidifier like http://www.amazon.com/STAY-DRI-Hearing-Aid-Dehumidifier/dp/B001JQ6PUI this one after you soak them for couple of hours.  If they have been sitting in a pouch for quite some time after they stopped working it might be a good idea to leave them in the alcohol overnight.  I imagine that doing it once might not fix them completely, so you can soak them a second time.  The nozzle where the alcohol has to penetrate and do its job is very small indeed, so doing it more than once will definitely be beneficial.

 

[ikonomov]

It has been almost half a year since I submerged my earphones in alcohol and discovered the unlikely solution to BA failures.  I'm happy to report that both pieces still work perfectly.  I'm curious if anybody else tried this.  I think it would be very helpful if you could report it here, so that we can have some more data.  My own little experiment cannot confirm the validity of the solution for different kinds of IEMs and even for this particular earphone.

 

[DaddyMojo]

That is fantastic and will probably work for more than just Westone.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

I'm tempted to try this with my CIEMs, but wondering if the alcohol will dissolve the lacquer that the shells are made of and leave me with nothing but spare parts. Lol

 

[Fungus]

As it turns out, the drivers of my es3x are working perfectly and the low volume on one side was due to the filter being clogged. 
I am so glad! 

 

[ikonomov]

I'm tempted to try this with my CIEMs, but wondering if the alcohol will dissolve the lacquer that the shells are made of and leave me with nothing but spare parts. Lol

After more than four years of posting this thread my earphones are still working perfectly. I originally bought them them from Westone I believe in 2011, relatively shortly after they were first released. I had a replacement sent from Westone before the warranty period expired which means that using the method described above I have been able to use this unit for over seven years. My job allows me to wear my earphones for most of the work day so the numbers of hours that I have used them at this point must be astounding. Unfortunately my oily skin problem hasn't improved, but whenever I notice some sound degradation, which whenever it happens is very pronounced and obvious and might happen once or twice a year, I have been able to fully resolve the issue. I'm quite convinced that this solution would work for any armature driver earphones. There is simply no reason why it shouldn't.

I'm really sorry I'm responding so late to the message above, but there simply isn't a material that your earphones could be made of that could get dissolved from the alcohol. That includes the shells and any materials used inside. Even if you aren't sure if your problem is caused by moisture, trying this solution shouldn't cause any damage. However, if there is some moisture causing the earphones not to function properly you can be certain that if you let them soak for a sufficient time the highly hygroscopic nature of alcohol will allow the moisture to be fully absorbed and then evaporated. Also make sure to allow them to properly dry for a few hours afterwards. I just had to give mine the treatment and since I'm absolutely confident at this point that there is absolutely no harm to be done I just let them sit in the alcohol overnight and then allow them to dry the next day. It is also a good idea to use a small container that you can close tightly with a lit to prevent the alcohol from evaporating while the earphones are submerged.

 

[Mmet]

Thanks a lot for the idea .. didn't do it yet though but willing to do it with my se535 as i have the left earpiece has next to no bass now .. I've checked cables and filters .. nope it is the earpiece itself .
My question is : can i do it with ethyl alcohol? .. as isopropyl alcohol is not very available in my area

 

[Armodeus]

I did the procedure with a BA driver and 99.7% Isopropyl alcohol. It didn't work at all, the driver lost even more volume, it is said that BAs are fragile and are damaged by impacts such as when they fall to the floor, the diaphragm hits the magnets.