[nweibley]

My IE 8s were sounding a little weird and I was having trouble getting a good seal over the past few weeks. I finally figured out why when, upon pulling out the IEMs, the tip stayed in my left ear.

As it turns out the "tube" had separated from the body of the IEM and lodged itself in my ear. I got it out of my ear and tried to see if it would "click" into place on the earbud but it did not... it appears to be glued in:

(click for larger view)
 
They are within warranty (purchased from Amazon 1 year ago) but the CSR said I may incur a $200 charge if the repair is not covered under warranty. This has left me wondering if this problem has happened to others and if I should attempt to repair it myself. It seems like a fairly simple glue job...

Thoughts?

 

[nweibley]

Well, I got no real help on this, but oh well.
 
I decided to have a go at it anyways. I'm glad I did, it was very simple. The stems/tubes are not simply press fit as I suspected, they are indexed and turn/lock into place when aligned properly. Once I cleaned the existing goop off and figured that out, I decided to take some black Toyota FIPG (formed in place gasket) I had from working on my landcruiser and swabbed a film of that on the stem and then installed it and "locked" it into place (letting it sit overnight).
 
 
It was rock solid the next day and the FIPG worked a treat and seems almost identical to the stuff that was already on there. In having the stem off it was apparent (after using a flashlight) that a surprising amount of earwax had forced its way through the metal screen and there was nothing I could do to clean it externally, so I soaked the stem in hot water and it quickly dissolved the wax. Now the bigger problem is the right bud/stem is clearly dirtied with the same wax and the left earbud is louder, clearer, and produces a flatter response... so I'm considering breaking the seal on the right stem and doing the same thing just to clean it.
 
 
Anyways, just thought I would update in case anyone ran into this in the future and was curious about the outcome. I think sending it in for this problem is overkill and pointless if you are competent and careful about your cans.

 

[aleki]

Seems like a common issue. I sent mine in after dealing with one of my stems separating. Turn around was a few weeks; however, they sent me a brand new retail IE8. I assume these are cheap enough for them to manufacture where replacing them is more cost-effective than repairs..