E4c cord is breaking. need help

[niranhopper]

hi.. i am from india and i have been using a Shure E4c for the last year. i twist the cord around my ear while listening. Now suddenly, the plastic surrounding the wire has broken and i can clearly see the wire inside.

i am scared that i might break the wire and if that happens, i cannot repair it here. any suggestion on how i can prolong the life of the wire? also any idea how much it would cost for replacing the wire from Shure( my warrenty is not valid).

 

[dura]

Happened to me too, and eventually it will break as it did on my E4s. Contact Shure, they can probably help you.
In my case, I was sent a new set even though the warrant was expired. Incredible!

 

[niranhopper]

hi.. is it enough to send the headphone alone for replacement or should i send the aentire package along with the accessories? can you please tell me what you returned?

does the replacement mean a new set of earphones or my earphones with recabling done?

 

[danz24]

you have to contact shure first. Tell them your problem, and they will ask for some information, then give you an RMA number. Then you send the package to them, and no, you don't need to send the accessories just the earphones.

 

[danz24]

one more post for 50

 

[sandino]

My first post!

This problem happened to my e2c's. I lost my original receipt and was lazy to fight for my warranty with the local retailer so what I did was I pried open my e2c's, cut off the broken part of the line and resoldered the lines into the drivers. I also reversed the left and right drivers so I could wear them like normal earphones (so that I don't need to curl it over my ears, hoping it would keep the cord from breaking again)...

well, in the process I lost both the half shells that cover the drivers so when I wear them they're bare and you can see the drivers inside; AND the worst part is... the cords (both sides!) broke again.

So I just received my e4's yesterday, and am actually distraught to find out the same thing happens to this pair... Should I have opted for the new SE line? perhaps those would have improved cords?



Last thing: I live in the Philippines, and Niran is from india, could it be that the higher temperature makes the cord brittle and fragile? Or could it be sweat or whatever?

Did this happen to anyone else? thanks!

 

[Steve_72]

I don't think so. This problem is quite frequent with the Shure line-up and countless people have encountered this problem. I'm just noticing now with my Shure e4c's, that the cable is also starting to break around the area of the cord that you loop around the ear. Fortunate to hear that Shure has good and lenient customer service though.

 

[niranhopper]

Hi.. i am sending my E4c for repair. i heard from some threads that shure gives the SE310 as a replacement. any idea if the SE310 has better cabling than the E4c. i love the E4c's and would prefer the SE310 only if it has better cabling.

 

[kite7]

Does anyone know if using a heatshrink around the wire where it meets the ear will prevent oils from the skin from breaking down the wire?

 

[niranhopper]

Would it help if i apply some insulation tape on the wire which comes in contact with the skin?

 

[sandino]

Well, I sort of have been observing the way the cord broke. I borrowed my friend's e2c and the cord hasn't started breaking yet (it's evidently tougher than my new e4c's cord near the drivers though). He told me that he hasn't been using it much. The cord near the 3.5mm plug however is still very flexible, just like in my new e4c.

(intermission:goddmnt its hard typing on the new asus eee pc!)

I'm now guessing that the two factors that may cause the cord to become brittle and break up are 1. Human... 'skin excretions' as suggested above, or 2. Movement, the way the cord is continuously bent.

What are your thoughts on this, guys? I feel bad knowing that my three-day old e4's cord might die on me in less than a year (as did the one on my e2's).

That shrink-wrap idea, I like it, it might just work by keeping the skin stuff off the rubber, and also by structurally reinforcing the cable where we twist'em... Anyone know where I can get a suitable wrap? I'm in Vegas visiting family; leaving on Thursday. I don't think I'll find any suitable wraps back in the Philippines. Fry's maybe? What kind?

 

[kite7]

There's heat shrink at radio shack

 

[sandino]

Never actually used heatshrink before... (Right now the feasible solution in my head is to resolder a new cord again if this happens, but that's gonna be gruesome again)

I just realized that I'd need heatshrink big enough to fit the drivers through, and it has a 90-degree bend. Well, if I do find myself able to apply shrink over the cord, how does this stuff bend?

 

[vesther]

That's what I don't like about the wires--I had that problem twice--the right cord "cracked" and it exposed the wire, and the left cord did the same thing. It could be my skin oil, but could it also be caused by excessive twisting of the wire?

What I do to combat this phenomenon ever since is that I use Clorox Disinfecting Wipes and/or a damp cloth to wipe the wires clean after use. This may or may not alleviate the problem but keeps the wires a bit softer time after time. Skin oils will cause the wire to harden and eventually have the wire crack.

I don't know how "wire twisting" contribute to this phenomenon but the best defense is to try not to force the earphones in your ears. Maybe the wires on the SE models may alleviate this Skin Oil phenomenon.

 

[deviationer]

this wire issue shure has is why I will never buy any of their IEMs. I went through 3 pairs of E2C's because of this crap.

And their sound quality is crap, sounds like I'm listening to music in a hallway, even after that one mod to cut down on that. Maybe their $300-500 IEMs are better.