[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrisboff /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm pretty sure it is a BAD idea to use olive oil, or any organic oil for that matter, on cables. Won't it damage them more?

its not the oil that damages them its the acids in our sweat and skin oils and the salt drying them out olive oil isnt acidic and if you can get some of that in there it helps to repel other liquids and keep it supple. synthetic rubber itself and plastic are made from oil after-all I think most polymers have oil as part of the mix and soap definitely does. common household soap is a polymer too

:edit just checked wiki to make sure and yep synthetic rubber is made from petroleum

and anyway the point is it wasnt the cable coating that split; it was all the other parts that failed since I had been treating the cables with such care.

 

[scrane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qusp /img/forum/go_quote.gif ummm yes maybe, but all my parts were from presumably different batches. the PTH was bought separately and so was the iphone adapter. so for all of them to fail one by one says to me its a common problem. wouldnt you agree?? for me it hasnt been so much the actual coating or anything like that becoming stiff and cracking; because as I explained I looked after them very well. for me the PTH failed near the mini jack and started cutting out, the same problem with the iphone adapter and the actual strain relief on the IEM itself started to crack, because I stupidly didnt do that as much as the cable. so now both of the strain reliefs have seperated from the IEM housing and one of theam is cracked. so I figure the cable near the driver will be the next to fail without the strain relief.

So, if I am reading you correctly, the new style cable does not have a problem, but now the rubber strain relief is falling apart. I had not heard of this before from anyone. Did this happen before you started using the Armour-all? I am not a chemist. I maintain equipment used to manufacture semiconductors, and we are very concerned with the long term effects of chemicals on various materials. I'm not saying that Armour-all will be a problem with plastics or rubber, but when you use products outside of the manufacturers recommendations you run a risk. I definitely would not mention Armour-all when returning products under warantee to Shure.
Sandy.

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scrane /img/forum/go_quote.gif So, if I am reading you correctly, the new style cable does not have a problem, but now the rubber strain relief is falling apart. I had not heard of this before from anyone. Did this happen before you started using the Armour-all? I am not a chemist. I maintain equipment used to manufacture semiconductors, and we are very concerned with the long term effects of chemicals on various materials. I'm not saying that Armour-all will be a problem with plastics or rubber, but when you use products outside of the manufacturers recommendations you run a risk. I definitely would not mention Armour-all when returning products under warantee to Shure. Sandy.

I mostly didnt even use it (I only owned them for 6 months how often do you treat your tyres??)I used soapy water and the occasional bit of olive oil mainly. the problem of the sound cutting out at the right angle connector is actually quite common. and it happened on the 2 accessories (iphone mic and PTH) which I didnt even use the armorall treatment on they died early on thus the armourall. and the cable with nothing on it no PTH or anything also suffered the same problem (which was treated). when the wire inside the bend; not the strain relief itself must have formed an electrical fault and would cut in and out. the strain relief itself on the IEM.s rarely got anything on it as I didnt ever treat it on purpose. it wouldve had the warm soapy water treatment incidentally though. but it started to split near the cable exit which I guess goes right over the corner of the junction of your ear and head. so there would be quite a bit of skin oils in that area. so I thought why wait for the whole bloody thing to fail on me.

 

[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrisboff /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm pretty sure it is a BAD idea to use olive oil, or any organic oil for that matter, on cables. Won't it damage them more?

Olive oil is acidic. The higher the grade of oil, the more oleic acid in it.

 

[qusp]

you see I used to be one of the people that would join these threads and make a post to the effect that I didnt know what their problem was and to stop going on about the cable issue as I thought it was getting old (in the past) and many people that seemingly had never had experience of the SE530 would drop into shure threads just to mention it and disappear; without having anything constructive to say from personal experience. anyone who knows my posts on the subject will know this. but then all of a sudden; one by one all the cables started failing. I even built my own to try and put off the inevitable. and then the only one that couldnt be replaced by me started to fail plus I already had my new W3 at the time and wasnt using them that much anymore. but now that its happened to every single part of the modular design. I cant help but warn people myself and tell my story. also hopefully shure is listening somewhere.

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears /img/forum/go_quote.gif Olive oil is acidic. The higher the grade of oil, the more oleic acid in it.

well it was recommended to me anyway. and I dont think anyone is listening to me, the parts that I treated didnt fail and are still supple as ever; so it obviously didnt hurt them. I cant believe you went off and researched that to come back here and say something that has no relevance to the problem.

 

[Chrisboff]

Sorry for being OT

Quote:

Silicone oil plays a useful role in gas powered airsoft guns where it is used to lubricate the rubber gas seals in gas blowback guns without degrading them as carbon-based oils would, as well as lubricating the moving parts of the guns.

This is from wikipedia. Maybe silicone based oil should be used rather than olive oil?

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrisboff /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sorry for being OT This is from wikipedia. Maybe silicone based oil should be used rather than olive oil?

ahhhhhhh!!!!!! what is this obsession with my ****ing olive oil????

it worked the parts I used olive oil on maybe once a week and the soapy water the rest of the time are still PERFECT... but the strain relief at the ears actually seperated from the driver housing and the cable ends on the rest developed electrical faults. I make plenty of cables and I know where the problems were. I wouldve recabled them If I actually cared enough to save them... but I dont. I would rather keep using my W3 and try out the IE8. the SE530 has more failings than the cable design. great mids overrated bass but still good and pretty good (better than most) highs. but not enough to make me want to keep rep[lacing them and shelling out for shipping while my warranty period slowly ran out

 

[Bunnyears]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qusp /img/forum/go_quote.gif well it was recommended to me anyway. and I dont think anyone is listening to me, the parts that I treated didnt fail and are still supple as ever; so it obviously didnt hurt them. I cant believe you went off and researched that to come back here and say something that has no relevance to the problem.

If the problem was caused by the acids in skin oil and sweat, I don't see how putting a different acid on the cables is going to help. And I didn't need to do research to know that olive oil is acidic. I cook almost everyday and evoo (extra virgin olive oil) is a frequent ingredient.

Btw, one of the reasons olive oil was prized as a skin lubricant over the ages is because the pH of olive oil is close to the pH of skin. It restores the skin's acid mantle. And I use plenty of cosmetics so I didn't need to do research to know this either.

 

[Chrisboff]

Oh well...

Just got my SCL4's replaced due to split cables at the ear loops. These new ones seem to have much more rubbery, flexible cable though time will tell if they get stiffer. As soon as I got them I wrapped the area that loops around the ear in electrical tape as a preventative measure.

I wonder if there is some kind of plastic tubing that could be used instead of tape.

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnyears /img/forum/go_quote.gif If the problem was caused by the acids in skin oil and sweat, I don't see how putting a different acid on the cables is going to help. And I didn't need to do research to know that olive oil is acidic. I cook almost everyday and evoo (extra virgin olive oil) is a frequent ingredient. Btw, one of the reasons olive oil was prized as a skin lubricant over the ages is because the pH of olive oil is close to the pH of skin. It restores the skin's acid mantle. And I use plenty of cosmetics so I didn't need to do research to know this either.

look mate I dont really give a crap what you do with your spare time. i'm a chef by trade by the way; but I make what tastes good, I dont have to research its chemical stability to do that. and I make cables to kill time and save money. but olive oil was recommended to me and from what I can see it actually worked very well. the cable coating is perfect and undamaged. I dont need to prove how big my brain is like some people on here. all I am doing is talking from my experience and the SE530 has more troubles in its design than the cable cover. as I said I make my own cables, so the appeal of having a IEM that wasnt the triple-fi that I could make a cable for if there was an issue appeals a lot.

so please stop your one-upmanship its getting old, petty and puerile. i'm out of here. you win OK the cable design and everything about SE530 is perfect and you rule the oleic battle jeez. get a life

 

[archigius]

New Shure cables seems to have no issues.
But a good idea to protect them could be this Phonak Audeo silicon guides:

Audéo - A more intense music experience - Silicone Ear Guides

they cover the most delicate parts fo the cables.

 

[Zhdude]

You can now start getting the Triple.fi or Senn IE8 or Westone for the detachable cables, or sleek sa6

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by archigius /img/forum/go_quote.gif New Shure cables seems to have no issues. But a good idea to protect them could be this Phonak Audeo silicon guides: Audéo - A more intense music experience - Silicone Ear Guides they cover the most delicate parts fo the cables.

I guess you havent actually read my posts at all. these ARE the new cables thats the point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zhdude You can now start getting the Triple.fi or Senn IE8 or Westone for the detachable cables, or sleek sa6

you either huh or are you talking to the OP?? i've had triple-fi and actually the cable on them busted; the memory wire was no good. plus I didnt like the sound anyway. the only westones with detachable cables are the customs $$$$. but yeah i'm getting the IE8

 

[archigius]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qusp /img/forum/go_quote.gif I guess you havent actually read my posts at all. these ARE the new cables thats the point.

Sorry, my suggestion was some kind of general one.