[Jetlag]

I am a very happy UE-10 Pro owner, I absolutely love them and the sound they produce. I have encountered a corrosion issue though.

I moved into a condo about 18 months ago, your typical place with walls that don't do a very good job of attenuating sound. Since I work out quite early most every morning on my Precor cross trainer (and always listen to music while doing so), I've had to switch from speakers to my IEMs as to not upset my neighbors. I take excellent care of my UE-10s, wiping the IEMs and cords off with a dry towel immediately after removing them from my ears. I also leave them hanging off the back side of the trainer exposed to the dry Colorado air to help keep them dry when not in use.

Unfortunately I have gradually seen the cord turn from a shiny metallic silver color to green. The closer to the IEM connectors you get the greener the cord becomes until it is somewhat brown right at the connector. You can see the original cord along side my new one in these photos.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

It appears that moisture (sweat) might be getting inside the cord right at the connector termination. In fact about 10 days ago the right channel began "crackling", and today it stopped working altogether. Luckily I already had a spare cord, but it is 64" vs. the stock 46" length.

Since getting the UE-10 Pros I have noticed many sweaty rock stars wearing these while performing and wondered if there might already be a technique to keep this from happening? I wrote to UE but have not yet heard back.

Unlike a rock star, I don't have a budget that allows me to buy new ones or have spare cords layiing around. I thought of using a tiny amount of silicone seal where the cord enters the connector, but I don't want a big glob of glue on my UE-10s.

What would you recommend to prevent this in the future? (OK, aside from not wearing them while I exercise or else not sweating while I exercise)


Thanks!

 

[Indygreg]

there is as least one other reference to this (search for "ultimate ears custom pictures'). It happens or happened on the clears. I think I heard they addresses this or changed this.

Talk to UE customer service. They are amazing. They will probably replace it without a second thought. They might also tell you the issue has been fixed.
Second option is to get a black cable. I think only the clear had this issue.

 

[wolfB]

Same here.

As far as I know and noticed it doesn't affect sound quality. I am wondering if that happens to the second generation clear cable of the super.fi series as well, though.

 

[plainsong]

Wow, inside the cabling. Yeah, absotively, UE should hook you up. I have green cable syndrome on my sensas, but not so severe, and it's plainly topical, not inside, and certainly no cackling, snapping, cracking, or popping. My luck that they fixed this AFTER I got them, but in my case it's only cosmetic.

 

[Jetlag]

Reply from UE today:

Quote:

In regards to the oxidation process we are aware of this happening due to the moisture. Here is a brief statement from our supplier: Regarding the 2.0 cable sample that turned green during testing by a beta tester, I have some information that seems to indicate that we are OK on this issue. One of the main causes of cable greening is the presence of chlorine in the cable jacket. The chlorine interacts with the copper to form copper chloride. This is why the color is green and not rusty red. PVC is of course polyvinyl chloride, so chlorine is a major component. Some of the early 2.0 cables had PVC inner jackets and so would be subject to rapid greening. The more recent (and final approved) cables do not have any chlorine in the jacket. We have asked for confirmation from the supplier that this is the case and we have a document that confirms it. This seems to indicate that the newer 2.0 cables will not green as easily. Keep in mind that chlorine can come from other sources. Sweat does of course have chlorine, in the form of sodium chloride. I believe that this is why all of our clear cables, including the "fatty" custom cable, have trouble with greening over time. The greening process is slower when it is caused by outside substances like sweat, but it is inevitable. I have been using a 2.0 cable for working out for about two months and have not seen any green. All of the cables that we have do oxidize it is just a matter of it showing up in the clear wires vs. the colored cables. We have had a few that have come back to us for the same reason. It should not affect the sound it just doesn’t look very appealing.

I'm not certain about the last part about the sound. I started hearing crackling maybe 8-10 days ago (intermittent), then the right channel went completly dead today. Plugged in my replacement cord and 100% back to normal.

 

[flamerz]

This reminds me of that Shure thread. We'll see if UE handles this better.

 

[leqin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolfB /img/forum/go_quote.gif Same here. As far as I know and noticed it doesn't affect sound quality. I am wondering if that happens to the second generation clear cable of the super.fi series as well, though.

My Super-fi 5's recently collapsed - the socket broke away from the main body - but I did notice, as I packed them up to go back to UE for another RMA, that the stock clear cable had also turned this fetching shade of blue which was a bit of a suprise because I had hardly used the thing and I had a series 2 white cable that I replaced it with... so either these clear cables react to even minor amounts of sweat, or even left in the box they start self destructing.

 

[Jetlag]

UE made no mention of helping me out so I ordered a new one today. The 46" cable went up in price $8 since I ordered my long one a while back.

 

[flamerz]

Ah, well I suppose that's better than the E5c situation. Those cables are irreplacable.

 

[wolfen68]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jetlag /img/forum/go_quote.gif UE made no mention of helping me out so I ordered a new one today. The 46" cable went up in price $8 since I ordered my long one a while back.

I contacted UE about four months ago as my UE5c's look just like your 10's. The reply was that it will not affect sound and that they will not replace the cable (mine was out of the one year warranty). I was invited to buy a new cable.

I have to say I was disappointed by that response. I have a spare cable that sits in a drawer and it is also green (though not as much as the one that is used all of the time).

I view the entire issue as a manufacturing defect. The big reason I don't get more wound up on the issue is because I haven't noticed any negative sound changes...and life's too short to get excited on that kind of stuff