Water Ingress in W273!!

[daknightuk]

Had my NWZ W273 for 24 hours. I charged it, transferred music onto it and took it to my local swimming pool at a health club 1.5m depth, I found that once water had got into my ears I couldn't really hear much even with the volume on full blast then after about an hour the unit died making some rather disturbing noises. I suspected it may have been the battery but having docked it and found out its completely dead I can only suggest water ingress. Swapped at Argos this afternoon, I really hope i don't have to swap this every time I go swimming as its got a 12 month warranty and provided I use it within sony's specifications this could be a big loss for sony if it keeps happening.

[Thalamus.]

darknight wrote:
Had my NWZ W273 for 24 hours. I charged it, transferred music onto it and took it to my local swimming pool at a health club 1.5m depth, I found that once water had got into my ears I couldn't really hear much even with the volume on full blast then after about an hour the unit died making some rather disturbing noises. I suspected it may have been the battery but having docked it and found out its completely dead I can only suggest water ingress. Swapped at Argos this afternoon, I really hope i don't have to swap this every time I go swimming as its got a 12 month warranty and provided I use it within sony's specifications this could be a big loss for sony if it keeps happening.

Hi darknight,

not good, hopefully it's a one off, it by chance you do have an issue with the replacement post again & we'll report it on to Sony..

[Thalamus. · Accepted solution]

Further update..

hopefully the followinfg information from the support pages tips & tricks may help..

Why does the volume become low during or after swimming?

The sound quality may deteriorate if water gets inside the headphone sections (A). When you use your Walkman in the pool, be sure to choose the size of earbud carefully so that it fits fully into your ear and then insert the headphone sections firmly into your ears, so that there is no gap to allow water to get in.

If water gets inside the headphone sections, hold your Walkman as illustrated and shake it about 5 times to remove the water. However, if there is still water is in the headphones, remove the earbud, put a dry cloth over the aperture of the headphone, and shake the headphones about 5 to 10 times.

[MarkPorterTT]

This exact thing has happened to my W273, i have been using mine for 2 weeks and now it will not switch on or charge and cannot connect to the computer. I have tried resetting it but nothing.

Problem is now though that argos don't have any in any of their stores to replace mine....

Slightly frustrated as i loved using my w273 while swimming but cannot replace them in time to take them on holiday next week!

[daknightuk]

thanks for the advice unfortunately the provided ear buds will not form a watertight seal with my ears however after following the advice I did note that if sweat gets inside the headphones section even when the Walkman has been left to dry and the above instruction followed sound quality is reduced. The solution to this I found was simply to introduce fresh water into the headphones section a second time to remove what I believe was salt which was causing the reduced sound quality.

I've also found that you can quickly dry the W273 using the air vents in your car after you've been swimming which brings back the sound quality.

This doesn't get away from the fact that both myself and MarkPorterTT have experienced the same problem with our W273's whereby water appeared to have got into the Walkman itself even though it was used in accordance with the user guide.

I suspect that the reason Argos no longer has these in stock may be due to a number of returns which they received. I'm pleased to report however that the replacement I did receive when Argos had them in stock is still functioning okay.

I trust that Sony with its reputable brand will honour any replacement caused by water ingress during the warranty period as it would be very difficult to prove the cause of this and since the product is marketed as waterproof

[Durzijedi]

Earplug section should be redesign in this unit. Even small amount water that gets in to your ear makes it impossilbe to listen to the music.

[MarkGregs]

Hi,

Similar issue, I do not swim but do a lot of running including training runs of 3 to 5 hours. Where earphones get 'wet' to put it delicately due to sweat dripping into ears. first set lasted 3 weeks before right earphone sound went and second pair lasted 3 months and same issue. So back to Argos again, these earphones basically do not live up to the promise of waterproof!