Rexxxx says:

Ok, so in an effort to help other people out there avoid the same difficulty and inconvenience I've experienced, I'm posting my recent iPod woes. Up until now I've been very happy with my 3rd Gen iPod Nano. As I'm sure others will agree, it's quite addictive. Unfortunately, about a week ago I started having a little trouble with it. Immediately after a run during a particularly hot day, the iPod froze and wouldn't re-boot. I couldn't even get it to turn on. Eventually, after leaving it alone for a while and then plugging it in to my Apple Universal Dock, I was able to get it to reset while docked. After that, all was well, or so I thought until I tried adjusting the volume. The display showed that the volume was being adjusted, but the volume in the headphones stayed at a constant level. I tried all sorts of troubleshooting and found out the following:

Click Wheel and Display: Indicates volume ops normal
Volume out the 3.5mm headphone jack: Constant at all settings
Volume out the data port (through the Universal Dock and into my stereo): Adjustable as normal
Volume Lock: Off (yes, I checked multiple times and adjusted the lock to different levels as well with no effect)
iPod Reset: Multiple times with no effect
iPod Restore: No effect

So, with all the troubleshooting done, I pretty much narrowed the problem down to a hardware issue somewhere between the central "brain" of the iPod (it seems to still think it's adjusting the volume) and the Headphone Jack.

Armed with this info, I took the iPod on my next trip to Birmingham, AL (2 hours away) to visit the Apple Gods at our nearest Apple Store. The iPod is only 6 months old and still under warranty, so I figured that it would be a simple diagnosis and replacement.

Unfortunately, the tech support guy at the store took one look into the headphone jack and said, "Well, right off I can tell you that the moisture immersion indicator has been tripped, which immediately voids the warranty."

Long story short, the only contact the iPod has had with any moisture is my sweat. I wear it in a silicone skin wristband when I run, and I wear it upside down on my wrist when I run so I can easily read the screen. I can only guess that this allowed the sweat to seep into the headphone jack and trip the indicator (by the way, if you look into the headphone jack, you should see a white sticker at the very back. If any of it is red, then it has been tripped, and no warranty for you).

End Result: I'm now replacing it through Apple Support outside of the warranty for a reduced price ($99 plus tax and shipping).

At any rate, I hope this helps others avoid the same frustration that I've experienced. I'm not angry with Apple. I understand the need to have some limits on the warranty. If I were them, I'd want to protect my revenue, too, and you have to draw the line somewhere. I do wish they could engineer a slightly less sensitive indicator, or maybe place it in a different location, but whatever. I have been very happy with the product overall, obviously, since I'm willing to pay $100 to replace it.

I am open to suggestions on a more water resistant armband, though! ;-)

Take care and try to run dry!

Rexxxx

 Mike says:

that's great information. I pretty much carry mine when i run so I can see getting sweat into the headphone jack pretty easily. Just bugs me attaching it to my arm somehow (but carrying it is ok, go figure)

Any chance you have a picture of the moisture indicator? I can't see any stickers on either of my ipods

 Rexxxx says:

Mike, here are a couple of links to pictures that I took:

home.earthlink.net/~rbrooks6150/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/water2.jpg
home.earthlink.net/~rbrooks6150/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/water1.jpg

(By the way, anybody know another way to embed pictures into a post? For some reason, the forum doesn't like the '~' in the URL)

I wasn't sure that the pictures would come out well, but you can see the red mark at the back of the headphone jack. If it's all white, you're good. If you've got red showing (like mine in the picture), it's been exposed to moisture and the warranty is void.

Rexxxx

 petergarner says:

Interesting post. Given that Apple/Nike have heavily marketed the iPod--especially the Nano--to fitness nuts, one would think that more thought would be given the sweat problem. I remember some people complaining about sweat corroding the 1st-gen nanos before Apple switched the housing to aluminium. Seems as though there are still some kinks to work out.

Just checked my own 2nd-gen Nano, which I have used extensively with a Nike armband, and the moisture indicator hasn't been tripped as far as I can tell.

 Mike says:

not sure why the picture wasn't linked... We'll look into it. guess the routines doesn't like the "~" character for some reason...

thanks for the pictures. I couldn't see anything in my earphone hole, but i'm guessing it's because the whole sticker is white.

 andrew_b_1975 says:

Rexxxx, not sure what the situation is in the US. Could you claim under your household insurance?

Mike, you could always drop some water in to check ;-)

 Rexxxx says:

Andrew, good point. I could, but my deductible is more than it would cost to replace it. Thanks anyway!

 BeerRunner says:

This is the same response I got when my first 3g nano broke. Apple say you can use it for running and then say that any moisture invalidates the warranty. If you are running and it starts to rain you can't just stop to keep Apple happy. I'm just waiting for garmin support at R+ and then I won't need my ipod, I get get a water resistant mp3 player.

 ricardomt says:

Very interesting post, indeed. I have just checked the moisture indicator in my Nano, it looks all white. However, the iPod gets all wet whenever I run with it inside the Nike armband. The places I see moisture accumulating the most are on the NikePlus receiver connector (and therefore some moisture gets in the iPod 30-pin connector) and around the phone jack and plug (currently using Sennheiser's MX75). The Sennheiser earphones claim to be "sweat resistant", but looks like the iPod doesn't... The armband itself gets soaking wet after some longer runs and, oh boy, it gets smelly after some runs too. Gotta drop it in the washer every now and then...

 ZEdwin says:

On the Nike+ forum there are also complaints about this. Because the Nike wristband isn't waterproof (sweat soaks through the back). This caused more people grief. Frozen IPods. Broken.

Do NOT use the wristband. It's an expensive piece of useless equipment... 30 euro's. I just bought it, used it, then noticed the complaints. Never used it again. I can only use it during the winter.