nwz-w273 filling with water

[rosmond]

So I just got the new waterproof walkman - nwz-w273. I've been loving using it jogging and working out, but when I get into the pool, it doesn't seem quite right. It's ok when there's a completely tight seal between the earbuds and my ears, but when even a tiny bit of water seeps past the earbud, the plastic part of the player fills up with water, presumably through the earhole, and no sound comes out of that side. To fix it I have to completely shake all the water out of the walkman and leave it to dry. So my question is, is this normal? Do I have to keep my ears tightly plugged at all times, or is it my walkman's fault for having a leak? Should I send it back as faulty and get a new one?

[WelshMIkey]

I would also like an answer to this question, im not sure mine filled with water but the moment one earpiece popped out the player has gone very quiet, momenterily goes back to normal but generally remains quiet.

[daknightuk]

I have the exact same problem, I don't think Sony did their research as even the smallest droplet of water in the earpiece is going to create a barrier of resistance between the audio coil and your ear which will undoubtedly create a muffled effect.

I've tried all 3 sizes of earbuds and none completely waterproof this. It seems to happen if you swim underwater, if you do surface swimming its fine but when sony say its 2m depth that should mean it operates normally.

Somewhat dissapointed having taken a "leap of faith" and being an existing Sony customer. I'm now on my 3rd W273 after my 1st 2 died (I believe this was down to water ingress).

This one goes back to the shop as soon as it dies and I won't be getting another one.

I'd suggest if anyone is looking to buy one of these they buy it from a high street retailer who won't argue over exchanges or refunds and make sure you try all the expected stuff. If it doesn't work at least it goes back to Sony who will eventually learn by the mistakes made.

[ando600]

Agree entirely with the above posts - the earpieces are not well enough designed to keep water out and the advice is pointless if the problem occurs every time you put your head underwater. The connecting wire needs to be longer as well for the larger head.

[Thalamus. · Accepted solution]

Hi rosmond,

welcome to Questions & answers..:smileyhappy:

hopefully the following 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.

[Thalamus.]

ando600 wrote:
Agree entirely with the above posts - the earpieces are not well enough designed to keep water out and the advice is pointless if the problem occurs every time you put your head underwater. The connecting wire needs to be longer as well for the larger head.

Hi ando600,

thanks for the info all I can do is forward your comments back to our contact in Sony..

[balldersdash]

Hi

Well i am also on my THIRD headset within a matter of weeks. The first two died completely after a few hours swimming.(Is it only the UK that are having this issue as trying to find ANY info on this piece of kit is null on impossible. Are you hiding this from people Sony??) So much for the swimming reviews...Who on earth did they get to do these? As they did not review clearly and honestly what so ever....and the only reason I managed to get the last 2 headsets, was only due to an amzing shop locally to me. Sony themselves were absolutely useless in regards to assistance and technical help. As for their website (absolutley dreadful) and their contact information...well how a huge company like this can not afford to give freephone nymbers to their clients I am just amazed in this day and age

I too have exactly the same issue in regards to the water seeping through and blocking the sound. I only swim an hour a day, but oh boy, how the repeatitive removing and 'shaking/draining' of the headset is becoming quite tedious now, If the claim is that it is waterproof to 2m's then why is it im onto my 3rd set and water ingress is such a huge issue?????? (Yes, ive tried all the different sized ear buds too).

Very dissapointed indeed with the whole affair and like yourself, WHEN and no doubt it will, When this last set breaks, It will also be returned to the local Sony shop and i will be fighting for a refund...and I will certainly never buy from such a poorly researched, terrible customer service, awful technical assistance, dreadful website company again.

Sony. Why do you feel that it is acceptable to treat your customers in such a poor way? Surely being a huge multi million company you can afford to assist your loyal customers in any which way to provide them with top rate equipment and not the shoddy and ill equipped kit that you clearly do. Very disgruntled customer.

[Thalamus.]

Hi balldersdash,

welcome to Questions & Answers..

On your third set of headphones in such a short time does not sound good..:smileysad:

Sony. Why do you feel that it is acceptable to treat your customers in such a poor way? Surely being a huge multi million company you can afford to assist your loyal customers in any which way to provide them with top rate equipment and not the shoddy and ill equipped kit that you clearly do. Very disgruntled customer.

You may not have read the Welcome to Sony Forum post but Sony do not usually post on these forums as it's primerrily a self help forum..

If you want an official reply then you'll need to contact Sony support - Contact Sony Support

However what we can do is pass your comments onto our contact in Sony who will hopefully forward on to the product team..

[redangel7]

Well, I don't know if you would consider this as a fix or not. It somehow worked for me. In my case, I use a cheap swimming cap that covers ear. It won't keep water out from the walkman as the walkman size pretty much kept a sizable hole from the swimming cap fit, but it kept it tight enough with my ear to prevent water from leaking in. I usually tilt the walkman slightly upward to get a perfect fit for my ear. That usually leaves about 5cm of the cable out of the swimming cap but then again, your perfect fit may be different than mine so experiment with it.

In the past I also tried to replace the earbud with Samsung's earbud (came with my Galaxy Note phone) because it's a better fit for my ear. It worked well until I lost one of the earbud and had to revert back to Sony's one (I use the L size). Another experiment that I did was tape it to my head using a medical tape and that worked ok most of the time too.

In case I messed up with the fit and still manage to get water inside after some laps, I usually use a tissue paper and cotton bud. I would remove the earbud and use cotton bud to press the tissue paper to the audio membrane. Don't use too much force and give a little shake to get the water out from the walkman and into the tissue paper. I use tissue paper because it's easier to spot whether the water has came out. Once I spot the water on the tissue, I moved to a new dry spot and repeat until no more water came out. I would also blow the earbud (in the same manner as I would blow a whistle) to make sure it is free from water.

That's how I deal with the water. I swim 6 days a week for about 1.5km each day and on average I have my walkman functioning 3 out of 4 times and on 1 time when it doesn't, I usually need to fix it only once in the whole session.

Good luck

[Thalamus.]

Hi Redangel7,

welcome to the Sony User Community forum..:smileyhappy:

Wow you must be fit swimming nearly a mile each day, I broke into a sweat just reading your post..

Thanks for taking the time to post your experinces of using the walkman, hopefully your post will help others..:smileythumbsup: