A listener over at the MacCast is reporting that his iPod nano has been corroded due to sweat. As you can see from the above picture the corrosion is at the bottom of the iPod near the dock connector and the headphone jack. This particular nano is said to be less than a year old and has never been in contact with water. Bryan has said he uses his nano while running using a Belkin Sport Sleeve and his best guess is that the damage is being caused by sweat.
The iPod in question seems to be one of the 1st Generation nano’s with the silver back. Has anyone seen this type of damage (corrosion) on their iPod. Personally I ran with a 1st Generation iPod for around a year with the Nike+ Sport Armband and never saw any damage to the iPod. Could this all be related to sweat?
Read [MacCast]
Yes,
I have an IPod Nano I have had for 6 months that looks just as bad. I have always used an Apple armband. I took the unit into an Apple store and they told me that there was nothing they could do.
I have a similar problem with the Gen. 3 Nano. It's not nearly as bad as the one in the picture but there was some corrosion around the headphone port and the battery dies after 5 months for my 1st nano then after 5 weeks for the one I replaced it with. In both cases, Apple said there was nothing they could. I run with my ipod nearly every day but I keep it in an armband that I bought at the Apple store. I did not have this same problem with the Gen 2 ipod I had before. It looks to me like there is a design flaw in the product. No way it should die after 5 weeks.
Yes, my 3th gen 8gig IPod has the same problem.
On both sides of the docking connector at the rear side near the chrome back the aluminium housing has serious damage. Best to be discribed as "cratering". This is due to the electrical tension between two different metals and a dielectricum (as salty water/sweat). Anode/kathode effect, wich will slowly eat away the aluminum and destroy your IPod.
This problem is a very often reoccurring construction fault, and imho the manufacturer should replace the faulty parts bij an upgraded version. I even use the original sport-Apple leather armband. Imho the armband with its possibility of collecting fluid is the major problem. As i stated earlier, Apple should take responsibility and replace/fix the devices with this problem.
Might very wel be that the 3th g being obsolete so soon is caused by this problem, who knows ??
I can't believe a company like Apple who heavily markets these devices for active people is so negligent and irresponsible…
a case of a rotten apple surely…
time to go get one of the water resistant mp3 from another manufacturer
This is the EXACT problem that I am having with mine. I just got it last July so it's only a year old. I wear it in an in case sports arm band and my guess is the sweat has caused it to corrode. It's gross and disappointing. I just was searching to see if anyone else has a similiar issue.
My ipod has corroded on all four corners. But the corrosion around the headphone jack is so bad i cannot insert a headphone, so cannot listen to music when i run. I started using it with a nike plus in January and have ran about a 1000kms since. If anyone from apple reads any of these comments we would like a refund or replacement. Thank you…..
I have exactly the same corrosion problem (but not as bad as on the picture). The Nano is nearly one year old and has been used during running in an official Apple armband.
Like Kevin said: it's a shame that Apple doesn't take their responsibility when it comes to repairing these kind of problems.
I've been exercising (running) for months with my ipod nano 4th gen and short of some freezes during music playback, I have not experienced any external corrosion whatsoever. I sweat like crazy but keep the ipod in a 99 cent plastic case I got off ebay and a stretchy arm band, which goes over the lateral part of my short sleeved t-shirt.
Maybe that keeps the moisture and corrosion at bay? Prevention is always preferable to repair.
Bubble boy's story is not relavant because the corrosion problems occur on the
3th gen Nano as a result of usage of a stainless steel back and aluminum front.
This choice of materials will result when a conductive fluid (swet) makes an
electric contact deteriate very fast. Probably the 4th gen is made of different
materials ? I guess even mr Jobs learns someting every now and then ?
Definitely a sweat related issue. I run with my ipod nano and had the same problem, but caught it pretty early. I cleaned the corrded area off and brushed clear nail polish over it. Now I remove the ipod from the armband I run with so it can dry off–have had no further corrosion now two years later.
Still quite annoying when a product obviously poorly designed is not properly supported by the responsible manufacturer. Anyhow , seems to be one of the greater problems of the Jobs company.
One spec of light, the device is despite heavy deteriation of the casing still working like new;-)