Forum Discussion

teesnjees's avatar
teesnjees
Protege
2 years ago
Solved

4 headset replacements in 4 months

Can anyone let me know if you have had to return your Brand New Meta Quest 3 Headset to Meta because it just stopped working for no reason?  I am literally now on my 4th headset replacement (all refurbished replacements) in 4 months of buying my original!  The last replacement lasted for exactly 4 days before it stopped working.  4 days of use and now it has to be returned again.  I am wondering if I am the only one experiencing this or is it something that is happening to others? 

  • MainMan68's avatar
    MainMan68
    2 years ago

    I think the issue is with sweat getting into the sensors of the headset. I use mine primarily for Les Mills Body Combat. Has Meta looked into sweat as the root cause of these types of failures?

  • pk165271's avatar
    pk165271
    2 years ago

    I am on my fourth Q3 since May of this year.  

    Like you, I use my Q3 for fitness daily (Supernatural) and I work up a pretty good sweat.  It appears the sweat is drawn in between the two pieces of the "facial interface" by capillary action where it collects, concentrates into a corrosive, viscus "goo", and eventually infiltrates the headset proper through the snap holes devouring circuitry and causing failures in hand tracking, charging circuits, etc.    WARNING: This happens very quickly if you store your Q3 hanging by the head strap (face down)!    Meta is aware of the issue but, so far, has had pretty lame advice: wear a headband, play in cooler room, wipe down your headset.  Here is my advice:

    1. Get the silicone facial interface, find a comfortable setting, and glue the two pieces together sealing any gap where sweat can hide.
    2. Consider using plastic wrap between the facial interface and the headset for fitness applications.  If you can get the "saran" stretched over the lenses smoothly, I have found the visual aberrations produced are no more egregious than those caused by sweat getting my eyes.
    3. Always detach the facial interface and clean it and where it connects to the headset after every workout. 
    4. Never store your Q3 hanging from the head strap.  This is just begging gravity to hurt your Quest 3.

    I am sure Meta is planning to do something about this - replacing these units (even with refurbs) has got to be very bad for their bottom line.  

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    2 years ago

    pk165271  if you have a halo strap you can also use the headsets without the facial interface, so it floats just in front of your eyes and the sweat can evaporate from your face without getting into the headset.

  • pk165271's avatar
    pk165271
    2 years ago

    That is a good idea, Anonymous .  And with the facial interface removed I could plug the snap-holes with a little silly putty - the headset would be impervious to any sweat flying around.  I'll have to give that a try - whose halo strap are you using there?

86 Replies

  • OMOTO's avatar
    OMOTO
    Meta Quest Support
    2 years ago

    Four replacements is the most I've ever heard of!

    I saw your post yesterday about this too and I remember you saying you only use it for one game, too!? Are you using any other apps at all (like that one optimizer tool, for example)?

    • teesnjees's avatar
      teesnjees
      Protege
      2 years ago

      I only purchased it for the Supernatural App - Meta customer service has not been able to tell me why the headsets keep crashing.  Their only solution is that I keep sending them back for replacement.  But 4 headsets in 4 months is exhausting.

       

  • teesnjees's avatar
    teesnjees
    Protege
    2 years ago

    Yes, hard reboot through boot menu has been done on all the 4 headsets that had to be replaced,  Also factory resets through boot menu.  
    I did notice though on other forum posts that others had to return their headsets after using the same app. 

    • OMOTO's avatar
      OMOTO
      Meta Quest Support
      2 years ago

      Thanks for all the quick replies, teesnjees!

      Unfortunately, I think you know the drill as well as I for how to get this one sorted... Let's hope fifth time's the charm 😅

      I'm going to note all this down anyway and pass it on to the Meta team if I see others reporting the same issue. Thanks again, teesnjees and best of luck 🤞

      • teesnjees's avatar
        teesnjees
        Protege
        2 years ago

        Thanks Omoto.
        The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.  Could you do me a favor and escalate this to someone who could reach out to me with a 'different' solution? Much appreciated.

  • kojack's avatar
    kojack
    MVP
    2 years ago

    One person on here had apparently gone through around 14 replacements. But they were destroying the headsets with profuse sweating (they aren't water proof).

    Since Supernatural is a pretty vigorous game, is there a chance you are getting sweat into the headset?

     

    • teesnjees's avatar
      teesnjees
      Protege
      2 years ago

      Thank you Kojack! I think this is the situation in my case.  I only use it to exercise and it can get quit sweaty because Supernatural is such a great work out!  Finally now I know what the issue is and will try to fix with a new interface.

    • teesnjees's avatar
      teesnjees
      Protege
      2 years ago

      Thank you! This is the first answer I’ve heard that makes sense!! 

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    2 years ago

    teesnjees  OMOTO  Choleni  While the Quest 3 is a great headset, and marketed as compatible for exercise use, it's just not built for use in a humid (sweaty/salty) environment. The electronics package is not sealed/separated from the facial interface area. Any form of exercise or exertion will produce moisture that evaporates from the skin which can move forward into the electronics area. When the headset is switched off, the saline water vapour condenses on the electronics and just corrodes and shorts the electronic components and connections.

    There are many facial interface fans that can keep the users face cooler by blowing cool air into the facial interface area, but this just makes things worse, by blowing the evaporated sweat from the interface area and over the electronics. The fan/interface combo previously mentioned in the other thread has a reverse switch, which allows cool dry air to be drawn from the small gap round the front of the headset and over the electronics keeping them cool and dry, the air is then sucked rearward into the facial interface area, cooling the face and the sweat vapour is exhausted out through the fan. This is the only fan/interface setup I would recommend.

    • teesnjees's avatar
      teesnjees
      Protege
      2 years ago

      Thank you so much!! This makes a lot of sense!! I will look into this addition!

      • Anonymous's avatar
        Anonymous
        2 years ago

        teesnjees  basically, any of the ones that look like a Star Wars spacecraft.  X3 ACF for Quest 3

        Many sellers stock it and the fan is reversible to extract the moist air (you must have it fitted to extract not blow)

         

         

         

  • OMOTO's avatar
    OMOTO
    Meta Quest Support
    2 years ago

    Thanks for the input, folks!
    Anonymous, Choleni, kojack 

    I wonder if the new Breathable and Open facial interfaces would also significantly help to prevent such issues, too. Only time will tell I suppose 🤷

    • Anonymous's avatar
      Anonymous
      2 years ago

      I wouldn't be surprised if the design change wasn't introduced due to the number of headsets failing due to moisture ingress into the electronics. You don't need the best resolution to play beatsaber or do workouts, but you do need the best resolution to experience sims. Perhaps the 3S is the sport or sweat edition?

      • OMOTO's avatar
        OMOTO
        Meta Quest Support
        2 years ago

        They've definitely missed a trick there, Quest 3 Sport Edition sounds way cooler! 🤣
        I'm going to put racing stripes on mine when it arrives. See if that'll make it go even faster 😅

  • MainMan68's avatar
    MainMan68
    Explorer
    2 years ago

    You are not the only one. I am on my 4th Q3 presently. Seems to me that there are a lot of design deficiencies still. The Q3 probable should still be in alpha.  

  • teesnjees's avatar
    teesnjees
    Protege
    2 years ago

    This definitely is the issue.  It is not built for any type of moisture.  Although it is marketed for some workout applications - the product itself is not prepared for the sweat that is produced through these workout applications.  If you use for exercising - I'd recommend using a breathable interface and be very careful not to allow any sweat to touch any part of the electronics.  Even takes breaks to wipe your sweat so NO moisture gets into the headset. I'd recommend Meta fix this issue by making their headsets sealed so moisture does not impact it.
    Many use it for exercising, not just for gaming.

  • pk165271's avatar
    pk165271
    Protege
    2 years ago

    I am on my fourth Q3 since May of this year.  

    Like you, I use my Q3 for fitness daily (Supernatural) and I work up a pretty good sweat.  It appears the sweat is drawn in between the two pieces of the "facial interface" by capillary action where it collects, concentrates into a corrosive, viscus "goo", and eventually infiltrates the headset proper through the snap holes devouring circuitry and causing failures in hand tracking, charging circuits, etc.    WARNING: This happens very quickly if you store your Q3 hanging by the head strap (face down)!    Meta is aware of the issue but, so far, has had pretty lame advice: wear a headband, play in cooler room, wipe down your headset.  Here is my advice:

    1. Get the silicone facial interface, find a comfortable setting, and glue the two pieces together sealing any gap where sweat can hide.
    2. Consider using plastic wrap between the facial interface and the headset for fitness applications.  If you can get the "saran" stretched over the lenses smoothly, I have found the visual aberrations produced are no more egregious than those caused by sweat getting my eyes.
    3. Always detach the facial interface and clean it and where it connects to the headset after every workout. 
    4. Never store your Q3 hanging from the head strap.  This is just begging gravity to hurt your Quest 3.

    I am sure Meta is planning to do something about this - replacing these units (even with refurbs) has got to be very bad for their bottom line.  

    • Anonymous's avatar
      Anonymous
      2 years ago

      pk165271  if you have a halo strap you can also use the headsets without the facial interface, so it floats just in front of your eyes and the sweat can evaporate from your face without getting into the headset.

    • CosmicMeerkat5770's avatar
      CosmicMeerkat5770
      Protege
      10 months ago

      I have a Q2 & Q3S and a Q3 Ordered online. The 3S has been used since xmas without an issue. It's facial interface is a foam material unlike the picture above the looks more solid. Also the holes where it attaches have a bottom. So I'm not sure where the sweat is getting in. The facial interface looks more absorbant and the holes don't go through into the headset itself. We do more gaming but do play beat saber which does work up a sweat.

       

       

  • pk165271's avatar
    pk165271
    Protege
    2 years ago

    That is a good idea, Anonymous .  And with the facial interface removed I could plug the snap-holes with a little silly putty - the headset would be impervious to any sweat flying around.  I'll have to give that a try - whose halo strap are you using there?