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Apple Watch pitting corrosion?
- Thread starter rawCpoppa
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Nope. If I do go to the beach I remove the Watch before going in the water and wash off with fresh water before putting it back on. Only been to the beach once between April 2016 and now. Nowhere near salt water or chlorine basically.
The 7000 Series aluminum is highly durable and fairly resistant to corrosion. Being the majority of the corrosion is on the back, it could be due to your sweat. My suggestion would be allow Apple to look at this, at minimum, they will want pictures for their engineer team to look at. Being its a first Gen Watch, I'm not sure how they will handle this, unless they determine its a defect. I would make a Genius appointment to allow them to see it in person.
If you give them a call they can give you an email to send photos to. They will also open up a support ticker if needed.
https://www.juukdesign.com/single-post/2017/06/10/Does-THIS-happen-to-your-Apple-Watch
Known issue, but I’m not sure if Apple offers a fix.
Known issue, but I’m not sure if Apple offers a fix.
@rawCpoppa seems like a bad anodisation job. I highly recommend you bring it in to an Apple store to let their guys take a look at it and (hopefully) negotiate a replacement. My own Apple Watch had bad chipping issues and Apple agreed to replace it on the third attempt. I understand it can be a hassle to go down, but my experience has been that it’s easier to discuss this sort of stuff in person than online.
There are no Apple stores in my current country unfortunately. I was in Europe recently, I guess I should have shown it to any store there even though I bought the watch in the US.
I think this might be sweat. A similar thing happened to the palm rests of my old 15” MacBook Pro.
Based on the photos of where the corrosion is on the Apple Watch, it only makes sense that it is the sweat that having a chemical reaction with the anodized aluminum. Some sweat is corrosive, and after being exposed long enough, this can happen, but on rare occasions.
Has it ever been cleaned after a workout? The photo (3rd one) would say no. There's about 2 years of sweaty crud around the HR sensor and watch release. Urgh! looks gross and has been like that for a long time from the photos.
Salt/water (sweat) would cause corrosion.
Salt/water (sweat) would cause corrosion.
Yea, looks like the OP may have extreamy acidic sweat and doesn't wash/clean after each workout.
Goddamn. That thing is filthy. I can see skin oils and dead skin funk in the speaker hole, too.
OP, did you ever clean any of the watches you've owned in the past? If not, why not? If you used to, then why did you stop this time?
(not saying that the aluminum shouldn't have pitted like this, but holy crap, that's absolutely disgusting)
OP, did you ever clean any of the watches you've owned in the past? If not, why not? If you used to, then why did you stop this time?
(not saying that the aluminum shouldn't have pitted like this, but holy crap, that's absolutely disgusting)
Here is my watch after 3 weeks. I'm a little disturbed by the fact that just after 3 weeks there are scratches on the glass and wearing marks from the charger. But oh well, I guess that's to be expected. I rinse my watch under water (every other time I may use light soap (for the band only) depending on the severity of exercise) - then use a towel to rub dry.
That watch the OP has sure looks like it has a lot of additional gunk on it. :/
That watch the OP has sure looks like it has a lot of additional gunk on it. :/
I used to keep it clean because I was conscious of wearing it for workouts but it still started pitting anyway so I stopped. Cleaning didn’t make a difference to prevent this sort of stuff.
How are you removing the watch from the charger? Looks like it hasn't been straight off each time. I see what appear to be scrape marks from pulling off at an angle?Here is my watch after 3 weeks. I'm a little disturbed by the fact that just after 3 weeks there are scratches on the glass and wearing marks from the charger. But oh well, I guess that's to be expected. I rinse my watch under water (every other time I may use light soap (for the band only) depending on the severity of exercise) - then use a towel to rub dry.
That watch the OP has sure looks like it has a lot of additional gunk on it. :/
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Did you use water to clean it and then wipe off? Have you ever had a water hardness test done on your water supply? Believe it or not, this can also be caused by a combination of water hardness and personal body chemistry, not just sweat.
I have several expensive running watches that get bathed in sweat routinely and have never had issues like you posted.
I’d like to think I’m taking care of it and taking it off nice but maybe I’m not. Your watch doesn’t have marks like that ? My wife has identical marks like mine. So I think it’s the charger. Not bothered by it just wondering if it’s not normal. I’ll work on removing it more carefully. Doesn’t bother me much. Most of those scratches aren’t visible unless under a good light source.
I am using this charger for the watch. I haven't noticed any marks, yet.
Still, these photos aren't helping you make your case at all.
This is like going to your car dealer and saying, "A year ago, I think the clearcoat started fading," but the car has already been scraped against the parking garage wall, one of the bumpers is half-fallen off, and you've replaced three of the wheels.
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A bit of plastic polish will clear it up. It can wait until it's so scratched up that the LEDs can't get a good view of your pulse.
I also wipe off the back of my AW with my shirt or pants before putting it on the charger. It's the SS model with ceramic, but I'm playing it safe by not letting any dirt get in between the caseback and the puck.