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Apple Watch (SSB) Dead after 6 months. Does perspiration damage the watch?

polee

polee

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 22, 2008
704
518
Well, it happened yesterday. I had no hint it was about to suddenly go dead but it did.

No matter that I have tried to do, the watch refuses to start up.

I use the watch daily, which includes my brisk walking/jogging sessions and I only take it off at night for charging. I perspire a lot during the exercise sessions but no accidental damage, just normal day-to-day use.

I called Apple Support, the person told me I will have to bring it in for servicing and if there is any signs of accidental damage, I may have to pay a service fee.

Does perspiration damage the watch? May just get a Fitbit Blaze and use the Apple Watch as an occasional watch, though this was not the reason why I bought it in the first place.
 
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Hasn't hurt mine in the ten months I've owned it. I rinse it off almost every day, too.

Yours might have had a gap in the glue somewhere which didn't fully manifest itself until recently. I'm just betting that mine is okay.
 
Refusing to start up isn't necessarily a sign of water damage. Not sure why you suspect perspiration as the culprit. It could have been a random manufacturing defect that has nothing to do with water ingress.

However, it's water resistant to 1 meter for 30 minutes so of course perspiration isn't going to hurt the AW (as long as it's non-defective and sealed properly).
 
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Yup. Have been swimming regularly with mine as well as bi-weekly sweaty gym sessions. As long as you rinse it after salt or chlorinated water it should be fine.
 
Thanks for all your feedback. I am bringing it for servicing this Friday. Good to know that it's not perspiration.
 
I dunk my hands in saltwater on a regular basis at work every day-haven't had an issue.
 
I went to the apple service centre and the watch started up again. I left it with them so that they could monitor and identify the cause of the problem.
 
I had a problem with the ceramic back of the Watch just coming off the case on Tuesday , I have SS 42, I use it everyday ,I run with it about 3 times a week, living in Florida u perspire profusely in the summer, so I suspected sweat could have caused this.I took the store, the Genius put my Watch trough diagnostics, examine it and said that sweat or water will not damage it. He encouraged me to "run a light stream of water" after exercising and rotate the crown up and down , I told him I was "apprehensive to do so", he said ,"not to worry and do it" . Now, the Watch went into repair on Thursday , got a phone call yesterday and e mail , they are giving me a new one, go APPLE ... I also got a new 1 year guarantee ? on the new Watch , too good to be true ....
 
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BarracksSi said:
Makes sense, because the warranty is covering the hardware, not your purchase receipt.
Click to expand...

It's unusual though. White box replacement AWs when swapping out under warranty carry a 90-day extension (if replaced near the end of the warranty). It sounds like they gave him a retail box, which is unusual for warranty purposes.
 
Yeah it shouldn't be liquid damage. I wear mine in the hot tub a few times a week, spent a week vacation in ocean water, wear it in the shower sometimes, etc. Im sure that if they can replicate the issue, you'll be getting a new one.
 
Sweat isn't supposed to hurt it but I'm about to start on my third watch (SS 38). On both the first and the second, the ceramic back peeled off when on the charger. It could be the sweat factor. Second back peeled today and I called support. They are again replacing the watch. Guy also said a memo had made the rounds about the back separating issue so they are aware and hopefully have a fix in place so I can sweat without worry. I hope replacement is here in time for tomorrow's run!
 
Mine is still at the service centre. Somehow the more it is not with me, the more I realise it is not a very useful addition to my life. Sigh...
 
polee said:
Mine is still at the service centre. Somehow the more it is not with me, the more I realise it is not a very useful addition to my life. Sigh...
Click to expand...
I have been on a holiday earlier this year for a week in Thailand where I didn't bring it along - brough my automatic diver watch as I was going snorkling quite a lot - I didn't miss it an aweful lot as I was there, because a lot of the time I was snorkling, sun bathing, swimming in a pool etc. and didn't even have roaming on my phone, so a lot of functions would be gone anyway... But it went back on my wrist as soon as I got back - I love the little piece of tech but first and foremost I think it's a great watch. That's number one
 
polee said:
Mine is still at the service centre. Somehow the more it is not with me, the more I realise it is not a very useful addition to my life. Sigh...
Click to expand...
It is probably sitting on a shelf there and no one is looking at it. Kind of silly that they asked you to leave it. My Day 0 42SS did exactly the same thing about a month ago. I flipped my wrist up one second it was fine; a minute later it would not come on. Took it in and it came on. They did some diagnostics right there and noted crashing apps, but nothing hardware wise and sent me on my way. My guess is that an app got stuck in a loop and the hard reset that I did in the parking lot before the visit is what got it going again. I wear my watch everywhere all the time, it is extremely durable hardware. My experience was the opposite of yours, I very much missed not having it for those two days.
 
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Okay, its back with me today. I did a restore and everything looks fine. I think I will start wearing this again...
 
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I'm having issues with my 42 SS, out of warranty of course. Watch won't come/stay on. Trying a hard reset can get to the apple logo, but the moment you release the buttons it goes off (sometimes it goes off before you release the buttons). Took it to the genius bar and they tried several times and couldn't get it to actually do the full hard reset. And phone can't see the watch because it's basically off.

They wanted $329 to send it for repair which felt ludicrous to me when I can get a new one with full warranty for $399. Either choice seems vomitous with AW2 probably around the corner. For the moment I've decided to hold off, though I miss it during the day. My other hope is that when the battery finally dies, it'll wake from the new charge having escaped from whatever loop it's caught in.
 
anthonymoody said:
I'm having issues with my 42 SS, out of warranty of course. Watch won't come/stay on. Trying a hard reset can get to the apple logo, but the moment you release the buttons it goes off (sometimes it goes off before you release the buttons). Took it to the genius bar and they tried several times and couldn't get it to actually do the full hard reset. And phone can't see the watch because it's basically off.

They wanted $329 to send it for repair which felt ludicrous to me when I can get a new one with full warranty for $399. Either choice seems vomitous with AW2 probably around the corner. For the moment I've decided to hold off, though I miss it during the day. My other hope is that when the battery finally dies, it'll wake from the new charge having escaped from whatever loop it's caught in.
Click to expand...
I think that's what happened to mine. When the battery finally died, it "miraculously" came back to life. Which basically means I never know when this loop may occur again and I have to go through that horrible cycle again...
 
anthonymoody said:
They wanted $329 to send it for repair which felt ludicrous to me when I can get a new one with full warranty for $399. Either choice seems vomitous with AW2 probably around the corner. For the moment I've decided to hold off, though I miss it during the day. My other hope is that when the battery finally dies, it'll wake from the new charge having escaped from whatever loop it's caught in.
Click to expand...

If it doesn't work, did you by any chance use a major credit card to purchase it? Many of them offer extended warranty and if you did, you can file a claim to get reimbursed the $329.

If you didn't, you should consider purchasing AW2 using a CC that offers extended warranty coverage in the 2nd year.
 
polee said:
I think that's what happened to mine. When the battery finally died, it "miraculously" came back to life. Which basically means I never know when this loop may occur again and I have to go through that horrible cycle again...
Click to expand...

The frustrating part is that it's taking a long time for the battery to die! Oh the irony. The issue is that the watch is off unless I'm holding the 2 buttons down to force a hard reset. This could take a while! Ugh.

EDIT - sadly, it didn't work for me. Battery was 100% dead - not even the red plug sign would come up. Put it on charger and next thing I know it's back in the hard reset loop :(

What to do what to so...two months until the Sept keynote, and they may not even announce AW2 at that point.
 
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