Sticky Situation

[RONSIM]

it takes some scrubbing! Only negative I have with my series of Lightspeeds!

Ron

[Brantel]

So a few days after posting the post above, I got a call from a nice person at Lightspeed.

This lady took the time to find my phone number somehow and to contact me and offer to repair my 7.5 year old headsets free of charge including return shipping.

Just got them back today and they look great. The entire control box and all the cables were replaced!

Amazing customer service!

[Paul 5r4]

I also had the exact same problem. Mine were at least 3 or 4 years old. I called and they ask me to send them in. Set was repaired and no charge.

[lr172]

Originally Posted by Snowflake

I learned this years ago when I was designing consumer electronics. Marketing loves the soft-touch paint because it feels really, really nice when it's new. But a year or two later, it starts reverting to an adhesive, and makes everything a mess.

I've been meaning to experiment with some acetone or paint thinner to see if I could remove the soft-touch paint without destroying the plastic underneath, but I haven't managed to work up the courage to try it... I don't want to wreck my headset.

I have found the occasional soft-touch-painted toy that you can rub the paint off with your thumb, leaving the plastic underneath. Maybe that'll work here, but you'd have to wait until the stickiness is soft enough that you can work it off.

Mine got sticky in a year or two. I removed the coating with lacquer thinner I believe. Might start with mineral spirits and move to more agressive solvents. Sorry, but just can't remember what I used, but it came off without much trouble and there is shiny plastic underneath it. Once done, it looked great. It's possible that I used denatured alcohol and probably would have started with that as I know it won't hurt plastic.

Larry

[rv7charlie]

Originally Posted by F1Boss

My call to Lightspeed Tech Support led to their fix: clean off the goo with Simple Green. They recommended the aircraft grade stuff, but I found the household type also works fine.

No more whining from the back seat!

Carry on!
Mark

Straight SG can be corrosive to aluminum, which would make me leery of using it around electronics, too. The 'Pro HD' stuff available at big box stores is supposed to be safe for aluminum, like the aviation stuff. Not saying it's safe for electronics, but it might improve the odds...

[Plummit]

Originally Posted by Paul 5r4

I also had the exact same problem. Mine were at least 3 or 4 years old. I called and they ask me to send them in. Set was repaired and no charge.

I just called and they told me $100. They wanted my CC before I sent them in so I paid upfront.

~Marc

[DanH]

Same goo here, plus a cable sheath splitting with age and really cheap leather finishing which sheds little black bits everywhere.

I've bought three Lightspeeds as new models were introduced, but this good customer is all but gone.

[Plummit]

Yeah I prolly won't be buying Lightspeed again.

~Marc

[Tooch]

I have 2 Zulu 2's One with goo one without. I was told the same think at SnF.
100 bucks to fix. This is a bad PR move, Especially since so many pilots view this website.
So Lightspeed, if your monitoring these posts, do the right thing and fix these headsets.

Matt 804-271-6515

[RV7 To Go]

Originally Posted by DanH

Same goo here, plus a cable sheath splitting with age and really cheap leather finishing which sheds little black bits everywhere.

I've bought three Lightspeeds as new models were introduced, but this good customer is all but gone.

Similar experience here. The last repair cost me $100 to fix my Zulu originals...cheaper than a new set I figured. These have been repaired 3 times since new. All under warranty except the last one.

When buying another set last year I tried the Bose first. Terrible noise cancelling in my noisy 4. I went right back to ACS and exchanged them for the Zulu 3. Much better ANR. Still too new to say about the durability but so far so good. If these start giving problems it will be my last set of Lightspeeds.

Al