Sticky Situation

[n981ms]

Are they still putting the "same soft touch turn to sticky" battery boxes on them. Surely not.

I too have had this problem and the biodegradable ear cups Dan mentioned.

[Snowflake]

Originally Posted by n981ms

Are they still putting the "same soft touch turn to sticky" battery boxes on them. Surely not.

Yes.

My father's "new" Zulu 3 (well, sort of new, he's had it for a while now) has soft-touch paint. Marketing departments like soft-touch paint.

[Dugaru]

Same thing happened to my Pilot USA Bluelink gadget. Scrubbing with simple green did no good. I ended up just wrapping it in black electrical tape. Gives it a nice sheen.

Originally Posted by Pmerems

I called Lightspeed support and it turns out they use a soft touch coating on the battery back/controller on the Zulu (original) headset. This type of coating deteriorates over time and gets annoyingly sticky (tacky).

[9GT]

I have been a big fan of Lightspeed headsets. My first pair was the 20XL. I took advantage of the trade-up program they had and traded up to the first generation Zulu when they came out. It was a very pleasant experience and customer service was top notch. When I finished my RV-10, I needed three more headsets so I went ahead and ordered a new Zulu 2 and two Sierras for the rear passengers. All four headsets went with the sale of the RV-10. Fast forward and I am back building a -9A. Need a headset again and bought a generation 1 Zulu here on the forum. I was very happy with it. Took it out of the case to fly with a hanger neighbor a few weeks ago and found that everything coated with the soft touch was very sticky.
I didn't want to fool with it so I contacted Lightspeed through their website asking about it and what could be done. All the response I got from them was an advertisement for their products, nothing technical. I was able to clean the sticky off using a Magic Eraser wet with isopropyl alcohol. It took some time and elbow grease. With the Magic Eraser you have to be careful to not remove the writing though. Its pretty aggressive. I am pleased with getting the soft touch coating off. This headset will be for the passenger. I still need to get another for myself but it will be the in-ear style. I had a set of the QT Halo's and loved them, especially for cross country flight. I will be getting the new set that CMW is manufacturing as it appears they have addressed my only complaints I had with my old QT Halo. What ever happened to the excellent customer service Lightspeed offered years ago? Did the company and customer base grow too large?

[cderk]

So if this soft touch stuff goes sticky, how are the tosten grips holding up? i just received my military style grips for my -10. haven't installed them yet, but that will suck if they get this way after some time.