I have used my Epix extensively for about half a year, including swimming in a pool, taking showers, and basically treating the device according to its “100 METERS” marking on the back, without worrying about water damage.
However, things changed two days ago when I was in a different country. I jumped into a small, 5-meter chlorinated pool, about 1.5 meters deep, hands first. This was enough to cause the screen of the device to immediately go blank, displaying weird horizontal lines across the screen, similar to a TV with no signal. Unfortunately, I only have a low-quality video of this glitch (I was trying to show it to my friend). Sometimes the display would work partially, and I also noticed that the UP button was not functioning.
When I got home, I placed the device in rice (as the old saying goes, it helps draw out moisture, so I thought it couldn't hurt). A day later, I disassembled the device and saw that some water had definitely gotten inside, leaving what appeared to be a salty residue (I don't know how a chlorine pool turned out to contain salt).
After cleaning the display's capacitors with isopropyl alcohol, and taking apart and cleaning the button as well, everything started working again. However, the button no longer clicks; it only registers pushes.
So, it's good that I was able to repair it relatively easily, but it's disappointing that a $1,000 device doesn't live up to its expectation of being water-resistant. Now, I need to find a replacement button.
This post is a word of caution for those planning to engage in water activities beyond swimming with their devices.
P.S. I know I should have gone to a service center to get this fixed, but since my warranty has long expired, I feared they might charge me a substantial amount of money, especially considering the cost of these displays.
