I had custom acrylic earmolds made for my 105db Oticon receivers in May '24. I have been using my UV drier once in several days to get rid of the moisture. Two weeks ago I noticed that there was a large crack on my left earmold. Today, after the drying session I noticed that the left earmold’s crack has expanded and a tiny crack has appeared on my right earmold. Apparently UV makes acrylic brittle. While my earmolds are still usable, I suspect that I will have to order new acrylic earmolds in a month or so if I continue using my UV drier.
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Yes I found it also damages soft ear moulds by making them really hard.
I wear BTE Aids so I can disconnect my ear moulds / tubing at the ear hook.
I’ve got a crack too and I didn’t know how it happened…. Now I suspect it might have been the dryer…
Thanks for the heads up!
By the way: by acrylic, you mean the transparent plastic?
Which dryer are you using?
How long does your dryer keep the UV on? The Dry and Store Global II uses UV only for the first 90 seconds of the 8-hour drying cycle.
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Phonak D Dry keeps the UV on for 5 minutes which I think is quite long.
In older threads many thought the UV was not harmful. Are you sure the molds did not crack for some other reason? Do they have a thin area and cracked there?
I have been using dryer, with UV, on molds for over 5 years. Usually 2 times a week unless I get caught in the rain or sweat a lot. Never seen a crack. Maybe heat versus the UV? I am suspicious of the heat affecting the coating on the receiver wires, but they have always lasted at least 3 years.