Orbi RBR50 material became sticky

[mjgrainger]

+1 to the list of sticky routers. Roughly three years old. Sucks because I always sell previous gear when I upgrade – and no one's going to touch this in this state.

Really think Netgear should open an exchange program for these regardless of age/warranty status.

[gee4time]

Body of each unit became very sticky.  Environment Southern California. Simi-arid. OS is windows 10, Mac OS Big Sur.

[Raul_Martin]

Hello all,
I had exactly the same issue, I dialed to Netgear support center and they simply refused to provide support to it, even when it is clearly a manufacturing defect, their reasons are:

• Your warranty is expired (only 1 year warranty for this product) - which is simply ridiculous, considering that is a problem that raised after a year of usage.
• You bought through Amazon with a delivery in Mexico - they said that even if the warranty could apply it would be too complex to apply the RMA. So, why do they sell a product that cannot be supported?!?! 

This is really disapointing from Netgear, when I bought this system I thought that I was getting the best system available, and I remember that they were advertising how it has also a great look; unfortunately it resulted to be a piece of crap that looks horrible in your home after a couple of years.

[bakuteh]

For whatever reason, my previous post didn't make it.

Anyways, I live in Singapore and the humidity probably got the best of the units. Both the surfaces of the router and the satelite became sticky after a while.

I tried dishwashing soap with no luck, and Tide too with the same results.

Then I tried using this:

Mr Muscle Kitchen cleaner.

There were 2 ways that I tried:
1. Spray onto a damp cloth and then wipe on the surface of the unit

2. Spray directly onto the unit and then wipe with a kitchen tower.

This almost immediately dissolves the grime. It takes a few passes before the stickiness goes away.

If you're planning to spray directly, obviously you need to be careful about not getting liquid inside the unit.

Hope this is helpful.

[Voyager11]

I have just discovered that my 2 x Orbi RBR50s have gone sticky and are covered in fluff / dust. Tried wiping them / cleaning with no success. Neither is in direct sunlight and both are away from heat sources, and no humidity issues inside a heated house in winter / cooled in summer. It seems like a plastics failure.

Has anyone had their Orbis replaced as a manufacturing defect?

Otherwise they seem to be doing their job. Cheers

[swissboy]

Same issue - very sticky with plastic disintegrating. Poor material selection!

Location: Southern CA

[PCSP]

I found the issue too. My router around 2 years too

[Mooose]

Same here. Mounted in a protected area away from windows, heaters, etc, no particular extremes regarding heat, humidity, UV or other environmental factors.

The same thing has happened to the rubbery surface of the Nintendo Switch analog sticks and an Audio Pro remote.

At least I only have to touch the surface of the Orbi when it bricks every year or so!

[mcC704]

I found using auto polishing compound (I have Turtle Wax brand), the smudges and some of the stickiness came off.  Apply generously, rub hard with a soft sponge intended for auto paint, and wipe off with a soft towel before the compound begins to dry.  Not perfect, but a decent appearance afterwards.  Likely will have to repeat periodically to maintain in the face of this obvious factory defect.  If I handle the units (have router and 3 satellites all affected), I make sure my hands are clean, wearing nitrile exam gloves, and try and not grip the bodies.  

[j_roy]

Hi Dirzl,

I have encountered the same issue. It appears the plastic decomposes if you leave it in sun light. (Maybe the manufacturer should tell you something like that?)  Mine sat in the living room near a window. I have contacted Netgear's support to try to get this replaced with no luck. I was on and off hold for 2 hours all to say sorry but we cant help you. I would have expected more from such an exspensive router. Very unhappy with netgears customer service. 

[bigrizz]

I found a really simple solution that worked for me on two different Orbi routers after I too experienced the sticky router issue. Give the router a wipe with a damp, lint free cloth to get rid of any dirt and dust. Then sprinkle talcum powder liberally over the router. I just rubbed it all over with my hands then got a clean, dry cloth and wiped off any excess. Just like new. All of about 5 minutes work. Hopefully this works for others too.

I've also tried this same trick on other electronics that have become sticky like a couple of our kids' tablets. The main problem is that most other stuff is not white, so your electronics get a grey finish - not ideal. So for black items, I tried thinking of what else I had around the house that I could try and I had a little tub of activated charcoal powder kicking around (often used in cosmetics and really easy to get from pharmacies and maybe even supermarkets). I tried a bit of that and it works! Perhaps not as well as the talc but damn close. The tackiness is much reduced. Just wear gloves with this stuff and do it on a surface that won't colour easily because this stuff gets everywhere.

My next experiment is to do talcum powder first then hit it with charcoal powder. I think there is a market for this. You read it here first, folks. No prior art I can find.

[Mikey94025]

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@bigrizz wrote:

I found a really simple solution that worked for me on two different Orbi routers after I too experienced the sticky router issue. Give the router a wipe with a damp, lint free cloth to get rid of any dirt and dust. Then sprinkle talcum powder liberally over the router. I just rubbed it all over with my hands then got a clean, dry cloth and wiped off any excess. Just like new. All of about 5 minutes work. Hopefully this works for others too.

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This is a very helpful solution!  I had some baby powder and tried it on the Orbi RBR50 and RBS50 rubber surfaces that were very unpleasant to touch.  It really helps, thank you for sharing with this community.

I also tried this approach on some rubberized salt & pepper shakers that were afflicted with the same sticky touch problem.  It did not help with them.

[dbandit]

Does anyone know a online store that have 3d printed cases for the Orbi???