A simple web search yields 14.8 million results concerning this problem. This is not rocket science.
Here is a taster;
A definitive explanation from someone who actually "has a clue"
Not too bad a discussion
Nikon should do better on high priced items
In the tropics
Clearly the fault is NOT with the user. Sunscreen, weed killer - jeez, talk about clutching at straws....
As for Mobius being on the market 6 years, such a statement is meaningless. Firstly, there is no serious competition at this price point. Second, 6 years is nothing in business. You could have a serious competitor in less than 1 year from now - they are unlikely to give you advance warning. If your product has a flaw a good competitor will make a big deal of this.
As a project manager on mines, and now as a researcher, if I knew a product would deteriorate and fail after just 2 years of normal use the supplier and/or manufacturer would certainly be struck off the preferred supplier list. You may get away with it for 6 years, but you will not get away with for 12.
Amazing! You've been a member here at DCT for merely 24 hours and you've wasted no time launching into a self righteous and bombastic harangue full of amorphous claims, meaningless "documentation" and boasting of entirely unrelated expertise.
If this is your "MO", I predict you won't be around here too long.
You know, the internet is the perfect place to come up with zillions of complaints about a problem like this but unfortunately it is not a good place to discover all the instances where it hasn't occurred. The millions and millions of people whose soft coated products have not manifested the problem won't be reporting a problem that has never happened for them. That's the unfortunate critical thinking failure displayed by your logic here reporting on "search results".
"Clearly the fault is NOT with the user. Sunscreen, weed killer - jeez, talk about clutching at straws....
"Really
?
Even the links you provided prove otherwise, like the person who reported that the grip on her camera became sticky after she had used a DEET based insect repellent
. Yep, that was in one of your links. You should maybe consider actually reading the links you post if you want to provide them as "evidence".
Or your link about "rubber" where the article discusses tapping rubber trees for latex and the use of synthetic rubber. Except that the "rubberized" finish on the Mobius is NOT rubber. It is an elastomer, which is sometimes incorrectly referred to as "rubber" even though it is not, primarily because it is not vulcanized. It is also a thin film spray coating, not a molded material like a true rubber material as discussed in your article.
As I've said earlier, these coating materials do indeed deteriorate and become sticky now and again and it can be a real PITA. I have experienced it myself a number of times but just
never with a Mobius. But under most circumstances (as is mentioned in your own links) stickiness is caused by environmental factors. And this can be any number of things. Typical examples of environmental damage can be chemical contaminants such as the aforementioned insect repellent or sunscreen, exposure to ultra-violet light, atmospheric pollutants or body oils and sweat from one's hands. Body oils (such as found in fingerprints) can be especially damaging to "rubberized" plastics which have loose co-polymer bonds that allows such oils to penetrate. Body oils and perspiration are made up of salts, enzymes and fatty acids, which also create an acidic pH level which can cause damage that will eventually harm such coatings because chemical reactions ensue any time your sweat and fingerprints touch plastics as these unfriendly and corrosive pH oils build up and penetrate.
Another factor with some of these coatings comes down to a question of quality. As we all know, many products coming out of China are not as well made or durable as others. Generally speaking the "rubberized" coating on the Mobius has been of fairly high quality IMO. In fact, over the last six year period I have rarely, if ever seen a complaint about sticky Mobius cameras here on DCT or on RCGroups. Considering the popularity of the camera (many tens of thousands of Mobius cameras have been sold) along with the thousands and thousands of Mobius posts here on DCT forum and over at RCgroups, the fact then that this problem of stickiness is so rarely reported is certainly telling us something. And FWIW, I have certainly NEVER heard anyone report a Mobius turning into a "gelatinous mess". So, while I acknowledge that apparently stickiness on siliconized "rubber" coatings does indeed happen it is hardly the existential crisis you seem so hysterical about.
I suggest that instead of spending your time ranting about this problem on internet forums or going crazy trying to figure out how to remove the sticky, disintegrating, "gelatinous" rubber from your camera or indulging in spurious assertions, you permit me to offer up a simple and inexpensive remedy for you (or anyone else) who might be experiencing a sticky rubberized Mobius Action cam housing. Just go and buy a brand new Mobius replacement case for about 3 bucks USD and you'll be good as new in no time. Buy two, they're cheap! That way, in the highly unlikely event that even your new Mobius housing should melt into a gelatinous horror movie prop from hell, you'll already have a spare. The fact that you can easily buy an inexpensive replacement case for a Mobius Action cam is part and parcel with the genius of the Mobius concept.