Rift - heat sweat and fog.

DNA-Decay

DNA-Decay
Hey all,

I live in the tropics and have a Rift.
When I first put the headset on, it's sharp and clear.

After a minute, I get a fog patch right in front of me.

I can take it off and give it a wipe, but Elite does time in hours, and has bits (like combat) where you really just gotta be in-game.

I'm finding that I'm having to look at things kinda sideways to get a clear reading.

From the amount of sweat in the pads, I fully understand why it's fogging up.
But why in the middle?
Why exactly in front on my eyeball?
Why not creeping in from the edges?



It's going to end up that the Rift sits on the shelf and only comes out for special occasions.
 

ziddan

Z
Ive got a Vive but when i play long sessions and its warmish i use an oscillating fan set to low standing right in front of my face to keep cool, did the same when i was playing using the Oculus DK2.
 

Faded Glory

Faded Glory
I actually started to get bad condensation / fogging when the weather got cooler here, so the rift was cold when I put it on, but once it had warmed up a bit, the fogging stopped. This was exacerbated by the fact that I have glasses inside my rift!

I just got an alternative face pad fitting for the rift (from VR Cover), and I have found it far less prone to fogging (as in it doesn't seem to fog up, and neither do the glasses!). You might want to give it a try. Relatively inexpensive.

It might also be worth getting a small desk fan and pointing it at your face (as suggested above) as I gather this also helps prevent fogging and facial overheating.
 

Bryan K

Bryan K
DNA-Decay said:
Hey all,

I live in the tropics and have a Rift.
When I first put the headset on, it's sharp and clear.

After a minute, I get a fog patch right in front of me.

I can take it off and give it a wipe, but Elite does time in hours, and has bits (like combat) where you really just gotta be in-game.

I'm finding that I'm having to look at things kinda sideways to get a clear reading.

From the amount of sweat in the pads, I fully understand why it's fogging up.
But why in the middle?
Why exactly in front on my eyeball?
Why not creeping in from the edges?



It's going to end up that the Rift sits on the shelf and only comes out for special occasions.
Click to expand...

The middle of the lens is the part that's the closest to your face, so naturally it feels the heat differential first.

As for the condensation, I get that from time to time, but after 10-15 minutes the lenses get closer to the temperature of your face and the condensation fades on its own. You gotta keep wearing it, though, since it's your face that heats up the glass in the lenses. I usually wipe off some of it after 5 minutes or so, and some of it comes back, but fades in another 5 minutes.

I usually leave off in a starport, so on the rare occasion that I get lens condensation, I use the time to do anything non-combat oriented, like supercruise.

Oh, and with regards to the heat sweat, be sure to dab the face pad with a paper towel from time to time. It gets kinda gross if you don't. I didn't clean it for the first few months I owned my Rift and it got pretty disgusting. Thankfully, they sell replacement face pads on the Oculus website.
 
Last edited:

Alec Turner

Alec Turner
Yeah, I get a fog patch right in the middle of my right eye (just the right one, weird huh, it's almost as if I have steam jetting out of my right eyeball or something). I usually have to remove the headset, wipe and replace 2 or 3 times before it settles down. The suggestion of a desk fan really helps, makes using the Oculus a lot more pleasant too, a bit like having a car window open when you feel travel sick. I can heartily recommend this one ...

 
Last edited:

Wasp0

Wasp0
andysonofbob said:
Have you tried getting a mini desk fan and positioni
Click to expand...


or this........ :eek:

cuqjMlV.jpg



Joking aside there are fans out there to fit on the Rift, just google Oculus Rift Fan!
 

Cornelius lucius

Cornelius lucius
I live in Southern Queensland and frequently get the same issue with fogging upon the lenses, although usually at the top of the lenses for me, it usually takes around 5-10 mins of me taking the rift off and cleaning the lenses for the temps to equalise (longer if it is particularly humid). I can also definitely recommend having a fan blowing on you when in the rift as well, it certainly improves the comfort.
 

DNA-Decay

DNA-Decay
I'm under a ceiling fan on full, so I'm not sure another fan would win.
But the two products - the spray and the replacement pad look worth investigating.

I kinda thought there might be like uh, a mini air conditioner, which pipes like a thin tube of cool dry air through the Rift.
Maybe like a water cooler graphics card unit. Maybe with 5 high current USB 3 ports.
 

StiTch

StiTch
I had the exact same problem and went as far as contacting Oculus support over it.

The bottom line is that they refuse to advocate a solution. You may find the best solution is simply to put it on, play through it, and after a few mins of not fiddling with it the temperatures even out and the fog retreats.

If that doesn't work, you have two solutions available: purchase a fan and run it continuously, or purchase an anti-fog solution. As Oculus denied support for any anti-fog solutions (behold the power of the pun!), this will void your warranty if it causes lens issues.
 

heretowatch

heretowatch
That's a tough one. It sounds like it's not simply a temperature differential thing, but that you're really not able to reduce ambient humidity in your room enough. You might still try a directional fan pointed at your face. I have a gap between my nose and the Rift, so air flows pretty well if I turn on a fan. I can definitely vouch for the replacement interfaces at VR Covers, too. Get the fake leather one, and a couple of covers, so you can wash the covers or use the bare interface (it won't soak up sweat). Be careful with the spray, make sure you spray a microfiber cloth first, don't just spray around inside the Rift. Good luck!
 

conceit

conceit
Well, no need to call rift support. Everone wearing glasses knows that. Fogging is something that happens to every lense when it is cold and you bring it to a humid warm environment. It's not just about humidity, but much more about the low temperature of the glasses put into a warmer area. As warm ain can (and does in a healthy living environment) carry more water than cold air, the air cooling at the front of your lenses has to release humidity.

With the rift in its encapsulated containment close to your face (which hopefully has a layer of warm and humid air), this supports fogging of course even more. So, what to do about that?

The easiest solution to me is to give the rift a few minutes (mine is getting pretty warm quickly when the Oculus app is running), and to support warming up by breathing warm air on the lenses. The lenses of course will fog immediately. Wipe it off (rub a little to warm it), repeat a few times. When the lenses have raised temperature by a few degrees, fogging isn't an issue anymore.

Also, you can store the device near a radiator. Not too close of course, don't heat it up, just keep it from getting too cold. Then your gear is always ready.
 
Last edited:

conceit

conceit
heretowatch said:
That's a tough one. It sounds like it's not simply a temperature differential thing, but that you're really not able to reduce ambient humidity in your room enough. You might still try a directional fan pointed at your face. I have a gap between my nose and the Rift, so air flows pretty well if I turn on a fan. I can definitely vouch for the replacement interfaces at VR Covers, too. Get the fake leather one, and a couple of covers, so you can wash the covers or use the bare interface (it won't soak up sweat). Be careful with the spray, make sure you spray a microfiber cloth first, don't just spray around inside the Rift. Good luck!
Click to expand...

The fan solution would only help by keeping the rig (and the face) cold and by that removing the temperature gradient. I think that is a very bad idea. That poor guy will be constantly chilled and sick. Unless he's not living in tropical areas and storing his rig in a fridge he shouldn't try air condition as well. He's talking about temperatures where the Rift gets cold enough to fog, not mid summer.... Then, humid (warm) air is important for healthy living. As long as he is not overdoing it by having a heated swimming pool (or large aquariums) in his room, there is no need for air conditioning.

Just to make clear what I mean: Cold glasses will ALWAYS fog in a warmer environment, unless the warmer air is totally dry. Living in such an environment would make you constantly sick, starting from steadily drying out mucous membranes, which by that get easily infected (chill, flu etc).

The thing is, the rift is simply too cold. That's all. Store it in a better place and give it means to warm up if necessary. That's what the "spittle" solution or the warm-breathe solution does: You put 37°C water on the cold lense. The lense surface quickly raises temperature by that. Wipe it off (with a lot of rubbing), and see: no more fog.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom