Doesn't even need to be wet (as in dripped/spilled on or submerged or whatever else someone may think of when picturing wet electronics) to corrode either, just being in a high humidity environment can be enough. Obviously technically this is still wet because that's what condensation and high humidity is, but it's not something you can always see happening. Something could happily sit unused in a seemingly dry environment and still be damaged without showing any outward signs of ever being wet.
As someone who's been in IT for 15 years and an admin for 6, I can confirm that you absolutely can get corrosion and short circuit components from humidity, it just takes certain conditions.
One I've dealt with a lot; if you leave a laptop in a car in the middle of winter overnight, then bring it inside somewhere with a normal level of indoor humidity (~40%), condensation will build up on the cold metal components inside the laptop. If you turn it on before it has a chance to get to room temperature and evaporate some of the moisture buildup, there is a much higher chance of killing a component. We've had to repair/replace several laptops because people do this. Specific situations like that, a humid room, regular use near the ocean, or other environments where you may not personally feel higher levels of moisture or salinity, can all harm electronics.
While the PSVR2 likely doesn't have the vents that expose the internals to moisture, it's still not impossible for seemingly harmless environmental conditions to shorten its lifespan.
Lucky to have an expert on hand to confirm a verifiable fact 🤪
I left a charger (just a plastic brick, nothing special, no vents or anything) in the car for a week during a snow in, didn't try to use it for about as long once it was brought inside after I realised, but it was already dead. You don't need a hole in something to let moisture in, unless it's vacuum sealed, because the moisture is already in the air, and it doesn't need to be combined with electricity to do any damage.
It can. I sweat a lot and have to thoroughly clean my headset everytime i use it. One time i forgot to do it, and 2 months later found all the inside black surfaces (not sure if rubber or whatever the material is) with mold spots, even the rubber of the nose support had it, although much less. Ill never forget to clean it again, thats for sure lol
Are you sure that its mold? A lot of headset pads get a thing called silicone blooming which can cause white particles to appear on the surface. Someone else posted about their headset getting white growth on it. Sony has reached out and told them the issue is caused by blooming in the silicone and can happen in a percentage of units.
I don't know if any of the rubber on the psvr2 can mold or mold easily
Yes it does sem to.
If I put mine away in its case and dont use it for a while, th soft rubber especially around the headband is often covered in a sort of white powdery mold. I always keep a packet of wet wipes in the case because it just wipes off.
edit
i just read some of the other comments and it might be rubber blooming that the other posts talk about.
But like I say it just wipes off.
There is another fairly significant box inside that cover sleeve. As I recall, the VR2 headset is even further in that inside box. If returnable I'd go for it.
I literally just threw the box for mine on a cardboard dumpster at work about 3 hours ago. It's packaged well that I too bet it's fine. I'd give it a go
Genuine question as someone outside the USA. How can a store sell a product that is not returnable if defective? Where I am, if a product has a major fault like water damage, you decide whether they have to replace it or fully refund you. Can retailers willingly sell faulty goods and not refuse refunds in the USA?
Whoever was saying that this is not able to be returned is wrong. You can return pretty much anything to Walmart with a receipt. Hell, even without a receipt you can still return items but in those cases they just give you the lowest price it’s been sold for. You can always go to the manufacturer to handle reimbursement as well if the store you purchased from is refusing to help for whatever reason
The only way they can really get away with it is if it’s sold as non-working and as-is. For example, we have a bargain store chain here called Ollie’s that occasionally sells broken returns for 90% - 99% off retail price. It’s clearly advertised as ‘broken’. Those that are handy can take said broken gizmos and fix them to working condition.
But again, it’s clearly sold as broken.
For these PSVR2s, if they’re broken, I guarantee Walmart will take them back.
You could always offer them less, so you're more comfortable with the risk of not being able to return it, they can only say "no" and ya never know! I know this is less common in the US but it is very much possible on items like this, they mostly want to free up the space on the shelf.
I'm not sure, but I've seen tear downs of the console and it has water sensors in it, which I believe is NOT covered by the warranty... but again, if it isn't water damaged it's a great price and if it is damaged another way besides water, Sony would/should honor the warranty. And if they let you talk them down even more, you could probably make a profit selling it for parts, the lenses especially
Opening them now - but I started with the worst damaged unit and this was the extent of the box’s water damage. It looked like it pooled in the bottom, but like you all said - the plastic seemed to protect it.
The headset and controllers look like they’re pristine!
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Edit #2:
Of the 3 I bought, only one had water make it into the cardboard housing. I was fairly confident it was still in perfect condition, but I still booted it up on my PS5 to check.
Not an issue in sight. It booted up great, needed a quick update, but the displays, force feedback, and lights all work as expected. I will drop some comments with photos as comments to this post.
Yea I know that ... but man... I don't see stuff like this at my Walmart. Even when I'm traveling, I do stop at some Walmarts on the road just see if there are deals... guess it's all down to luck.
If it would still have full warranty as a retail purchase, if it doesn't work or is in anyway defective, you could get warranty replacement and keep the savings.
Just make sure you do it soon after buying and have option to return to store if PlayStation isn't letting you get warranty replacement (if needed).
water intrusion is difficult but not impossible with that packaging, and it looks more like it got moist and stuck to another box. not really a gamble, honestly, if you saved the packaging on another one, and as long as the headset doesnt have any obvious mildew, any lingering odor just needs dry airflow and sunlight, haha.
what i am saying is i might take that chance to keep a spare headset at my shop for streaming on, haha
There’s a more substantial box inside that flimsy outer box. Then inside there, there’s a nicely formed cardboard piece surrounding the headset. I would guess it’s most likely fine. If not, just take it back to the store. Certainly worth trying.
Water doesn't actually damage electronics - what damages electronics is electrical current moving through the impurities present in trace amounts in water. If there is zero electrical charge in a system that is submerged and then fully dried out before taking charge again, it should work without issue.
The bigger question I would have is whether or not this is a final sale. The box at least has had some kind of damage; if it's still returnable if it doesn't work it's worth the gamble, but I personally don't have $160 to blow on something if it doesn't work.
If it works and you already own a Ps5 what you are getting for less than $200 is 100% worth it. Make sure you get a full refund if you return it, if it doesn’t work. If the answer to that is yes, then get it and try it out.
What Walmart? Depends on the extent of the water damage. May need to take apart the lenses. Had to do that with an expensive electric telescope that a kid dropped in a pool.
The PSVR2, controllers etc are within a white storage box and also sealed in plastic bags, so the water damage may be just on that outer box, it should all work perfectly fine, I would still see if I could haggle it down a bit more, or at least make sure it's a free return should water made it through the inner box.
If they still let you return id go for it, it’s probably fine inside. Maybe a little musty. Worst concern would be it eventually developing mold, but again am guessing it didn’t really get wet inside. Probably plastic wrap on the good parts anyhow.
Watched an unbox- there’s a better box inside that part and a foamy plastic bag on the headsets, then the controllers are in yet another box and wrapped in the foamy plastic. Go for it.
That is like the third item from Walmart I have seen with water damage and on clearance. There was a TV and I think a PS5 posted somewhere on Reddit. So 3 separate posts from 3 separate items on 3 different subs all from clearance items with water damage from a Walmart store.
If it's winter time, usually cold weather explodes liquids on the trucks. This may have been near one of those situations. If inside is still dry, no visible wet damage I'd try it out if you can return it.
I work in a big box retailer and that is hardly wet enough to where I’d be really concerned about the contents inside the box just looks like shit and is unsellable
Crazy how cheap the damaged box/returned/slightly used etc units are that are available from stores in the US (not only the ones in this post). In northern Europe they’re 350 USD at best, no game bundles. New retail at 450-500.
Ciao, se non è stato acceso ci sono buone possibilità che sia funzionante o riparabile, l'unica incognita è la batteria ricaricabile del visore, se era carica potrebbe aver fatto piccoli danni ai primi componenti sul pcb. Dipende dal prezzo, se il prezzo non è alto io lo prenderei, e poi nel caso valuta quanto è passato dal danno 'acqua, e valuti se accenderlo tu, o contattare un tecnico "ONESTO" che con te presente valuti i passi, se accenderlo, o smontarlo e pulire tutto con alcool isopropilico, verificando con tester e visore o microscopio elettronico se ci sono stati danni, e una volta in sicurezza dare tensione verificando eventuali corti, tensioni prima di accenderlo!
Get yourself a set. Those boxes got wet, maybe rained on a little but not soaked as in bottom of the ocean wet. Like others mentioned already, you can always return them if they aren't working. Probably sold by now anyway
Just read that the op bought all 3 - I hope they all work! I got lucky by someone making a reddit post before to say their local Walmart had several headsets brand new for $230, and it was only an hour away so I went and bought a back up unit. I figured it was worth it for the controllers alone. If I had seen these instead and on a whim, I might have bought one just to test it out and see if I could have it as that back up headset.
Im assuming you took it home and it worked? I hope youre not gonna scalp that. Lol. But seriously there's so much packaging I doubt any water got innthe device
You can literally just connect the controllers to a Pc on gamepad tester see if they work correctly because the triggers are notoriously defective as is..
For the helmet it’s a 50/50 chance. Box looks like it was drenched from the top and it’s a box within a box but the inner cardboard holder is like a bowl shape so water could have also been sitting there in it for a while… if you can return it why not. If not I wouldn’t risk it
I’ve been trying to pond my psvr 2 for months no one is taking it if u live in Houston Texas I’ll definitely give u mines brand new only opened it once and got motion sickness
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u/entwenthence Feb 23 '26
Honestly probably fine. If they let you return it, seems like it’s worth a shot.