No...they stay pretty pliable. She uses them for swimming so we put them back in the case after her practices/meets. Not sure if they would harden if I kept them in the open. We just pluck them out of her ears and ball them back up. Next practice we roll them out and stuff them back in her ear canal.
My daughter uses these when she swims http://www.swimtowin.com/products/3884?gclid=CKzJzZyes8MCFZE1aQodlzAAyw they are soft and moldable silicone. You can trim them to size and ball them up and jam them into the ear canal. I'm sure they could be jammed into the mic grill.
He didn't have the schematic when he started. He was doing the ole tried and true trial and error method. He came upon one that worked. It seems that when any of the inputs are interrupted it shuts down the system entirely.
This is the thread that was mentioned earlier with the wiring schematic for the sub. Looks like this guy clipped the blue/violet wire in the harness in the jack area (drivers rear) and rendered his ANC inop. http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=68410