Over 7 years of using Phonak HAs with domes, I have only changed the wax, whatever is the correct term, 2 or 3 times, and never once because they appeared blocked.
However, the other day my 6-week-old, right-sided I-90 Sphere hearing aid; suddenly stopped working whilst I was in a restaurant. This was embarrassing as I could not hear the waiter’s suggestions. On arrival home, I discovered that my Audi had neglected to give me any wax filters.
It was a Sunday, so I fossicked around and found some old Bernafon minifit wax guards and some 7 year old Phonak Cerushield guards. Were they suitable and a fit for the Spheres?
I went online to hopefully find out which, if any, were compatible with my I-90 receivers and just got confused. I found mention of SDS 4, SDS 5, and SDS 6. Do these wax guards have different internal and external diameters or depths? Do they have some sort of mesh or grid across the orifice? Does anyone have an image from a microscope? Do the dimensions of the guard affect the volume or frequency response from the speaker?
In my situation, could I have just removed the wax guard? Or maybe removed it and tried to blow it clear with compressed air? (I had a small compressor in the car).
I do not know how I could hold onto it without any tools. As it happened, even when using a powerful magnifier, I could not see anything obstructing the opening. Ultimately, I have fitted a specified Cerustop wax guard, and it seems to be working, though perhaps not quite as well as it was, so I have booked a visit to my audiologist next week.
Comments please.
Thanks raylock1, but I know Cerustops are correct for the I-90s. What I do not know is if the older Cerushield or Bernafon wax guards would work in the I-90s. Are the old and new wax guards interchangeable? Are they physically similar enough to fit and perform the same acoustically?
I hate changing the wax guards on my aids Costco Kirkland KS10. Cerushield is such a poor design. More than once I messed up so I tried this. Just a short blast of a second or so clears the wax from the filter. I’ve been using it for quite a few weeks with no mishaps.
Pretty sure neither Cerushield or old Bernafon wax guards would work. If you don’t have an available cerustop you can often remove the old one with a needle but you should get to your audi as soon as possible so wax doesn’t get into your receiver.
So far it’s been fine, used it a couple of times a week for around 2 months. I got the idea from an audiologist who used it to clean the microphone openings. Although I have only used it on wax filters. I damaged a receiver using Cerushield, which Costco replaced free of charge.
I have been doing this for years, am still able to actually hold the Cerushield guard between my fingers after removing it (carefully) from the aid, then insert the guards at the end of the air can extension tube in the same direction as in the aid (it fits) and apply air, cleans it out and I wind up reusing the same guard many times, one or 2 a year max.
What am I missing? They cost 37 cents on Amazon. I change mine weekly for under $20 a year. Why go through the hassle of removing and re-using the same wax filter? Or have I misread the conversation.
Sometimes it’s not just that the wax guards need to be changed. Sometimes wax gets caught in the little center hole in the HA dome. I push a straightened-out paper clip through that hole a few times.
Other times wax gets UNDER the wax guard. I used to have to take the HA into the audi to have them clean it. After a few times I bought a Jodi-Vac HA cleaner. They’re not cheap, but they’re worth it in my opinion, especially for someone like me whose audi is 45 minutes’ drive from home.
raylock1. The point was. I was away from home over a weekend, I did not have any Cerustops or opportunity to purchase any. but I did have some old Cerushield guards, also, I had some Bernafon miniFit wax guards, So basically what I was asking was, could I substitute either of the latter guards in place of the blocked Cerustop one until I returned home? From this discussion I have learned the simplest solution would have been to remove the blocked Cerustop and just gone without a wax guard for a few days.
I am sort of answering some of my own question here, but today I got out my old low resolution USB microscope and grabbed some fuzzy but enlarged views of 3 different wax guards.
The photos show it all. It seems what I thought was an unused Bernafon miniFit was in fact a used one. It “sort of” fitted, but no wonder I was not hearing well. I include some other comparison images.
