Oh, I should mention that the other day I saw one of those amazon prime Rivian vehicles on fire in my neighborhood. It was quickly towed away.
Last year I got on a bus here in queens and as we were going along an avenue we passed an electric bus that was on fire. As we were alone on oure bus I asked the driver what he thought of electric buses. He told me they are a scam. He said they had already had more than a 1000 of them catch fire. But they keep it out of the news. The batteries are dangerous.
My Philips rechargables one battery stopped taking a charge and it was three years old and out of warranty (Costco does not service out warranty HAs and Philips USA only services HAs returned by Costco
Costco will service out of warranty hearing aids as long as the aids are not so old that the manufacturer will no longer service them. When out of warranty there is a flat fee for repair, I think currently $135. If you are sure it is just a battery issue and you have a recent Philips model with the battery door, you can order a Z22A battery online and change it yourself. After replacing the battery, put the aids in the charger as sometimes they will not turn on until that step is done.
wow - I have never heard that Costco will not service out of warranty HAs. My audi can change the batteries in mine in her office, and she has assured me that she will be able to get the batteries for at least several years after my warranty ends (as that was one of my concerns). As I said I know there are good reasons for some people not to go with rechargeables, I was just pointing out that many people other than those with dexterity issues also like them.
I will try the buy your on battery my local Costco said they would not send it to Philips and then Philips would not replace the battery unless I got Costco to send it. They do have a battery door but but it needs a special tool to open it - not like the disposable battery door.
Thanks for the information
You can change the rechargeable battery without Costco’s help. Ask them for a pin tool to change the receivers. They will usually give that to you or perhaps you already have one. That pin tool can open the rechargeable battery door on the Philips. There are numerous posts about this, mostly for Oticon aids which use a similar design, e.g.,
I wonder whether Costco has a policy to not open up hearing aids in-store. I’ve seen some not so great ideas applied in an effort to help me and I could see them not wanting to be responsible for breaking the aids versus other parts. Costco also can’t order all parts, e.g., Grip Tips. Z22A batteries are possibly also not an item they can order.
You might try calling to get prices from some local audiologists as some have good pricing on the batteries and might pop it in for free as it takes very little time.
Yipes! I’d be afraid of the stylist SNIPPING right through the tubes! It’s a wonder I haven’t had my wires snipped already. Even tho I warn the stylists that I have these SOX on my aids - and the aids cost me $6800! - it seems they are oblivious to slappin’ that hair dye ALL OVER the place. I finally bought a couple pairs of BROWN sox cuz they’d end up that color after one trip to the stylist.
Like you, it seems the chatter is never ending. I’d be just as happy if a robot painted my hair so I could take my aids out and not worry about them. But the endless questions always arise: “What side do you part your hair on?” “Do you want highlights?” “What are we doing with the haircut today?” AUGH. I have to be able to hear them, but they usually ask the question standing behind me, and for some reason, like to swivel my chair to face the person in a chair next to me while my hair is being blow-dried. The questions CONTINUE over the roar of the blow dryer without even a mirror to lip-read them.
TBVH @1Bluejay, I wouldn’t bat an eyelid if the hairdresser inadvertently split my tubing, it takes me approximately 2 minutes to change tubing per aid, I probably have it down to a fine art nowadays, once you have done it several hundred times, it was part of my job at one time, renewing folks tubing, when I worked for Deaf Services… Dye on the other hand, is a different kettle of fish, and you ladies seem to love the stuff, personally I can’t see the attraction, but hay ho, each to their own I could envisage getting your hair dyed, may indeed be problematic, and you would most likely, want to remove your aids… Most of us guys, go as nature intended, we just want our hair cut, and that’s our wack, mind you, up until I was around 40, my hair was long, really long, it grew at a prestigious rate, it probably touched my hips? Now it’s pure white, and kept short, long hair, is a lot of hard work, it’s been years since I have even brushed my hair! And yeah, I wash it every day, but I never brush it, tis strange how lifetime habits change… You take care, Cheers Kev
LOL! Long hair? Yeah, my hubs had that at one time, too. He was in his 30s, had GORGEOUS, thick, wavy black hair down to his shoulders.
We were in a restaurant eating, and a guy came up from behind my hubs, saw that hair, THOUGHT HE WAS A WOMAN, and as he passed my hubs had a WOLFISH grin on his face. Saw my hubs was a mustachioed MAN, and OMG he blanched, nearly croaked on the spot. Looked at me like I shoulda warned him. Then marched past.
I have eyebrows. Actually I have only a bit of thinning here and there. I shave most days, the whole head. Long story how I got started, but I’m happy being bald. It costs a few minutes more a day, but I never get a bad haircut and I never have to pay for one either.
Hats are important! I burn and scratch / abrade easily.
WH
Goodness Bluejay! You remind me to be grateful for my current long time stylist - apart from giving me an excellent cut every time she asks me everything about the haircut up front (and while I’m facing the mirror!) and then my hearing aids go out and we are silent until the end and my hearing aids go back in. Any occasional discussion is done facing the mirror and is strictly related to the haircut. And I know she can be chatty because I see her with other customers but I think she finds me a relaxing break
I actually cut and dyed my own hair between 14 and 22 in part for this exact reason, too much hassle and no way I wanted my parents around for every haircut After that my husband was usually around as we would get our hair cut at the same time and he would chat with them which helped a bit.
Back on topic, I strongly prefer disposables for my own lifestyle which includes periods where even having a phone charged is not guaranteed and I have no worries that they will go away, at least in the higher powered segments of the market that I am part of.
If you are in the mild to moderate loss category it seems rechargeables would be worth trying - run times are longer and you may have more options and find an HA you love where the trade offs are worth it for you.
You are indeed lucky - and I so agree with your observation. Even the chatty need to re-charge!
I thank you all for your input.
I always remove my aids when getting a haircut because the barber will spray stuff to my hair and it can clog up the hearing aid microphone openings.
@Sconato I opted for the rechargeable telecoil version. It’s slightly larger, but it has a nominal 39 hours of battery time vs 28 hours for the standard model.
@1Bluejay WOW. I am amazed! How is it that Rexton figured out longer rechargeable battery life when Phonak’s are giving one no more than 17 hrs per day?
I can now report that 39 hours is not just propaganda. With the bluetooth on my phone turned off, and my Rexton telecoil hearing aids turned off at bedtime and turned on in the morning, with no recharging, the batteries functioned for EXACTLY 39 hours before shutting down.
Sconato, you’ve made the right purchase decision! I wish Phonak would figure out how to make their rechargeable aids last longer between charges … I thought it was all about the MONEY. Since I couldn’t get through even 24 hrs with one pair of rechargeables, I was forced to buy another identical pair of rechargeables. Ka-ching!
Then, when I replaced my old Phonak TV Connector with the new Roger mic set-up (also rechargeable), I was talked into buying a redundant Roger mic for my 2nd set of aids. Phonak told me each pair needed its own dedicated Roger license.
Now that I’m back to the world of battery aids, I won’t be traveling abroad with ANYTHING rechargeable: not the aids, not the Roger mics. It’s like a step backwards, except that I feel so liberated by my new, lighter, less-cluttered/redundant solution.
Do you have a hearing aid program that works similar to the Roger Mic? Just wondering as you have the L90 tech so have more programs compared to my P70.
As far as I know (not being a Target DIYer) there is no dedicated program to replace the Roger mic. I’m probably at the 97% satisfied place with just the aids using AutoSense to do the needful in most situations.
I also use 2 dedicated programs 1.) Speech in LOUD Noise for noisy restaurants and 2.) Acoustic Phone to get a stereophonic phone experience even without BT.
Over time, I’m finding the Roger mics NOT that useful. I use mine placed next to a cell phone to hear speakerphone calls coming in (family members REFUSE to do Skype, cuz it’s easier to dial folks when in boring traffic or some other NOISY place where they want to kill time by catching up with us on a phone call. LOL.)
Recently, I swapped out the Roger mic for my old TV Connector cuz I found the Roger mic too shrill and harsh (like a public address megaphone). I’ve always found the OLD Connector’s sound quality better. Roger mic in a restaurant is a total WASH, as it picks up too much ambient sound even if my aids are in “mute” and audio just comes from the Roger. I don’t go to large events where I’d like to stick the mic in someone’s face to hear them. Ack! I’d just ask someone to repeat what they said.
I think the Lumity Life aids DO deliver on the speech comprehension improvement. Still haven’t found the best solution for speech comprehension in really LOUD places tho.