Could you post links to support your theory:D
Alpine,
What I know about whiskering and the electronics of the 20’s and 30’s was told to me by several electrical engineers I know and I’ve read several articles over the years about RoHS compliance and the problems the U.S. military and Govt. is facing regarding weapons and other vital electronics shorting out do to whiskering. As for HA if they are sold in Europe you can bet they are RoHS compliant which will lead to premature failures and you can also bet they aren’t making aids just for the U.S. market that has lead solder.
Well, I’m still waiting to hear back from our whiskering expert on the lead free solders, but even if there is whiskering, there are simple ways to deal with it in hearing aids & most electronics.
Care to share with us how?
We call it overfill in the company I work for. It is basically potting material, designed to get under the die and between even fine pitch solder ball attachments. It also makes repair and rework impossible.
Zafdor,
I don’t claim to be an expert on whiskering all I know is what I’ve read and what I’ve been told by several electrical engineers I know. You say there are simple ways to deal with this issue in most electronics, then why aren’t the manufacturers using these simple things? I know someone who repairs flat screen TV’s and he has them lined up like cord wood all with whiskering problems which are to costly to repair. Most of these TV’s are less than a year old! If these wizards who know how to stop this problem are doing it, they need to come up with something that actually works! What are these simple solutions and how long do they work? 6 months? 1 year? Just past the warranty period? I would be interested in knowing.
I don’t think digital aids are as reliable as analog aids. The more bells and whistles they contain, the more likely they are to fail. Plus, the chips they use are all made in China or Hong Kong, so who knows how good the quality control is? Analog aids tend to be more robust and reliable, which is why I prefer them to digital aids. What good is spending thousands of dollars for digital aids if they spend most of their time out for repair? This is just insanity. Gerald
Modern digital technology is very reliable. Extra features are implemented through software or chip design changes, so there is no reason that a more advanced aid will fail faster. Possibly analogue aids are more reliable - but that’s probably because they tend to be large and built like a tank. A modern digital aid in a heavy housing would be equally reliable.
Zafdor,
I just finished talking with one of the electrical engineers that originally told me about the whiskering problems the electronic industry was facing do to RoHS compliance. He told me he just finished a job for Rogers Organ in Hillsboro,OR; they spend a lot of money several years ago to go RoHS compliance and ever sense they have had whiskering issues to the point that they no longer warrant their organs for 50 years, now it is 10 years and most of their organs need major rework within the 1st year. So I guess they haven’t found the simple ways to solve the whiskering in their electronics. He also told me about a circuit board failing due to whiskering in a nuclear power plant. Kind of gets you thinking that if we have a failure in the wrong kind of equipment we won’t have to worry lead in our water, but all the same maybe we will no longer be here!
I have had the Rexton Cobalts about 20 months. The only problems I have had are with the receivers. One or the other will start to crackle/static and needs replaced so far I have probably went through 6 or 8 receivers. Hasn’t cost me a dime. My Audi always has a box of spare parts for Rexton I call her and stop by maybe takes 10 mins.
I had to take back my Naida III UP again for it quit working this is the 3rd time I am totaly losing faith in Phonak products I will replace it when the warranty runs out and never buy another one.
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I had to take back my Naida III UP again for it quit working this is the 3rd time I am totaly losing faith in Phonak products I will replace it when the warranty runs out and never buy another one.
Do you have a dry-box or a dry-n-store???
The patients I have wearing Naida’s (not too many btw) or any of the other phonak HA’s (and I’ve got a lot) haven’t had any reliability issues.
If it’s been back a lot in a short period of time then I’d be inclined to think you might have gotten a ‘dud’. I’ve had that happen once, in the past 2 years. One hearing aid out of probably 150-200.