I am in the UK and have a set of Phonak Paradise 90 UP BTE aids with full earmoulds. The aids now need retubing. I have never had a problem with doing this with previous aids using standard 3.1mm external diameter preformed tubing.
However, with these aids the tubing appears to be smaller, around 2.6mm external diameter and on attempting to retube one of the aids it proved almost impossible to extract the old tube which gave the impression of having been glued in. When I finally did get it out the hole seemed far too small for the 3.1mm replacement. After several attempts I did manage to get the tube partially into the back of the earmoulds but it required far more force than I have previously experienced. I was under the impression that all mainstream manufacturers use 3.1 outside diameter tubes in thin , standard and thick wall variations.
Is anyone familiar with the use of smaller external diameter tubes? Thanks in advance for any advice.
My hole in my ear moulds are always smaller when they are new but very quickly end up bigger so I have to use thick wall tubing.
For a long time, I ordered thick wall tubing to go into my ear moulds but I end up having to then buy extra thick wall tubing for the rest of the time.
I now order medium size tubing for my new ear moulds and after around 3 months, thick wall tubing fits.
You’ll see they come in various sizes in diameter.
Thank you, I hadn’t appreciated that the holes might expand. On looking closely at the spare tubing I bought for my previous aids it appears to be the thick wall variety so I have now ordered some 3mm thin wall pre bent tubes. Hopefully these will be a better fit.
If you have UP hearing aid, 3.5 mm OD tube will be best choice. Less sound leakage, less whistleblock limits, more high frequencies for you.
Yes, but I don’t think 3.5mm tube will fit in the existing hole in the earmould. The thinner version that was preinstalled worked OK. I have full earmoulds which stops sound leakage. The previous Phonak models I have had have accepted the thick wall tube so I don’t know why the hole is smaller in the latest ones.
It’ll be what the audiologist ordered.
Unless it’s Starkey and they’ve been terrible for the last 2 years.
They put in different tubing, vents and all sorts. They haven’t followed instructions and last year, I went back for 4 months to sort things and this year, the issue is going on 13 weeks.
I’ve ended up with about 30 extra ear moulds, more left than right.
Both ordered with no vents and medium size tubing but one ear mould has a large vent and the other had a small vent. The tubing was thick wall despite the order saying medium wall.
Starkey can’t seem to read anymore!
The 3.1mm tubing arrived an hour ago and It wasn’t too hard to fit although still a bit tight. First impressions are that it is working OK but I need to check in different situations.
This is the second set of earmoulds i have. The aids were ordered from Specsavers and the first set of moulds were the skeleton type and Tended to loosen up giving feedback. These also had very small holes in them and I had them changed under guarantee for the present set which do fit much better. I am profoundly deaf so even the best aids are not going to give me anything like normal gearing but these are the best I have had and the bluetooth works very well with my phone and for listening to speech and music through my PC. I have got some manual settings which I can change on the aid buttons which help in some situations.
I can also add new profiles using the App on my phone.