Intermittent problem charging KS10's

How is that addressing the issue of the charging problem, it’s a press release saying they are running away from the problem. This is not a Costco problem, it’s a manufacturer problem. Costco tried to use leverage, and they ran.

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Yeah well that’s the thing, we just don’t know exactly what the situation is, I’m pretty sure sonova will just try to move on, the Paradise and Lumity are still selling so who knows…

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Anyone who’s had this issue and gone back to Costco - what was the process? Was it a straight swap of HAs or did you have to turn in the faulty aids and get them repaired?

My right HA now requires some careful positioning in the charger to stay charging. The hard reset advice makes no difference - think there’s an issue with the contacts. Left seems to be working fine and both sockets work (the left HA charges in either)

I had the issue, went back to Costco and they needed to send them away for repair (and the charger too). All were replaced.

In the meantime, I bought the Phonak charger. Never had an issue with the Phonak charger and KS10s, but I don’t use them all the time at the moment as I prefer my old Phonak Q90s.

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Interesting - I’d have thought you’d just get factory fresh replacements. I await Costco’s phone call…

They said they were being sent for repair, but what that actually meant I can’t be sure. You would think they would just replace them and maybe they did. I did have to go without them for a week or so as they did not provide immediate replacement. But that was no issue for me as I just went back to my old HAs.

Have you tried the phonak Marvel charger? You can find them on eBay for around $20.

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I hadn’t thought of this but I’ll take a look. Awaiting Costco’s response to my enquiry yesterday.

Ironically I’ve managed 2 days out of 2 getting them charged!

I have two Marvel travel chargers left over. KS10s fit in them well, possibly a bit tighter to remove than the Marvels. Voltage on the pins seems identical to the KS10 charger.

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It seems Phonak/Kirkland has fixed the charging issues. The fix appears to be to send your KS10’s back, along with the charger, and they will send you a new/fixed set of aids that have been matched to the charger. Mine are currently going through that process and in the interim, Costco has loaned me a set of aids, programmed with my program, along with a matched charger, and for the last week it has performed flawlessly. Now to see if mine do the same when they return.

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Sending them back was of course always what was required and Costco was offering to do.

Can you elaborate on this, in what way are the HAs “matched” to the charger? Are you saying the charger can only be used with the one set of HAs.

I suspect it’s only been recently that Phonak has determined that they have to electronically match the aids to the charger for the charger to work properly. Prior to this, I’ve had my aids returned for repair for this issue twice, with no improvement. The loaner set I’m using supposedly HAS been matched. With my old aids and charger, several times a week I would insert the aids and have the light blink green, or amber or even sometime red, then they would usually settle in to blinking amber, then blinking green, then solid green…or not! Sometimes they would be solid green…then off! One or both. With the loaner set I’m using, they immediately turn blinking amber, then after a time they are solid green, and they do not change. I really do not know what they do to match the aids to the charger, but it sure seems to work. Now they have the dubious pleasure of matching TWO chargers because I have one for home and one for the motor home. That should prove interesting.

@tenkan: The Mother Ship :flying_saucer: has to give you the number (… this is just a guess, of course, on my part).

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I don’t power down my KS10’s at night when I charge them. I’ve only had a charging issue maybe 4 times since May 2021. I make sure both aids are blinking in the charger before I close it. The 4 times they weren’t charged I didn’t watch to make sure they were seated and blinking.

I just notice in the last a couple times in 2 weeks that my right one will sound like it’s turned off, I can adjust the volume or change the program and it’s fine. It’s a little strange. I’m calling Costco tomorrow for an appt.

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My wife has had intermittent charging issues with the KS10 similar to other postings in this thread. One thing to check - the connection between the wall plug and the usb cable is unreliable in our case. Once I fiddle with it (push it in a bit) the aids begin charging normally. I discovered this when an article of clothing lightly brushed the cable and the charger went haywire.

After 18 months of solid service, my right hand KS10 is now unreliable in terms of recharge. By this I mean it requires being positioned ‘just so’ to commence charge and stay on charge. I assume it’s a problem with the contacts on the HA as the left one charges in either socket. Different cables/plugs make no difference as has careful dry wiping of contacts.

This morning it required a very thin shim of paper to keep the HA on charge. I’ve contacted my local Costco about repair/replacement (in November I was advised there was no issue around parts or warranty despite the Sonora x Costco break up).

Does the Phonak branded charger make a difference? I’m minded to buy one anyway as a spare/travel charger when I’m on the road for work etc.

I read somewhere about the replacements being a set of aids matched with a charger. Perhaps this relates to manufacturing tolerances or quality control.

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Can you see any physical wear on the HA contacts? If so then maybe the bars in the charger could be ground down so there’s a high spot where they hit the HA contacts.

I occasionally charge my KS10s in the travel chargers that came with my Marvels. The charger that was used daily for a couple years fits the KS10s about the same as the KS10 charger. The other travel charger has barely been used, and the KS10s take some force to remove after charging.

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Phonak Charge and Care charger for the win. Never dropped a charge in the 3 months I have had it and KS10s performing better than ever with the clean each night.

OK. This is interesting. Each of my two pairs of Phonak Lumity Life aids I bought came with a charger, but I’ve been putting my aids into either one to charge up at night, never having been told that maybe I need to put PAIR #1 aids into CHARGER #1, and PAIR #2 aids into CHARGER #2. These are inductive charging bases, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some connection done so that the aids will only charge up in the base they were sold with.

Can ANYONE out there comment on the charging base + aids sold with it? I will shoot this question to the two audis I know and see if they have an answer.

I’d had a long thread on my issues of batteries not charging up on the Lumity Life aids, and - in addition to needing Android 13 OS on my cell phone - I wonder if my issues are multi-factorial?