I went to my Audi, and she said for Oticon to replace the battery in the ConnectClip it would be $250. To buy a new ConnectClip it’s $250, so I bought a new one.
That isn’t putting “People First” IMHO and pretty absurd.
So I’m going to try to take the old one apart. It seems like one tiny screw holds it together.
Before I do, does anyone know what model battery it is, and where I might be able to get a new one?
Thanks,
Bob
Do a search on this forum and you should find a thread or two that covered this. I think some folks have reported to have successfully replaced them on their ConnectClips using batteries bought from eBay.
Thanks. I’ll do that.
Bob
I have not taken my ConnectClip apart but I did find a document on a web site with FCC docs covering the ConnectClip (called an audio clip). It had the following info on the battery:
Brand: SYNERGY
Model: AHB451730PC
Rating: 3.7 Vdc, 200mAh
Finding one with the correct cable and connector may be an “interesting” exercise as I haven’t found a part number for that kind of assembly.
Thank you very much!
Bob
I replaced mine. No problems since. This is the link referenced above: Replacing ConnectClip battery with eBay battery
Thank you very much, Luga.
This is great information.
Bob
Is the battery in the Oticon ConnectClip user replaceable?
Based on what I have read and what appears in other forums And my experience I would say no.
I thought it’s already well established that the Oticon ConnectClip battery is NOT DESIGNED to be user replaceable easily. That’s not a question anymore.
The question is whether there are users who still manage to figure out how to replace it and actually did it. The answer is yes. If there’s a will, there’s a way.
@Volusiano: IIRC, you have purchased at least one spare battery. Can you find batteries with the proper connection clip already on the battery, or do you have to cut the clip off the dead battery and reuse it?
Hi Jim, yes, I bought 2 spare batteries off of eBay just to be ready even though my ConnectClip is still going strong and not showing sign of not lasting long enough yet. Mine is 3.7 Vdc, 200 mAh, labeled Z.S.V.I +601430 (per recommendation from someone who bought the same from eBay and installed it OK.
They came with the bare wire and no connection clip. I haven’t tried to install them yet (nor have I opened up my ConnectClip yet), but I suspect I’d have to reuse the connection clip already existing in there.
I haven’t taken mine apart, either. I’m going to wait until I get a new eyeglass prescription.
Tiny things are a bit blurry to me, so since I’m not in a hurry, I’ll wait until my eyesight is optimal again. A new appointment is in the works, but she’s very busy after the pandemic. I guess I’m not the only one to have put this off. 
There is no “connector” in the OEM battery that i could see. I think its soldered into the board but i didn’t disassemble the whole thing. You can actually open the ConnectClip and access the old battery and wires fairly easily. I just cut the old one off and spliced the cables soldering the new one in place with some heat shrink tubing to cover the splice.
The new battery had just the wires and no connector at the end.
As always… its an “at your own risk” sort of thing
@Luga: I apologize if my memory has failed me wrt the presence of a battery clip. I didn’t mean to muddy the waters with the insertion of questionable “facts”.
Suffice to say the battery can be replaced by those brave enough to attempt the fix (even though it was not designed with that in mind)!
Thanks for your clarification.
I found this in the official Oticon website
So, it looks as though we’re not screwed when our ConnectClip batteries need replacement.
What I’ve heard so far from the few Oticon owners on this forum when they need their ConnectClip battery replaced and inquired about it, is that their HCP told them that the way to replace the ConnectClip battery is to basically buy a new ConnectClip.
So what Oticon says above, while not incorrect that the battery can be replaced, is misleading because apparently the way to replace it is to pay the same amount that it would cost for a new ConnectClip.
So you have 2 choices ->
or 2) keep the bad ConnectClip and buy a new ConnectClip so you’ll end up with 2 ConnectClips, the old/bad one and a new one, for the same cost as option 1 above.
I have NOT heard from anyone in this forum who’s said that their HCP replaced their ConnectClip battery for a reasonable amount of money. I sure would love to hear reports like this, but so far no luck.
Of course the third (but also not ideal) option is to try to replace it yourself for much less.
@Volusiano: Well, that’s disappointing. Now that you mention it, perhaps I do remember the reports from members saying they were quoted a battery replacement price that was equal to the price of a new one.
I thought that I had stumbled upon some policy change that had been made in response to the complaints made about lack of replaceability.
No such luck, I guess. Sorry for the red herring … 
I asked my audi if the battery could be replaced, and she said replacing the battery is $250, but getting a new ConnectClip is also $250.
At that rate, getting a new one is a no-brainer.
So now I have a new ConnectClip and an old one with a dead battery that I will experiment with to see if I can replace the battery and make it work again.
It seems having a non-replaceable battery is not good customer service and has soured me a bit on Oticon.
After my rechargeable hearing aids which ended up costing more than replaceable batteries while giving me inferior service as the batteries lost their capacity to keep the aids alive all day, that’s the second disappointment.
Their slogan, People First should be changed to Profits First
I might try Phonak next time.
Can you elaborate on this? Which rechargeable hearing aids do you have? And they don’t last you all day anymore?
I’m not giving an excuse for Oticon not making the ConnectClip battery user-replaceable, but if you look at the industry of wearable electronics, popular items like the Apple Airpods are not battery replaceable at all, neither their charging case nor the ear pods themselves. It seems like a trend that for wearable electronics in the few hundred dollars range, they’re all guilty of trying to force consumers to shell out money for complete replacements.
Apple is even worse with their iPhone 12 lines now. They’re not designed to be third party serviceable anymore. You can pull out a perfectly good working part from an iPhone 12 to replace the same part that went bad on another iPhone 12 with it, and the replacement still would not work because Apple does something to prevent it from happening on purpose.
