I ordered LIR840 rechargeable batteries (for my Oticon minirite hearing aids) from “Shenzhen Qiyun Technology” through Alibaba dot com. The batteries cost less than a dollar apiece! Minimum order 20 batteries, shipping charge $42. Even with the massive shipping charge, you pay less for TWENTY batteries on Alibaba than ONE battery on eBay. Alibaba works pretty well, there was a guy named Brian Zhang on the Alibaba customer messaging system who relieved me of the potentially complicated matter of shipping lithium ion batteries and made the whole thing actually pretty easy. The batteries from China come fully charged. I found that the battery charge level shown in the Companion app was a little bit off, with one side showing about ten percent less than the battery’s actual charge. Letting the hearing aids run until the one on the bad side shuts off, then recharging both hearing aids, seems to fix the problem. Also, after putting in new batteries, the hearing aids won’t turn on using the rocker switches. I have to put the hearing aids in the inductive charger to turn them on. Don’t let greedy medical device companies rip you off. Do like I did. Take matters into your own hands and STICK IT TO THE MAN.
Can you show some photos on how to open up the HA’s. Any soldering needed. The battery fit exactly into the HA’s.
TIA
What size and voltage is your original battery?
My experience, First I bought 3.7V battery , not very good, later I bought 3.6V, better. I do not mean 3.6V better here, I mean depending on your original battery.
That seems to be standard even if you just open the battery door.
That gen of Demant products has a door that opens with a pin tool/paper clip/other. Assuming you have the correct battery it pops in similar to disposable batteries. You do not need to do anything with the software but do need to place the aids in a charger.
Thank you for your kind reply. Is your HA’s model - Oticon More?
I don’t know if the original batteries were 3.6 or 3.7. The Alibaba batteries are listed as 3.6 volt. I think they last just as long as the batteries that came with the hearing aids, but I didn’t take the trouble of actually timing them. LIR840 batteries are a standard size, that’s not going to change. The numbers “8” and “4” in LIR840 refer to the battery’s diameter and thickness, respectively, in mm.
My hearing aids are Oticon MiniRite R.
Mine is Oticon More RIC rechargeble. TIA
This likely applies to any Demant aid using a Z22A battery. Maybe someone has a complete list but I think that includes Oticon OPN, OPN S, More, Real, Zircon. It might be all rechargable models that use the miniRITE receivers?
Thanks. I think it is Z22A battery. LIR 840 should be compatible.
Here’s a YouTube video https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_rL47_1Bph0&pp=0gcJCdgAo7VqN5tD you need an extremely thin metal pin to open the battery drawer. Even small paper clips are too thick You can try a staple.
Very likely those “original” Oticon batteries were manufactured in China, too. We are just cutting out the middleman here…
Thanks for sharing the information. I’m also struggling with the incomprehensible pricing of accessories for some time:
does a higher price justify the quality or are we simply being cheated.?
However, I wonder if 20 batteries (=10 years) for personal use is a little bit over the top
- Will I still be alive by then (I am 80-)
- Will I still have the same hearing aids
- Will the batteries still be good by then.
I have seen an alternative on AliExpress: 2 batteries for €7 + €6 shipping costs. A bit more expensive, but more adapted to practical use.
Batteries degrade even if they are just in storage. No point to order for the next 10 years…
I ordered from AliExpress to replace the Batteries in Starkey HAs. Worked well!
Minimum order 20 was what my searching turned up. If I had found a smaller quantity I would have ordered it
I think I ordered from this vendor:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007205581536.html
Shipping time was less than 2 weeks to Canada.