#1

I’ve had HAs for about a year and a half now. I have the Costco Resound. They work well when they work. I’m on my second pair - the newer model. In the beginning they seemed to work fine, but after a few months I was struggling to hear. The Costco technician kept adjusting the frequency curve in the aids which I “thought” helped but it never seemed as good as in the beginning. Finally near the end of the first year I was ready to give up on them. The technician decided to the the hear aids and low and behold one speaker was not working , the other barely. He apologized profusely. Anyway I ended up replacing the Forte with the Vida model.

A month after I got them I was back for an adjustment. this time the technician checked the speakers. and the left one was dead! I asked what was going on and he said it was likely that my body chemistry was not compatible with the speakers. He said he had in the past a few customers with the same problem.

Apparently there is nothing which can be done I was told. Costco will replace the speakers as often as necessary through the warranty period. I’ve had one or both replaced 4 times this year. It would have been more often had I taken the time and not procrastinated taking the hour trip to Costco. It is frustrating to say the least.

The moral is: make sure your audiologist checks the speakers if you feel your hearing is not quite right

#2

That’s wild. I’ve seen unusual battery draw on people who also can’t keep watches going, but never monthly speaker breakdowns. You have confirmed that it is not just due to the more common problems of wax build-up in the speaker or improper handling of the wire (e.g. sticking the dome in your ear, spinning the hearing aid around a few times, and then tucking it over your ear)?

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#3

Does anyone know if the speakers gradually get weaker?

#4

My America Hears aids’ speakers have not gotten weaker in 10 years.

#5

He may suspect it is something you are doing, like pulling on the wire to take them out, and is just telling you that.

You could go with a BTE next time, probably have better luck.

#6

I do see people from time to time who have issues with their speakers due to a soft wax / moisture in their canals. Best thing you can do is change wax guards regularly, perhaps every couple of weeks in your case, brush the hearing aids daily and also invest in a dry-aid kit or electronic drying module if you don’t use one already. Also keeping your ears as free of wax and debris as possible, perhaps getting your doctor to clear your ears or have micro-suction performed every few months. Did you experience the same issues with your first set of Resounds (providing they were RIC devices?) as it would be odd if you had no trouble with your last set and suddenly lots of trouble with the new devices.

#7

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, I do daily maintenance on them. Brush the domes daily at least; check that the grid holes are clear; changed wax guards too many times in the past - before I realized that wasn’t the problem. Every night they go in the electronic drier. I’ve had my ears checked for wax several times over the last year. They were clear except for one time in one ear…

The problem actually started with my first set (they are RIC).

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#8

In future it might be worth looking at slim-tube behind the ear versions rather than receiver-in-canal. They are similar size but the slim tube version won’t have any electronics sitting inside your ear canals and I would think prove to be more reliable for you. Good luck!

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#9

Has anyone done a “post mortem” on the RIC speakers (“receivers”)? Dissect them to see what the failure mode is, if there’s corrosion or something else?

If you’ve retained any of the failed ones or can retain one, you could send it to me and I’ll test it, dissect it, and analyze it. I’m an EE with a vested interest in the failure modes of RIC devices now.

PM me if this is something we can do.