Yesterday got new Phonak P90-RT from VA. Put on charger all night last night. Today after using with no problem ( I connect to nothing - no streaming, no phone, etc.) the HA began sounding its low battery warning and HA shut down after an hour with total runtime of about 13 hours. What’s with that?
when you pulled it out of charger, were the LEDs solid green or flashing yellow or green?
Solid green = 100%.
depending on your loss, might drain a bit faster but should last longer (usually). I’d try again, but in morning when you put them on, check the app and see if they are showing 100% charge. Then see how long they last.
if they are not at 100% to start, might be a bad set or charger. that would be the first thing i’d check (whether they are getting fully charged).
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When the VA audio rep walked me thru the new
HA’s, there was no mention of an app to use/install.
I have the HA that is called the “Cros System” -because my left ear is totally deaf. They came with 2 user guides - one UG for the Cros and one for the HA that actually broadcasts into the right ear, and neither UG mentions using or installing an app for my HA’s. After charging for 2-3 hours, the HA’s both show solid green indicator lights. Both the devices seem to work just fine as intended. I am only concerned because the device went dead after only being worn about 13 hours. I will try again today. If they fail at 13 hours again today I will TRY to contact VA on Monday. Trying to get VA audio on the phone may prove to be impossible and VA no longer has walk-in clinics like they used to.
Again, I know nothing about an app for these HA’s.
Minimum charge per the Phonak manual is 3 hours for a full charge which may be verified by a steady green light on the hearing aids…A flashing green light indicates an 81% to 99% charge.
The CROS aids do use much more power due to the streaming between the CROS and your P90-RT.
I’m sure we have some Phonak CROS users who will join in and give you further guidance.
I would recommend trying the MyPhonak App. I mainly use it to verify charge percentages but it has many other functions if you’re interested in experimenting.
Here is the manual on the Phonak website for the App.
Welcome to the Forum!!!
Unfortunately there is no App for the Phonak CROS P set up.
A lot of people find the rechargeable CROS P to not last the whole day.
The CROS P set up, doesn’t work with any App currently.
Phonak have been promising for maybe 10 months to bring out the App that works and so far they haven’t.
I downloaded and tried to install the app and failed. It initially found, via Bluetooth, the 2 Cros devices - LE_L_CROS and LE_L-? and it also said it had found no compatible devices. Shortly after that it undisplayed the 2 devices and went searching for other devices. It searched for several minutes before I I gave up and stopped the search. So, based on all your replies, I assume that the app won’t work with my new HA’s and further, I will have to assume that if I use the CROS in my dead ear, I will only get 12-13 hours of use from a full charge. Not good - my old HA’s got several days of use from a 312 battery. One more thing…for several hours yesterday while I worked outdoors as Starter AR my local golf course and for much of that time the wind noise in my hearing was quite noticeable. Does the HA playing that wind noise reduce the runtime of the charge?
I “emailed” VA audio using their web forum. Hope to hear from them by this Tuesday.
@cwr64 Zebras is right. Really recommend you try the disposable battery version. The aids talk to each other all time and it shortens the duration of the battery tremendously.
VA will provide free batteries if you have VA care. Thanks for your service!
WH
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I contacted VA via their portal. Previously I used a VA Phonak disposable battery HA that has a cros. I tried the previous cros (for days) a couple of times and quit using the cros device because it seemed to give me no real hearing benefit at all.
VA is today offering to order me a replaceable battery HA but I told them that today I will try the new HA without using the cros to see if the right-ear HA will run enough longer to keep the new HA that I have.
It is such a shame that Phonak did not design/manufacture/test enough to create a device with rechargeable battery that would “run” at least a couple hours longer before reaching battery-depletion.
I will reply again to let all of you know how things go today
As a test, yesterday I used the HA without also using the cros. The battery charge lasted from 9AM to 1:30AM (after midnight, at which time I received the 1st low-battery warning). Doc for the HA claims that the battery charge might last up to 1 hour after giving the 1st warning so I’ll give it credit for lasting until 2:30AM. Thus, the charge (w/o using the cros) lasted about 17.5 hours, compared with maybe 13-14 hours with the cros in use. In other words, use of the cros reduced the (rechargeable) battery life by about 3-4 hours. I have asked VA to get me the Phonak Paradise cros model that uses size 13 batteries. I will try to remember to update this thread with runtime of the new Phonak. I do not know when VA will get me the replacement HA.
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Unfortunately, my new VA HA appointment is not until September 30. 2 months. Soonest available.
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Last year I was getting VA appts at audiology in a couple weeks. This year they seem overwhelmed.
WH
If these are the same (99%) just disposable battery instead of rechargeable, any chance the audiologist can program them for you and have a tech give them to you? I had tips made for me, and while the audiologist did the impressions, a tech put them on the hearing aids and off I went. Still an appt, but much quicker.
WH
13 hours is actually a pretty good battery life with the CROS system. If you take the CROS off, you’ll get a full day with the hearing aid.
If you are dedicated to rechargeable, the Signia CROS has a nice battery life if the VA has those.
On the other hand, the Phonak has easy connectivity to the Roger On, which unilateral loss people frequently find useful given their speech in noise loss.
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Well, my wife wanted me to have rechargeable HA, but I am not going to deal with the underengineered Phonak. I’m 76. Maybe if I was younger I would be more tolerant. My old Phonak cros used #312 batteries and got multiple days of runtime, so that is the minimum of runtime I am willing to accept on my new Phonaks. So it’s back to disposable batteries.
As to the 2-month delay in getting my next VA audio appointment…2 years ago VA (AUSTIN, TX Outpatient Clinic) could book me in in a couple of weeks, and they actually had a convenient walk-in clinic. No more.
What I’m going to do while I wait the 2 months is to use the new HA’s, but only insert the cros unit at about lunchtime. That will give me the full benefit thru the evening until bedtime.
Thru VA, the HA’s cost me nothing so I am really OK with the wait.
A VAMC near me (not the one servicing my hearing needs) has a walk-in clinic for cleaning and minor fix-ups. The one I go to for hearing, because it was pretty close when I first applied for the disability, doesn’t have the manpower to have a walk-in clinic. Wait for an appt with a tech is about a week.
Your plan for getting from here to your disposable battery HAs sounds pretty good.
WH
I have a the Phonak P-90 with a CROS. CROS streams all the time.
I tried the rechargeable and the charge lasted only 12-14 hours because the CROS streams constantly to the other aid. I put them in at 7am and they were dead by 9pm. That is just not long enough. I returned them for the same model with replaceable batteries (#13) and have been very happy with them.
I wish I didn’t have to buy and use 4 batteries a week, but I at least recycle them.
db4art - That’s good news. I get batteries free from VA so not a problem. I wonder why Phonak under-designed their rechargeable HA, It would only have to be slightly larger to use a rechargeable that would do the job for normal use.
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I don’t know why phonak didn’t squeeze more battery life into their aids. Could it just not be possible right now? But the rechargeable battery just isn’t up to working with a CROS.
For me it’s also a safety issue. I’m old and worry about emergency situations. If I had to be admitted to a hospital, er or needed surgery, I can easily change batteries in a minute or two to be able to communicate with the staff. I have extra batteries in my purse at all times. Or I could even wear the aid in the better ear all night. (I ran into this problem taking my late husband to the ER.)