One of my brand new Phonak Audeo Lumity L70s is dead

Hearing Aids
#1

Barely over two weeks ago, I obtained a new set of Phonak Audeo Lumity L70s. Last night – at the worst possible time, on a Friday night, no less – I put them in the charger, but when I came back, the left one displayed a solid red LED.

Now, that one won’t turn on, and I can’t connect to it with my phone. If I put it back in the charger, the LED turns green for a few seconds, then back to solid red. Other than when it’s in the charger, the LED doesn’t come on at all.

I’ve tried holding down the on/off (i.e. “lower volume”) button for ~30s, but it did nothing.

No, I didn’t expose it to heat, water, abuse, or anything else. These things cost me more than my car is worth, so “careful” would be an understatement as to how I’ve treated them.

I’m really disgusted over this. Given that it’s a weekend, is there any troubleshooting I can try?

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#2
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#3

I forgot to mention that I’ve already tried that – nothing happened. Thanks anyway.

I guess I’m out of luck.

#4

From the Phonak Audeo L-R/RT user guide:

Rebooting your hearing aid

Use this technique if your hearing aid is in an error state. This will not remove or delete any program or settings.

Press the lower part of the multi-function button for at least 15 seconds. It does not matter if the hearing aid is switched on or off before you start pressing the button. There is no light or acoustic notification at the end of the 15 seconds.

Place the hearing aid in the power-connected charger and wait until the indicator light blinks green. This can take up to 30 seconds. The hearing aid is now ready to use.

Unfortunately, I’ve tried this procedure several times, to no avail.

#5

Are these the Life version of Lumity or the regular version? There have been issues with the charger for the Life version and I think there is a button on the Life version charger that can be used to reset the charger.

Other thing to try is cleaning the charging contacts on the hearing aid and inside the charger with alcohol and a cotton swap. The little pins may be dirty and not making contact. This would be for the non Life version.

Jordan

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#6

As far as I know, they are the regular version Lumity. I also see no button anywhere on the charger (it’s the “Phonak Charger Ease”).

I’ve cleaned the contacts on the HA and in the charger, to no avail. Thanks anyway.

#7

Another thing you could try is to put the bad hearing aid into the opposite side charging slot and see if it charges. Could be the charger is bad vs the hearing aid.

Jordan

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#8

No change. And the right HA also charges fine in the left side of the charger, and works afterward. Thanks anyway.

#9

Hm. You’ve clearly walked in my footsteps! I’ve bought two sets of Phonak Lumity Life aids (first time in my life that my backup aids are the SAME as my go-to aids), and BOTH sets died after just 4 mos of use - almost to the day.

I also thought it was a faulty charging base, and like you swapped different sets into the different charging base, re-set the base, re-booted the aids, yada yada. To have this happen on a Friday night is like SO Murphy’s Law. Do you keep a pair of backup aids? My third set of backups are the Marvels battery-operated ones, and believe me, when I travel all THREE pairs of aids come with me.

I’m guessing you’ll need to send in the faulty aid, and ask your audi to expedite the REPLACEMENT for it. You’ll likely get a new aid(s) with new serial numbers, so make a note of that, too.

Just for a “refresher”, as Jordan mentioned, the charging base DOES have a tiny reset button on the BOTTOM of the unit. You may need a paperclip or somthing to hold it down. There’s a post here with an actual photo of the bottom panel, but I can’t seem to find it. The link at Phonak regarding charging base reboots is - as usual - lacking a PHOTO so we can see where the button is.

#10

I’m genuinely not seeing any reset button nor hole on the Phonak Charger Ease. I also really think it’s the HA itself, as I know the charge level was in the 70%+ range when I put it in the charger last night. It was a long, long way from being drained.

No backup HAs as I had to pay for these out-of-pocket and could barely swing it. I’m within a 30-day trial period, though, and it’s highly likely I’ll be getting something else entirely.

I appreciate all the input.

#11

This happened to my old Phonak Marvel M90-R. One of my HAs didn’t want to work after my charger fell to the floor from my nightstand with the HAs charging inside. After many attempts, I reached out to my audiologist and had to send it for a replacement since it was on warranty. I received another one brand new and never experienced that again. That was like 2-3 years ago. Now I recently purchased the Lumity L90 and have my Marvel as backup.

#12

Funny you should post this.
Wednesday night I listened to a podcast through my ha’s and about midnight I put them on charge.
I always wait and make sure they’re lit up and charging before closing the charger lid.
Woke up Thurs morning and noticed the right one was green and left one was blank, no light whatever. Thought maybe it wasn’t connecting to base to charge but nothing would get it lit up.
Got in next day to have e them checked out and ended up having to send out to find out what happened.
These are the same ha’s as you have and the same side, weird.

#13

Thank goodness for trial periods. I gave the L70s back to my audiologist and ordered some Oticon Real 2s in their place.

Maybe it was just a fluke (although judging from the above, it’s a common occurrence), but to me it feels like buying a new car and having it leave me stranded on the side of the road after a few drives. Again, I didn’t drop, abuse, or neglect anything.