Hi everybody I have a set of Auto con hearing aids. I’ve had them for about 3 years. And within the last 6 months they keep shutting down and restarting. It’s usually just one but both hearing aids will do it. And within the last few weeks it’s been doing it all the time when I am upstairs in our house. However it does not do it anywhere else. I can’t figure out what is wrong. And also one hearing aid squeals when I take it out put it in and sometimes while it’s in my ear. I need some help and advice please
If you haven’t had any firmware update since you’ve had your Oticon hearing aids (are they OPN?), you may want to go back to your HCP to have them updated. My 2016 OPN 1 used to reboot fairly often in the beginning but after a few firmware updates, the reboot frequency has definitely decrease. However, it still does it once in a while, which is not too much to worry.
If you already have the latest firmware update and it’s still rebooting more and more often, it may be a sign of aging. If you are nearing the 3 year warranty mark, I would definitely recommend you take them back to your HCP and get them replaced for a brand new pair before your warranty expires. That’s what I did on mine, even if they don’t have obvious failure. Intermittent but regular reboots like your HAs definitely qualifies for warranty replacements.
Even if your hearing aids reboot less after the latest firmware update, I would still recommend you get them replaced for brand new ones under warranty about a month before the warranty expires anyway. More frequent reboots indicate signs that the hearing aids may be aging more and more anyway.
It’s only a guess, but if you have the same firmware all this time and your listening environment hasn’t changed but the hearing aids reboots more and more often, it’s possible that the internal memories are going bad more and more due to aging, and the bad memories may get blocked out automatically as they go bad, and with less built-in memory to work with, the buffers may get full sooner/prematurely before they have a chance to get flushed, leading to more frequent overflows and resulting in more frequent reboots to clear out the overflowed buffers.
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It sounds to me like defective contact on the wire. I know when it starting to break it loose contact on/off. Good luck.
Thank you I never thought of that. It’s strange that it only happens when I am upstairs only. It has increased a lot last month and so far this month. It’s quite a mystery. I also have problems with one of them that squeals if it’s not laid right in the ear and it squeals when I take it out any ideas? Thank you so much for getting back so soon
My hearing aids are opn minirite and because of my hearing loss they are the top of the line. And in the back of my mind I was concerned about their age and having to get new ones. I have an appointment next week with my audiologist for my 6-month checkup and I plan to see what can be done. It’s so frustrating! It’s bad enough you have hearing problems, but when they shut down it’s an annoyance especially if you’re having a conversation. At the end of the 3-year warranty you mentioned bringing them in and trading them for a new pair did you have to pay any extra money?
This probably sounds like a really dumb question, do the firmware updates happen automatically or is it something that the audiologist does
It is sometimes that has to take place in the Audi’s office at this time. It wasn’t available on ver remote connection, this summer
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As long as you’re under warranty, it’s at the discretion of your audiologist to send the warrantied OPN in for free replacement if they deem to see an issue with it. With MY hearing care provider, it’s common practice for them to remind their patients that their warranty is about to expire, and to offer to send the old hearing aids in for free replacement if the patient wants (they’ll have to be without their hearing aids during this time, though).
In your case, since your random reboots has started to happen more and more frequently, that’s definitely cause to request warranty replacement for them anyway.
I wonder if maybe some new wireless interference in your upstairs area (maybe a neighbor installed a strong/noisy wireless router or something) that affects the operation of your OPN to the point that it has to reboot more often. Maybe downstairs you’re more shielded from that type of wireless interference.
The squealing is due to the feedback issue you have with one of the hearing aids. I assume that your audi already ran the feedback analyzer and turn on feedback shield for you already. But nevertheless, if you have a heavier loss on one ear, that side can still be more prone to feedback and there’s only so much feedback control that can be done with a heavier hearing loss.
The newer OPN S has a newer and better feedback prevention technology that may resolve that issue for you. You may want to ask your audi if they have any upgrade path option for you to move up from the OPN to the OPN S or not, next time you see them. Or at least try them out to see if they even resolve the feedback issue for you in the first place before considering any upgrade path.
Something to add to the great advice you have already received is Oticon now has a new generation of hearing aids coming out very soon, Oticon More.
Pricing on the OPN S aids should come down.
Another thing to think about, if your HAs have replaceable batteries is that the battery contacts can get dirty and a little loose. Cleaning them gently with a cotton bud and even bending the contacts so they grip the battery better (but be very careful not to damage anything) can work.
If they have rechargeable batteries then they certainly need a service. No HA should shut down and restart more than very rarely.
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David is correct. It is the battery contacts. I filed mine (Oticon OPN 1s) to shine them up with a thin sliver of a popsicle stick on which I glued some 600 grit sandpaper. I wore magnifying goggles. It did the trick. Your audiologist can do it, but I wouldn’t make an appointment just for that.
If it’s the battery contacts then the observation that it only happens upstairs and not downstairs is probably just pure coincidental. It’s definitely the first thing to try -> make adjustment to the battery contacts. They may get marginally loose over time with all the open/close cycles.
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Thank you so much for the advice. I really appreciate not only yours but everyone else’s suggestions. It’s great to have other people in your situation that you can talk to. I have an appointment Monday with the audiologist and I gave them a heads up to let them know what’s going on. I forgot that they had been sent out earlier this year for the same problem to be repaired and they were fine up until the last few months. It is so discouraging and to come up with the money again so soon is a little difficult. But I took the look at the new opn 1 mini rights and they are nice!!
Hi thank you so much for that. I believe I’m pretty close or have passed my warranty. they should send letters and they don’t I would think they would
I know that something is going to happen one way or the other because this is getting to be a pain. I was in this summer and she never mentioned anything about my warranty
Good morning thank you so much. I’ve been getting such great advice from everyone that I am taking it all to my audiologist next Monday. All these things that you and others have mentioned are nothing I thought of. However it’s nice to know thank you
We actually did get new wireless security cameras for outside recently. And we also had to get a new router for the cameras. Downstairs is my living room where both boxes sit the TV and the cameras and it never happens down here. Our upstairs is also a living room kitchen. We also have a ring doorbell and inside security cameras. You are very educated the one where I get the feedback is where my hearing loss is greater than the other. you gave me some really good advice and I appreciate it so much. I’m going to take this with me when I go to the audiologist on Monday
Hi there thank you for that advice I plan to do that later today. Who knew hearing aids could be so complicated LOL
Thank you for that advice! I didn’t make the appointment at my audiologist for this, it is for my 6-month checkup, I’m lucky they are happening at the same time