@cvkemp: I don’t have that update yet … isn’t that the buggy one?
When I picked up my new Smart charger, I asked about reliability and warranty - I was told by the Audi only 1 had been returned for replacement so far, and it was recently.
I believe much of the decision to repair or replace lies with the Audiologist Office - Private vs Gov’t issued (VA, etc) , the channel of distribution, and support from the Oticon reps at the different levels, starting with support from the Audiologist.
It was the 1.3,0 or the one me before that. I have tested my More aids on the desktop charger with a regular battery pack and it works for the More Aids but not the OPNS aids
I should mention, (though I don’t know if it makes a difference), that I turn them off before I put them on the charger.
@jcisbell: I don’t think it does. They have to wake up to charge, after all.
@cvkemp: I’ll check mine out tonight. I have the 1.3
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That is what my aids are too. They made the change because of the smart charger.
Right, but it’s possible they have a way to remember their state. I’ll check also.
Or it might be a feature of my battery when the draw drops below a certain point.
Interesting because my aids stay off when the power stops. But I always let it happen once the aids are fully charged.
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@cvkemp: I’ll try that …
Addendum: Just to be clear: my aids never turn themselves off once they have achieved full charge. The LEDs show green and stay lit until I remove the HAs from the charger and put them in my ear. The green LED is only extinguished after the fanfare has played.
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That makes sense. However I’m powering my charger with my battery, that doesn’t happen. Since I’m traveling now I can check what happens after I place them on charge without powering down. I can make other tests when I’m back home We’d night.
@jcisbell: I have always powered my charger with a battery - almost from day 1.
Thanks for this advice. I have not had a chance to ask about this, but I did find the technical data sheet and user manual on the website, and they say “The SmartCharger is designed for charging
miniRITE R either at home connected to a power source or on-the-go using the built-in rechargeable
lithium-ion battery as a power bank.” which implies (to me anyway) that you can leave it plugged in. It also says that you must charge it fully at least once a year, and charge it fully before storage for a period of more than 14 days. Would you guess that there is a reason (something in the design) that makes them recommend 100% or do you think 100% is better than dead, and a more detailed explanation and instruction like the one that you have provided would be just overly confusing for the average user (and they are hoping for the best if this is the case)?
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@Chirp: I offer my amateur opinion for your amusement only ! I think the quoted text sums up Oticon’s rationale.
(Addendum: Perhaps Oticon has incorporated a self-discharge program into its chip that will quickly bleed off the top 20% of a full charge and then manage the idle power bank so that it won’t dip lower than 20% even after 12 months of mothballing.)
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My MORE 1 charging is the same as yours.
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@danka: Thank you for going to the trouble to confirm my situation.
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Many electronics powered by Lithium-ion batteries when go on stand-by still draws a small amount of current. I have an older laptop that got replaced with a new one, so I just relegate it as a backup laptop. Even though I shut the laptop down completely, it still consumes a trickle amount of juice from the battery for some reason. So even if I store it at 50% charged state, a few months later when I pull it out and power it, the battery has been depleted to zero.
So this instruction from Oticon is indicative that even in storage state, the SmartCharger is still trickle-draining its battery by design for some reason, and therefore must be fully charged before put to storage of > 14 days. I’m guessing that after 14 days, its battery will have been drained to almost nothing, hence the instruction to fully charge it before storing.
I’d be curious as to what its state of charge would be after 14 days. If I were an owner of a SmartCharger, I would do an experiment and fully charge it and after 14 days, see how much charge is left. Then based on this information, I would devise a plan to ensure that it will never be depleted in storage. Or else, just use it as a primary charger to avoid all this hassle, and resign myself to the fact that eventually I’d have to toss it out and buy a new one.
Regarding the instruction to charge it fully at least once a year, I’m guessing that this is for calibration. This will allow the circuitry inside the SmartCharger to be able to determine what the remaining usable capacity is, whether it’s 90% or 80% or 70% of what used to be from day one. Laptops give you instruction to fully charge their battery during the conditioning process for the same reason. Without having a full charge, it wouldn’t know how much the battery has deteriorated for real. It may use this information to adjust the charge cycle accordingly to optimize the charging and avoid overcharging.
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It’s a good question. Common sense tells us that if the HA batteries have diminished capacities themselves, then a brand new SmartCharger may be able to provide you with more than 3 charging cycles, a slightly deteriorated SmartCharger may be able to continue to provide 3 cycles just the same if its deterioration is inline with the HAs’ batterires deterioration. A badly deteriorated SmartCharger may be able to provide you with less than the original 3 charge cycles, by how much depends on how badly deteriorated it has gotten, I guess.
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