I have not encountered any “Cut Out” problems since I switched about 11 months ago KS… Cheers Kev:-)
It gets cold here in Maine. We hit -8F last week but I didn’t go out. It has been zero F for the late-night dog ‘out’, maybe 15 minutes, and no problem with my Marvel. Personally, I hate cold ears and my head is usually double-insulated, which may matter. Yes, the two hoods (sweatshirt and parka) reduce sound but not much. Light ear-muffs might keep the aid near body-heat without cutting sound much, and you can lift a muff if you have to hear. One of those fur-lined all leather Arctic hats would keep your ear and HA warm but might be a lot of drop of external sound.
Another experiment would be to put it in a baggie and set it in the freezer.
A very extreme theory is ice in mike or receiver. They are well shielded but it would not take much. However you observe less battery drain which suggest a shut-down, not that diaphragms were jammed.
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The temperature wasn’t even that cold, that’s what worries me because there’s times that I’ll be out for several hours in temperatures in the teens and if they’re powering off when the temperature is in the mid 30’s they sure will when it’s in the teens. I even had on ear muffs when it shut down. I like the convenience of the rechargeable HA but if regular battery version would continue to work in the cold I would switch to using them before my trial period is over.
Chemical reactions slow as temperature decreases. We humans have adapted well to cold, but batteries do not. Years ago on all day ski trips, one learned to keep the Walkman inside the winter ski parka of bring 4-6 pair of batteries for six hours skiing. Behind the ear or in ear heating aids get body heat to help.
Here is a chart that shows what cold temperatures do to battery discharge rate. I have used Battery University for info for over 40 years, one of my permanently bookmarked sites!
https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/discharging_at_high_and_low_temperatures
I have experienced battery drain in cold weather with my phone and learned that I had to keep it close to by body for body heat to keep it from draining but the HA battery didn’t drain it just shut off and would not turn back on. The other one lasted all day. When I placed the HA that shut down in the charger it blinked red a couple of times then green. I checked and it had powered on and the battery was at 80% where the one that stayed on all day was at 65%. I’m just curious if it was the operating system that shut down or something about the rechargeable battery and if so do the 312 or 13’s do the same.
To answer that someone would need to test the hearing aids. I would go back to the clinic where you got them and ask, if they do not help, ask them to call Phonak. If they will not, then call Phonak yourself. It sounds like you have one that has a slight defect that cold weather brought out.
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It seems ODD that a rechargeable aid would shut off in the cold if the aid sits next to one’s head (like a heating pad right there) AND in colder climates a person would typically have a hat on. Being as utterly deaf as I am without my aids it would simply not be an option to have either or both of my aids shut off like that. Yipes.
I do recall when I had the Audeo B-Direct aids they’d reboot out of the blue here and there, now and then. Turns out a software update fixed that.
I’ve always had battery-operated aids (35 years now), due to my own needs. Altho many find the tiny batteries (mine are bigger 13s) a hassle to change every 4-5 days, they are typically a sure thing. Not saying that sometimes I don’t get a dud that lasts just a day … leaving me hobbled in the middle of the day. I always carry spares, but not on my actual person.
I sure hope the rechargeable issue is resolved! It’s like having one’s car engine fail in a MN snow storm. Nope. Would not like that.
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I should have noted that I use 312 cell, air/zinc.
None of these chemistries, at HA drain, should punk-out before your ears have severe frostbite. Yes they “do worse” in cold but not like you describe.
Another theory from this long-time gear fixer is a bad solder joint which touches well-enough normally but loses contact in cold (thermal contraction). Such a “joint” is intrinsically unreliable. In audio gear or computers, you’d have to smack it more and more frequently, and eventually even that does not fix it. In a warrantied HA, I’d think to invite trouble by wearing in cold, get at least three similar failures, well described, and talk to seller and maker about replacement.
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My left HA (Phonak M90RT) went dead after about a week from receiving it. Provider sent it back to Phonak and convinced them to send brand new pair. No problems in the six months since receiving the new pair. I suspect quality control issues with Phonak.
I’ve not had a temperature issue with my Marvel 90r’s but If I where glasses on top of the hearing aids and a hat, it will sometimes press the toggle long enough to shut one off.
There is also a firmware upgrade that directly addressed a charging issue in which the hearing aid will shut off and not turn on without putting it in the charger and holding the toggle for 10 seconds or more. I definitely had that issue before the last firmware upgrade.
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Living here in Canada, one would expect that this would be an issue. But with temperatures below freezing much of the time in Winter, I have not experienced it. If I did, I would probably go to my audiologist and ask about Heargear or similar protective sleeves to deal with it.
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Hi! I’m wondering if you learned anything more about this. My son’s Marvels have been shutting off in the cold. We sent one for repair and it seems they replaced it–now that one doesn’t do it. I’d love to hear if you discovered anything, and happy to share what we find if we do!
I know for sure that Lithium batteries do not perform as well in the cold as at normal temperatures. I refer to batteries in electric vehicles, my little one-person Boomer Buggy that I imported from Ottawa included. Happily, it never gets that cold where I live, and I am not out of doors for long periods at a time.
I think the batteries we use are Zinc air. Someone made a great point that behind the ear is a pretty toasty spot…adding to the mystery. Maybe it’s the sudden change. But the replacement aid doesn’t do it which makes me think it is a manufacturing defect. Thanks everyone for your ideas!
My son has the Sky Marvel 70SP with the replaceable (13) zinc air batteries and we’ve experienced something very similar with his aids in the cold. Sent one to Phonak for repair, they replaced it, and it hasn’t happened again on that ear, though the other one continues to do it! Manufacturing defect?
Batteries are indeed zinc air, however topic is mostly about R models, R means rechargeable, and that’s lithium one then.
So full name of your son’s aid is phonak sky M70-13
SP is receiver, that’s not part of the name.
If he has telecoil, then name is ‘phonak sky M70-13T’
Mine are ‘phonak audeo M90-13T’ for example 
Manufacturer, model, platform, tech level, battery, tcoil
In case you wanted to understand those
Not quite, the Sky are BTE, they don’t use receivers, they use earhook or slim tubes.
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Yes I agree. I find too much WindBlock, NoiseBlock or even SoundRelax lowers the quality of sound.
My marvel 70R are close to 2 years old now. It’s never happened to me until this morning.
9 degrees here for my daily hike. Ear muffs over the hearing aids. Knit hat on my head.
I was streaming music for about 10-15 minutes while hiking and needed to adjust the ear muffs. Pulled it off my head & my right hearing aid suddenly disconnected from bluetooth and shut off. Nothing I did would turn it on.
The left one stayed on, but wouldn’t connect to bluetooth.
Once I got home, I put it in the charger and it showed green lights. Pulled it out of the charger and it’s fine.
Seems like a sudden burst of cold air triggered it.
I’ll talk to my audiologist on Monday about it.
Update- I spoke to my audiologist about the issue. She felt that it was an extreme cold weather related issue and nothing to be concerned about.
After 2 weeks, there hasn’t been a recurrence until last night.
While watching TV, the hearing aid would turn itself off whenever I turned my head or shook my head. There was no sound for disconnection or shut off.
I was able to turn it back on without putting it in the charger.
This morning, it wouldn’t turn on at all. It took several times inserting it in the charger to get it to finally turn on. But wiggling the receiver wire would cause it to turn off again.
Got in touch with my audiologist this morning. We went through some tests and decided that the receiver wire was at fault. A 5 minute appointment & I’m back in business again.
Fingers crossed that that was the issue.
Dave