Thank you everyone for responding. This article gives a good discussion Is there a cost to replacing the lithium-ion battery that comes in a rechargeable hearing aid or is the battery replacement free?
What’s not known is for how long a company will replace the battery for a fee after the 1-3 year warranty is past. As I look to replace my hearing aids, in addition to how well the hearing aid works for me, this will be a major question for me.
This is the tread where a forum member had successfully replaced the battery of an Phonak Audeo
I was told by my audi/provider that one can replace the battery past warranty for a fee. Given companies replace the battery under warranty, it’[s hard to imagine them not replacing them later for a fee. I bought my Signia Ax aids when they were just out. its hard to imagine their batteries will go out of production or whatever in the next 10 years at least.
Whether it’s easy to swap out a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery built in to a recent aid very much depends on the model and its design. If Oticons are designed for it in some models, as suggested above, I know that with some ReSound aids, including my Quattros, it is not possible or at least doesn’t make financial sense given how much work would be involved, even for an experienced service tech. The entire unit other than the case must be replaced when the battery is weak, and if you’re out of warranty, aid replacement from the manufacturer may start at $300-$400 per aid, when spare units allow it. Eventually there will be no aids left for replacement for an older model. Remember that in some of these aids, everything is very, very compact and tight, so the battery may not be easily accessed and replaced.
I too remember when anyone could swap out flip phone rechargeable batteries after three years for under 10 bucks and be good to go. Of course manufacturers who prefer planned obsolescence do not look back to that time as being the good old days. This is definitely a potential drawback to rechargeable aids compared to button battery aids.
yeah, but all HAs offer one to three year warranties–mine are for three years–in part to replace batteries. My Audi wants me to send in my aids for new batteries at two years, whether they need it or not–and mind are running strong, like new, after a year and some monts–and then CERTAINLY at three years before the warranty runs out. There’s no question of it being possible to swap out the battery. Why is this even a question? Ask your provider. aids don’[t suddenly become impossible to swap out batteries at the magical age of three and a third years, whereas this is not an issue for the very same aids at two or three years.
@Gilbert Thanks for that update about replacing batteries in rechargeable Phonak HAs (lucky Phonak owners). Users of rechargeable Orticon HAs are also lucky as well as Orticon has designed for easy replacement of the batteries.
So users of rechargeable Widex HAs such as myself are unlucky as the batteries used are quite specialised. My audiologist did say that for HAs between 3 and 5 years old the chain they belong to provides a battery replacement service by agreement with the manufacturer.
This is what ReSound allows too. Have a ReSound audi send the rechargeable ReSound aids back just before the three-year warranty’s up, saying the batteries are not holding a charge as well as originally (which is true), and the inside guts of the aids are replaced as a unit by ReSound without charge, except maybe shipping. Wait until the warranty’s up, and the replacement will have to be paid for by the owner.
Yep, so don’t wait until the warranty’s up. Send them in at three years, and get a new battery and possibly and entirely new set of aids.
Again, (and again) I’m not paying for replaceable batteries. My battery is free, for up to six years. My audi quoted a $250.00 replacement fee post warranty. i would have spent the equivalent, or near that, for batteries over six years. No problem.
The old nickel-zinc rechargeable battery that last about a year and are replaceable by user seems like a better solution to me. It costs me under $25/year as opposed to the $250-300/hearing aid replacement fee after the warranty for the new rechargeable hearing aids. And when traveling I was able to use non-rechargeable batteries and not carry the recharger. However it appears those days are gone.
I’ve always been less concerned about the cost of button batteries (in relation to the cost of hearing aids) than the environmental impact of throwing away all those battery cells.
But (I think) like you, I’m okay with needing to replace my rechargeable hearing aids with an updated model at year 6 or 7. At that point, the tech improvement is worth it to me, even if it’s not worth the upgrade $$ for me at the year 2 or 3 mark. The rechargeable aids have a convenience factor that is worth paying for to me, even if the built-in batteries are only good for three or four years. Also this term of rechargeable battery life is likely to improve as rechargeable battery technology moves past the current L-iON tech. I do keep a pair of older button-battery aids around as emergency backup,… better than nothing.
But the Moral of the Story to all current rechargeable hearing aid owners: Don’t Miss your opportunity to have your HA manufacturer replace your rechargeable aids right before the warranty expires, because the $$ difference is significant to almost everyone.
It’s a few ounces a year.
Here in the UK, we recycle them.
Me too……Mine are now three and one half years old. Extra typing required.
Manufacturers in many cases don’t replace just the battery but replace the entire mechanism. That said I’ve been told that after 5 years manufacturers move on to new designs and will not assure availability of parts or service the old hearing aid. I experienced that with my Rexton when one of the in ear receiver wires broke—found the replacement part on eBay…
There are places to recycle hearing aid batteries in the U.S. also but you have to search them out. The right to repair is a consumer issue that is gaining ground in Europe and now in California. I admire the do it yourselfers but I would also like the option of being able to repair my hearing aids for as long as I would like at a reasonable price.
I’m hoping that when I take my TWO pairs of Phonak Lumity Life aids in for the rechargeable battery swap they just give me FOUR new beans - maybe even with NEW serial numbers good for 3 years.
Does anyone here know what happens when the audi sends in our rechargeable aids to have the batteries changed? Are the aids still under the SAME 3 yr warranty with same serial numbers? Cuz if so, then we may get close to 6 yrs of use with the same pair of aids … but for some folks it could really crimp their wallet to have to go out and buy newer, more expensive aids every 6 yrs.
I would guess that replacing the regular batteries for 3 years will come very close to the cost of replacing the rechargeable batteries at three years, which I am told (by the Costco fitter) will cost something like $135 apiece.
My audiologist told me that Phonak replaced everything inside of the aids when they were sent out for new batteries. My audiologist gave me loaners while mine were out for repair. My aids were back in my ears in less than 10 days
I’m not sure if they had the same serial numbers when they were returned.
Out of warranty repair is $250 for each hearing aid and they just replace everything.
I’m pretty certain that if one gets an essentially new set of aids when you send yours in under warranty for a battery change, that the ‘new’ aids they send back won’t be under warranty. However, yes I also expect to get 6 ‘free’ years of battery life out my Signia AX7s this way. At that point I’ll decide if I want to pay for yet another battery swap–which I’m hoping will mean I get new aids sent back–OR, if I want to purchase another model of aid. I mean, paying for new batteries at year 6 and then getting new aids (the same model though) is not a bad deal. I would have spent as much on replaceable batteries over that time anyway. And with rechargeables, I’m getting new aids every three years and only having to pay a replacement fee once, at year 6. Not bad!
I also received information about Phonak and Unitron. They don’t replace the battery, they just replace the hearing aid because it’s cheaper and easier for them. Better to do it under warranty though.