I don’t believe the charger would work for my situation, but you obviously know my circumstances better than I do.
No I don’t read the comment above
The only rechargeable batteries I have ever really liked/trusted over the years are the NiMH ones in my Toyota hybrid. They are totally self maintaining, trouble free, and never have to be plugged in. 8 years and I have not done a thing with them, other than drive the car. Will start at as low as -40.
Given my work and travel schedule I should be the poster boy for why someone should not have rechargeable aids. But I do and it is not a problem. I did run out, one time, , but I learned from that to not have that happen again. a 15 minute charge can give you another couple of hours, 2 hours gives a full charge, good for another 24 hours. All international flights have USB ports, small battery packs are small and light. No good reason not to have rechargeable aids.
The charge battery versus disposable battery has been discussed in length. And to me quite honest the “disposable battery” crowd won. Now if someone is literally using bluetooth to the max on every conceivable device ever made, then recharge batteries are probably the way to go. But if your someone who wears HA’s to hear better and from time to time uses bluetooth, then disposable are a way better option. If you put the pros and cons next to each category for rechargeable batteries vs. disposable, clearly the “recharge battery” side has more negatives and the “disposable battery” side has more positives.
From longer use to less hassle to travel to cheaper cost to drying aids at night - the disposable battery group is by far the preference of choice. Unless you’re someone who loves Bluetooth and likes to drain battery power as fast as you can.
I am someone that doesn’t want a dead battery while I am in a meeting, or in the middle of a movie. I am some one that has my aidsconnected from the time I put them in my ears to the time I take them out. I do not travel for work, I am retired, I do not fly anymore, I hate being treated like I am an animal to be stuffed in a cage. I do like to travel by vehicle and we take our own sleeping quarters with us.
With that all said, If I stay with ITE aids then I sure they will be disposable batteries, but if I go with Rite I am planning on getting rechargeable.
Exactly my experience.
I think, perhaps, you’re being a bit optimistic regarding battery life. Since I got my M90-13T HAs back at the end of September, I’ve gone through 20 pairs of batteries over the course of 121 days. That works out to 6 days per set. I did have a couple of pairs that lasted 8 days, and several that lasted only 5 or 5½ days. I can correlate the longer-lasting sets with my doing less music and Roger streaming, and the shorter times with more music and Roger streaming.
As far as disposables go, one can pretty much always be safe if one just makes up a schedule. Change them every sixth morning, whether or not they’re giving the warning signs. The difference between 8 days and 5 days is $0.25/week. This calculation is based on the price I paid for 60 pairs of batteries from Amazon back in October.
I opted for disposable batteries because I worry about being away from a charger at some time, when I’m on travel for example. I always carry a spare set (or two) whenever I go anywhere. But, when my arthritis gets a bit more “mature”, I’m sure I’ll switch to rechargeables.
I’m getting four days on my M90-312s. I do a fair amount of Bluetooth streaming. Still, I’m happy I chose replaceable.
I used to get exactly 7 days using either Rayovac or Duracel batteries. My audi started using Power One batteries a few months ago and I find that I am now getting nine days per battery. So, for me the claim that all air-zinc batteries are the same is just not true.
My understanding is that about the only sure way to get more life is to put more zinc in the battery case. The other is to use mercury in the mix. It seems to improve battery life, and is still approved for use with medical implant devices for that reason. Could the Power One batteries still be using mercury? I am not sure it ever became fully approved law that batteries for hearing aids cannot contain mercury. It was proposed, but not sure it went beyond that. Most now claim mercury free though.
My size 13 Power One batteries state on their label that they’re 0% Hg.
I use power one batteries that the VA supplies to me and they say completely mercury free.
Duracell and Power One hearing aid batteries are both manufactured by VARTA Microbattery GmbH in Ellwangen, Germany.
And Costco Kirkland batteries are now made in Germany. Used to be USA. Ray-O-Vac has been bought by Energizer as well. I have not noticed any change in life between the USA ones and the Germany ones.
OK I just checked the box my Power One batteries came in. On the back it says “Hg0%” and “Mercury free.” I assume they cannot make claims like that unless it is true. As for Zinc, I have no idea how much they use. It might be an indication if you were to weigh each battery. I would think the one with more Zinc would be slightly heavier. I don’t have any of the Ray-O-Vac or Duracell batteries left, so I don’t know. The Power One batteries are also made in Germany.
Hearing aid batteries are forced to meet an overall dimension target so they will fit the hearing aids. No way to simply make them bigger. About the only way they can put more zinc is is to make the walls of the container thinner, and the optimum shape to hold more zinc. That is what Ray-O-Vac latest claim is for an “improvement” - more zinc due to an optimized shape.
Yesterday I did a lot of Bluetooth music streaming – maybe six hours or so. And today, mid-afternoon, I got the low-battery warnings after about 2.5 wearing days.
The charger cases themselves usually have a rechargeable battery that holds three or four charges for the aids. But the cases are bulky.