Sudden problem with Phonak hearing aids - can anyone help please?

Hearing Aids
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#1

I’ve had my Phonak HAs (Audeo L50-RL) for 15 months and they were working okay. Today I was wearing them as usual, bluetooth off, battery good, quiet place. Suddenly, with no apparent cause, the HAs started beeping intermittently. Same sound you get when you press up/down buttons BUT I was not touching them.

Turned off HAs, restarted, briefly okay then the same beeping. After next restart, I connected myPhonak app. While beeps happen I see volume going down step by step, right down to -5 (silent) and then HAs stay silent. Also see program changing apparently randomly. Reboot did not help. Every time I turn the HAs on, they start beeps and changes with no input from me. These HAs have suddenly become UN-useable and I don’t know what to do about it :roll_eyes:

I cannot readily take my HAs to an audi (remote location) and I’m keen to try to resolve this myself if at all possible. Has anyone experienced something similar? Any ideas for troubleshooting?

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#2

A couple of suggestions to start. Your aids may be reacting to a Bluetooth signal. Turn Bluetooth off on your phone and any other devices nearby. If that doesn’t help try turning off your right side HA (usually the Bluetooth master) and see if the problem occurs with only the left hearing aid turned on. Then try with just the right HA to isolate the issue. When the problem occurs, do your aids react to input from the myPhonak app?

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#3

Try them one at a time (the other powered off). One will work normally and the other will beep. The one that beeps has debris stuck behind the button. You can try and get under there with the little black brush, but it’s likely a manufacturer repair.

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#4

I was thinking that or a broken switch. It is connecting intermittently.

The conventional bluetooth wouldn’t change the settings, that would go through the BT LE connections. I suppose if they both do it while the other one is off, it could be something weird from the app, but I really don’t think that’s the case.

I hope it is a little gunk wedged where you can get it out. Look with a magnifying glass if necessary to rule out anything you might be able to clean out before you send them in.

Sorry…

WH

#5

Try turning the phone off and see if the beeping continues.
Sounds a little like an aid button could be stuck too.

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#6

Thank you for your replies @raylock1 @Neville @WhiteHat

Phone and bluetooth are not causes of this problem. Beeps/changes were happening with bluetooth turned off for all devices. Beeps/changes happening with phone off and with phone on. I could connect HAs to the app and thereby I was able to change HA volume and program…but immediately the crazy beeps/changes messed with the settings again.

I brushed and wiped both switches carefully. Close inspection with magnifier did not reveal any debris around the switches.

Trying the HAs one at a time was the best advice, thank you. Left HA is the culprit. I will have to get it sent away for repair if possible. It might have a more complex fault than dirt in the switch. It did odd things while I was testing. E.g. a short while after I’d turned Left HA off and left it on the table, it spontaneously turned on, causing beeps/changes to start again in Right HA that I was wearing. Very weird.

Extremely disappointing to have a showstopper fault in expensive HA only 15 months old :angry:

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#7

How frequently do you dry them with a dryer?

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#8

Try doing a Hard Reset on both hearing aids. See picture from the manual below.

Jordan

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#9

The HA seller did not suggest a dryer was necessary, so I don’t have one.

These are rechargeable Lumity HAs. The body of the HA is a totally sealed unit, so I guess a dryer would not provide any benefit for the electronic stuff inside the sealed unit.

#10

Thanks @JordanK I looked up that manual yesterday! Unfortunately hard reboot did not resolve the problem :frowning_face:

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#11

If you want reliability with hearing aids, use a good quality dryer.

#12

OK, that’s a KEEPER! I had no idea there was a “hard reset” protocol! I just turned in one pair of my Lumity Life aids cuz the RIGHT one simply went DEAD on me. But oddly, that aid’s BTE unit could still be turned ON (green light on) or OFF (red light on). I’d have tried a hard reset before dropping them at the audis!

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#13

I have the same aids. The receiver/speaker end would benefit from drying, but yes, I’ve also wondered how a so-called hermetically sealed BTE unit would have issues with moisture… :thinking:

The challenge we face with rechargeable aids is WHEN to put them in a dryer/UV unit. I have TWO pairs of Lumity Life aids, which I wear on ODD and EVEN days. I tried putting them in a dryer overnight, then back in the charger as I’d be wearing the other pair, but it’s a hassle.

If Phonak wanted to make MORE money, they’d come out with a charging station that has UV/drying capability for the Life rechargeables.

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#14

Funny how MY pair of Lumity Life aids also failed at 16 mos just 2 days ago! The RIGHT aid simply went dead. So now they are going back to Phonak. Like you, no apparent reason or cause at all. I was streaming TV via Roger ON iN like I do every night.

I think that just cuz we bought the aids 15-16 mos ago, doesn’t mean they aren’t actually 3+ years old! They sit on a shelf till sold. So maybe it was time to have the BTE battery unit replaced.

What if you DISCONNECT aids from BT on phone. Then turn aids off and BT off on your phone. Then uninstall the phone app. Then download and re-install the phone app. Then reboot phone, turn BT on and let it “find” the aids from “available devices”. Then pair + connect to phone.

Let us know if that works. There seems some inherent issue either with malfunctioning aids, OS version on your cell phone, squirrelly phone app, incompatibility with that app, BT and other apps on your phone. It’s a credit assignment prob.

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#15

Yeah, all those weird things are explained by debris caught under the rocker button.

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#16

I had Phonak B90’s for 5 years and had 3 sets of receivers. I think that’s normal and the receivers are cheap and easy to replace. It is a wear and tear item.

My L90’s are almost a year old and no problems yet.

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#17

OK, that makes me feel better about my receiver issues. But imagine Phonak wanting $150 bucks PER receiver? Seems steep.

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#18

They are sold much cheaper online, so it’s not Phonak selling them for $150.

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#19

That’s your fitter/audiologist hiking the price up…

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#20

Yeah, should be under $50 a piece unless you get activent.

WH

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