I have a new pair of Bernafon veritas 9’s and I am having problems with um, sweat…
I sweat from time to time… Ok, frequently… and it gets right into the battery compartment and that’s the end of another battery. Anyone else have a similar problem or any ideas?
I have the same issue with ReSound Live 9’s, and the sweat bands were a waste of money.
I was lucky in that I was in the trial period with my VA supply and had no trouble changing from Smart ixs to Ambra ITE. END of sweat problem.
The sweat does not kill the battery, it only starves it of air through the little holes. No nrrd to throw it away, just dry it and the aid.
TerryB
your solution is call Global by Dry and Store
You could place the aids in a jar that contains a moisture absorber. A 42 oz refill bag of DampRid sells for about $8. Place the aid in an airtight jar with the DampRid and leave it in there overnight. This should dry the aids out quite nicely. Always keep the DampRid in a sealed container. If you leave it exposed to air, it will absorb enough moisture to produce liquid water in the jar. Throw the DampRid away if it gets wet.
Check out the hearing aids and sports thread in “Digital Hearing Aids”.
They are recommending Gearforears.com
TerryB
Thanks… ordered a pair today… Hope they help.
The sweat bands I tried never fit well, and didn’t work well. They are similar to the ones here: http://www.adcohearing.com/product1359.html
The Ear Gear covers at gearforears.com look like a better fit. I just ordered a pair of mini curved for my Live 9’s and will report back after I’ve received and used them for a while.
The eargear look neat. I still don’t understand why the manufacturers don’t design the units
to be resilient to sweat and moisture. Being they are in the business of selling devices (need we call them medical devices) that are designed to be worn on the human body.
My Oticon user manual says to avoid moisture…if the aid gets moisture on it to “wipe it
with a dry cloth”. No where does is say…buy a sweat guard or buy a dry and store.
Nowhere does it say that any malfunction may be attributed to one sweating.
I don’t put my cell phone in a dry and store each night. Insulin pump (about the cost of
2 top end HAs) is water proof and can be submerged in water. $30 bluetooth earpiece;
still working after 4 years…
My Ear Gear covers arrived today. So far they are as advertised, and the Mini Curve model fits my GN ReSound Live 9’s well. I got a beige pair, but the lighting in my house makes them look yellowish in this picture.
RMinNJ,
There were stories around the net a while back about iPhones croaking because of exposure to high humidity during workouts that killed the phones because of a moisture sensor on the phone . Dead phone NOT covered by warranty. AND there’s an app for workouts!!
TerryB
Not quite.
The triggering of the moisture sensor in an iPhone won’t “kill” it. But if something else does, you have to convince Apple that water ingress isn’t the cause.
Right …the iPhones. Not contesting the issue. Still if your an HA manufacturer and you know the aids will be worn on ears 18 hours a day and you know people sweat it would
seem your line of business to make them resilient to moisture. I realize there are
physical/practical issues such as the microphone openings being exposed. But
the aids aren’t some 30 dollar ear pieces…one would think somewhere in the cost and testings moisture resistance was factored into the design.
GN REsound advertises the iSolate nanotech coating as protecting the aids from moisture. In my case all that coating does with my Live 9’s is channel the sweat directly to the battery compartment. And when the air holes get wet the zinc air batteries stop working, until the air holes dry out.
So far the Ear Gear covers seem to be doing what I need them to do, and they don’t interfere with operating the buttons on the aids.
Considering that the batteries used in hearing aids are Zinc-Air and require air to make them produce electricity … how would you propose that the aids be made waterproof? Waterproof is also air-tight … no air, no current. Of course you could have a separate battery compartment that you could wear say on your belt with a long wire running to the aids to provide them with juice :rolleyes:
Seriously though, perhaps you should place the blame on battery manufacturers for not coming up with a small battery, the size of the 10 or 312 that is totally sealed and does not require air to work, and that puts out a constant current until it dies for a long enough time to power hearing aids for at least a few days to a week or more, and that is low cost or at the least comparable in cost to Zinc-Air batteries. At any rate, look at the whole picture before placing blame and complaining about the wrong people. Or design that perfect battery yourself … you could get rich from doing so as no one else has been able to it so far.
I even tried PowerOne rechargeable batteries in my Live 9’s and discovered two things - they were sized just differently enough that they didn’t make good contact, so getting them to work required pushing on the hearing aid and battery door until the aid powered up; they would not last a full 16 hours. Then there was the hassle of recharging every night.
I did not mean to offend anyone about the water resistance…rather I wished to
discuss moisture and reasons my modern aids are so susceptible to it… So far
I learned that:
a.) I should use a proven drying system at night such as the dry-n-store.
b.) The sweatbands discussed here are an excellent preventive measure for where I
know I’ll be sweating ie…riding a bike, working in the yard.
c.) The aids need air for the zinc-air batteries so they cannot be water tight.
d.) Sealing the shell does not necessarily solve the problem.
Still a lively a discussion on hearing aids and moisture. I still contend the manufacturers are getting paid the big bucks to design some moisture resistance into the products 
25.00 for a pair of hearing aid covers? :eek: When will the raping end! LOL I know,I know, it’s speciality medical equipment. LOL!
I don’t see any offense being taken. Now, a, b, and c above are all correct. d is slightly different though … sealing the shell would work as far as keeping out moisture … except the common batteries need air to work. As Jay_man pointed out, there is the option of rechargeable batteries, they do exist, and they do not need air to produce current. However, as small as the batteries are, they do not last very long, and you would have to carry spare batteries with you all of the time just in case. And once you use the regular battery, why just throw it out before it dies … or if extra rechargeable batteries, they lose power over time and you’d be recharging two sets of batteries every night. Also, rechargeable batteries that I’ve used in other electronics do not retain full power until they die, but lose power more gradually. A battery that loses power gradually results in static in hearing aids when they hit the point of not being quite strong enough to support the power demanding hearing aid.
Moisture is also damaging to the electronics in the aids, not just the batteries. That is where the Dry n Store comes into play. It actively dries the hearing aid by use of a desiccant PLUS warm air being circulated through the aid to dry it out. The battery is left outside the box and is not affected by this. I also questioned my HI dispenser when he wanted to sell me this dryer for $100 … yeah right, more money in his pocket. My wife was more realistic though, she said the aids cost plenty, if 100 bucks would extend their life, let’s do it. I haven’t looked back since and strongly suggest the use of the Dry n Store now … it is NOT a rip-off. It stopped my aids going back consistently for repair.
This past weekend, I was out at a local park getting quite sweaty running around on a hot day setting up dog races. A couple of times, I did get a low battery warning. I removed my aid, dried my head as best as possible, and dried the battery off and put it back in the aid … I was back in business with the same battery all day and still have that battery in today. So if moisture kills the battery, just don’t toss it … it may still be good if caught early on and dried off. I also think it’s time for me to look into those socks as I’ll be getting more involved with dog racing this year, a new hobby for me. I hope to have my own Whippet some day soon. In the meantime, I’m working with a couple of breeders racing their dogs, boxing and catching them, as well as setting up the track.
