Warranty on rechargeable AIDS and their CRADLE

Hearing Aids
1

So. I’m happy with my Phonak Lumity Life NOT-waterproof aids. They are rechargeable, and so I’ve had to adjust to that new paradigm at home and on the road.

Let me first digress to add that on the road, rechargeable aids are a bit of a turkey! There is the challenge of where to plug the cradle in, but even more there is the LIMITED battery life. On my recent trip of 2+ weeks, I had to work out a regimen where I’d get up, put in my old, battery-operated Marvel aids till about 11am. Then I’d switch to the rechargeable Lumity Life aids to see me through to the end of the day at midnight, 1am or later. DUMB. On top of which, there were days when I simply wasn’t in the same spot at 11am to do that swap, so, like Cinderella, I was SOL.

If one owns a rechargeable aid and travels - or puts in long, social days - I think a battery-operated backup pair is essential.

My question now is: if I keep these rechargeable Lumity Life aids, what is Phonak’s policy for repair/replacement of either the AID or the CRADLE if one (or both!) simply stop charging up over time?

Rechargeable aids are relatively new, so can ANYONE shed light on how many years of use we get out of the aids and their charging station before they simply won’t hold a charge anymore? How is the problem even diagnosed: 1. is it the aid? or 2. is it the charging cradle?

Any insights here are most welcome. I go in on Friday for a follow-up with my audi, and will ask her the same question.

2 Likes
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My Audi says they will automatically get new rechargeable batteries in my paradise 90R just before the end of the 3 year warranty period whether they are needed or not. So should be good for at least another 3 years.

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WOOOOO! That is amazing! Since I have Phonak, fully-sealed Lumity Life aids, does that mean I have to send them in for that to happen? It seems that opening the case on the BTE unit would have an impact on its so-called “waterproof” properties?

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It is quite likely they will just send back completely new ones and not replace batteries in old ones… so it has been reported

5

OK. WHOA. That is really amazing. It would be a totally new pair of aids then … like TFN? I will definitely run this by my audi on Friday.

I just assumed I’d have to plunk down another $6K for new aids.

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Most of that 6k goes to the Audi, paying back development cost and profit etc. the actual hardware cost alone is quite low… I think something like a couple of hundred dollars has been said in the past

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The only rechargeable hearing aid that can have the battery replaced in the office is the Oticon More.

All others, have to be sent back (have no idea where?) to have the battery replaced.

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LOL. I had no idea. Well, both my long-term audi across the country and my current audi in my new location are SUPER. So I guess I’m happy they make a killing … albeit it’s at my own expense.

:woman_facepalming:

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Not really a “killing”. … just think of their time spent with you, their hourly rate and overheads, equipment, nice offices, admin staff and so on. Similar to medical doctors pretty much.

1 Like
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Newbie here.

I’ve seen widely varying reports on battery life (hours per day) on rechargeables. I know that the dB scale used to measure loudness is logarithmic, meaning that the numbers go up linearly but the loudness goes up exponentially.

Seems to me that means the power needed to compensate for profound hearing loss is going to be a lot greater than that for mild loss. So the hours per day that the aids last will drop. And the deeper discharges will also shorten overall battery life.

I’m sure there’s a bit more to it than this, so some insight from long-term HA users and pros is most welcome. For this newbie (with mild to moderate loss), I’ll be babying my batteries as much as possible. I believe in making things last.

And I’ll be getting a backup charger. Does anyone know if a used or eBay Phonak charger will work with Costco KS10s?

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My Signia rechargeable aids come with a portable travel charger/carrier that allows two full charges of my aids before iitself having to be recharged. So far I’ve had zero issues with my rechargeable aids and like them a lot more than my old replaceable battery aids. Supposedly I get 30 plus hours from a full charge; I’ve never had to test that.

1 Like
12

Same here with my Resound One 9 aids. I have traveled with zero issues and my aids always have 40% + at the end of a long day, 16-18 hrs with streaming calls and using TV streamer. I wouldn’t even consider a rechargeable that couldn’t last at least 20 hours. Some mfg’s seem to be behind the curve on rechargeable technology

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Yikes then it may be a bug with the firmware i’m using for resound omnia 7 UP… it gets to 1 bar instead of the 2-3 bar before with quattros

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I seem to be living proof of that theory! I get about 5.5 to 6 days MAX of size 13 battery life on my older Marvel aids; about 13-14 hours of rechargeable battery life on my new Lumity Life aids.

Cinderella with cinderblock ears, that’s me. I thought I was done with batteries forever when I got the rechargeable aids? But no. I still change them on a regular schedule as I often need to swap aids if I’m having a long day.

I can’t complain tho! I feel very fortunate to have two really excellent pairs that sound about 97% identical.

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Altho to Hooby’s point, it appears I may just get a NEW pair of Life aids before the 3 years is up? That is a question I’ll be asking my audi tomorrow. So I’ll come back here to share what she knows about it.

I’m also concerned that way before these new Lumity Life aids refuse to be charged up anymore, one or both will just not charge up to 100%. I guess I’ll be the guinea pig and keep folks posted on that, too, cuz I’m definitely keeping these Lumity Life aids.

2 Likes
16

OK! Reporting in after meeting up with my audi yesterday. Among other things, I asked her about the warranty policy for Phonak Lumity Life aids - both the rechargeable aids and the charging cradle.

I also asked what happens if my aids stop charging up to 100%? How is the problem diagnosed as to whether it’s the aids or the charger?

The envelope please …!

She says if my new Lumity Life aids do not charge up fully, she’d send them in to Phonak for replacement at NO cost to me, as long as that happens when the aids are under their 3-yr warranty. If that time expires, I guess I’d have to eat the cost of repair/replacement, but by then, I’d probably be interested in the new release anyway.

While Phonak won’t just replace ANY aids before the warranty is up, she suggested sending both of them in before the warranty expires anyway, cuz whatever needs to be fixed (aids, speaker) I’d get a replacement part.

She said it’s pretty much assumed that any charging issue is with the AIDS - not the charging station. So that’s why the aids would be sent in for replacement. That sounded good to me!

She also got on the phone with Phonak tech support to ask about my current aids battery life. I only get 13 hrs MAX with these. Pity. Most folks will get a few HOURS more - likely cuz they don’t have cinderblock ears where the aids have to do the incredible just to keep me hearing all day long.

She also said that having my aids connected to Bluetooth could also drain the battery - even if I’m NOT streaming. I only stream short calls (1-2/day) and a couple hours of TV at night. Not a LOT. I was intrigued. I can easily see where just having my aids connected to BT would be a daylong drain - even at a slower rate. The BT connection is probably pinging my aids ALL DAY LONG to see if they’re in range.

I will simply have to live with shorter days like Cinderella! I can’t turn BT off, and then every time the phone rings go through a couple minutes of yadda yadda trying to get BT on, the aids connected and then paired. DOH.

So I’m happy with the answers I got and the path I’m on. It just means that I’ll always need to travel with battery-operated aids (my Marvels) cuz I can’t have the rechargeables dying at an inopportune time. She said there is no turbo-charge device for these aids (yet), altho the competition has them.

More to hope for in time! Longer rechargeable battery life or a turbo-charging device would be excellent.

1 Like
17

@1Bluejay

Someone on here, can’t think who now, turned his Aids to Flight Mode everyday and his battery drain became equal again. Hearing loss basically the same by 5 dB. Without Flight Mode on, his R Aid was draining much more quickly despite having Bluetooth off on his phone.

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Only addressing the minor issue of … “There is the challenge of where to plug the cradle in”

Recently bought one of these for a fraction of the price Phonaks power pack & exponentially more capacity plus can be used like any power bank for your other eDevices as well…
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B09LC82WS3/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Basically any PB with trickle or low current or low draw or similar terms - or - compatible with AirPods or smart watch or similar, should do the trick. Finding a convenient point is no longer a problem. Charging in a car or boat no longer a problem. Found it great on some recent travels.

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I think Flight Mode is turned off by just rebooting the aids? I turn my aids OFF before putting them in the charging cradle every night, so I’m thinking that would also turn Flight Mode off if I’d had them in that state?

(Edit: to add link to “Flight Mode” from Phonak website)

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For battery ones like your Marvel. You close the battery door, then open and close the battery door really quickly for Flight Mode.

Not too sure on rechargeable ones.