Wax Guard Replacement Frequency?

Hearing Aids
#21

On the Jodi-Vac website there is a page showing clean and dirty vacuum filters (even a little video if you want to and can allow Adobe Flash on your device-could not find an equivalent YouTube video for the consumer device). The stuff accumulated in the filters looks rather dry and powdery, no worse than dried earwax on your HA’s themselves. I’m just amazed the machine can keep vacuuming as the filter tube fills up - I guess the dried wax is hard enough that “pores” remain between wax granules for air to keep flowing towards the pump. As I mentioned, the Jodi-Vac is a lot cheaper on Amazon than purchased directly through the Jodi-Vac site (for anyone interested) and in buying spare filters directly from Jodi-Vac, they didn’t even have a web shopping cart so my choices were basically giving the woman I spoke to my credit card info over the phone or mailing a check - the latter is what I did.

http://jodivac.com/how_jodi-vac_works.html

I’m just a Jodi-Vac enthusiast - not earning $$$ sellling anything here :grinning:

But for folks who invest a lot of effort trialing different HA’s, which certainly involves some expense, if only driving back and forth to an audi, paying a restocking fee, if any, etc., it might be worth it, if the device piques your interest, to give it a try. And it’s good to hear from folks, too, like @Psocoptera who told feel that the device is not all that useful for the way that they like to work with and clean their HA’s, just to balance things out. Until it breaks (!), it’s fun to use and I enjoy cleaning my HA’s with it alot more than the brushing, probing, cloth-rubbing route.

#22

I guess what I’m wanting to know is that if one brushed hearing aids regularly, would one get much visible stuff in the Jodi-Vac filter?

#23

I tried the brush, cloth, scraper, probe for the first week or so. Particularly with regard to microphone openings and dome pores since it seems like a nuisance to me to remove the domes, clean or soak the openings every day, dry them, replace them, etc., it’s just so much easier to have one tool that does it all, not have to worry about cleaning the brush or a cloth, or chucking them (more landfill) and replacing with fresh, etc. And as I mention in another thread, since the HA’s come out of a non-sterile environment, go back into the same environment 8 or 10 hours later, I don’t feel compelled to remove every last little bit of gunk (except from the microphone and the dome pore areas) so I am not worried about sterilizing my HA’s or having them absolutely clean everyday-thoroughly drying them every night and then (scraping where necessary and) vacuuming away debris seems good enough to me. (I wonder how many people actually UV-sterilize their plain old earbuds, etc. So there is probably a far larger “control” group of normal-hearing people in the world just plunking earbuds into the ears everyday, handling them willy-nilly, and we have not heard of ranging endemic diseases there). But I think folks should do whatever makes them happy. Whatever method addresses one’s concerns and makes one feel best about enjoying one’s HA’s is the one to use - different strokes for different folks, so trite but so true.

#24

I’m a minimalist. I’ll stick with brushing wax away from domes and trying to be careful with dirty hands. I’m not at all concerned about sterility, but am curious how much stuff Jodi-Vac would remove if surface visible stuff was brushed away.

#25

I guess the only way to find out would be to try it yourself. With a filter that’s already dirty, it would be hard for me to tell.

The thing about the Jodi-Vac is that you don’t have to be switching tools and you don’t have to unfold the dome to clean the inside of the umbrella (under the dome). So after doing the microphone, switch crevices, and the dome pores, it’s very easy and facile and fast to just keep right on going to remove crud elsewhere. Most of the time, you can use the needle as a scraping, poking tool at the same time you’re vacuuming. Sometimes there are areas that are so plastered onto a receiver that it does pay to switch to a wireloop scraping tool, then vacuum up the loosened wax with the Jodi-Vac needle, though.

I think Neville or Stephen Bright** has already commented that they use vacuums in their professional care of HA’s for users. Perhaps for most people a Jodi-Vac is too much more expense, too much extra “stuff” requiring more of a place to use, an electrical outlet, etc., but for me, I find it does a great job and more thorough, easy, less messy cleaning (since the gunk is sucked into a container) than brushing and worry about where the stuff is flying. Like (sic) if you were cleaning your house, would you vacuum it or just brush the dirt off things onto the floor, then brush up the floor, etc. For centuries people just brushed and beat stuff clean (as well as washing and scrubbing). So a vacuum is just a new-fangled invention that has its pros and cons but just like I prefer to vacuum my house rather than brushing, sweeping, or feather-dusting, I prefer to vacuum (and scrape) my HA’s with a Jodi-Vac needle. People should use whatever makes them feel good and efficient about cleaning their HA’s. There are other brands of vacuums, too. And obviously HA OEM’s don’t feel vacuuming is very essential since it doesn’t seem to be mentioned as an option in the instructions. They’d probably be selling vacuums themselves if vacuuming offered an unusual special advantage (Our brand comes with a FREE vacuum when you plunk down $6K for your HA’s!!!). So it’s just like disposable batteries vs. Li-ion rechargeable batteries. There are some reasons to prefer one approach over another. And it depends on how people weigh the pros and cons of each in what’s important to them as to which method you choose. Anyone who is perfectly satisfied with cloths, brushes, and scraping/poking tools should just keep using those and not think twice about any brand of HA vacuum cleaner.

** Think @Neville stated in a post that his practice uses vacs and @Um_bongo has a YouTube video I believe on using another brand of vacuum - hope I got it right.

Edit_Update

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#26

The waste collects in a small test tube-like clear container but after many uses mine had only a barely visible smear on the side of the container. That was after vacuuming the whole aids including battey compartments, domes, under the filters etc. many times, so I guess my general maintenance is doing well and vacuuming occasionally would seem to be enough for me.

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#27

Hahahahaha! Forgotten I’d done those.

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#28

I wipe down my aids with a cloth every night. I use the Jodi-Vac on my off days (which alternates between 3 and 4 days per week). I found it was extremely useful with my custom molds as there was no other way to get down in there. My new aids have domes, so I’m not sure how useful it’s going to be anymore.

I’ve been doing some light remodeling on my house, and my Jodi-Vac is currently buried under some junk. Once I get to using it again, I’ll try to come back and give a report.

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