ZPower problems?

Thanks for that info, @vpreatoni. It does sound like maybe humidity was a problem. Maybe you can try EarGear hearing aid covers if you have high humidity again.

@Volusiano, I read somewhere that the scratch marks on the batteries indicate that there is good contact (i.e. a tight fit) between the batteries and the electronics in the doors, and seeing those marks is a good sign that things are working as designed. Maybe one of the audiologists on the forum can verify this.

I’ve had a full day testing of wearing the ZPower batteries. After a full charge overnight, they lasted about 13 hours for me with heavy streaming, maybe 5-6 hours worth of streaming. I was under the impression that they should have lasted 16 hours or so, but then I think that’s factoring in only 2-4 hours of streaming.

How about the folks using ZPower on this forum? How long do they last for you, including streaming time?

Edit: On my second full day of use of the Zpower batteries, it only lasted about 12 hours with 4 out of those 12 hours streaming. The other 8 hours are regular use, with maybe a couple of hours listening to music from a speaker. Not very impressed. But not terribly disappointed either. I can always flop them in the charger from time to time throughout the day during my down time (when I don’t need HAs) to extend the usage.

Also, some of the math doesn’t add up in terms of longevity. ZPower presented conflicting information through their own documentation in different places as well.

They say their batteries last for about a year before having to be replaced.

The ZPower website FAQ section says that a single ZPower Silver-Zinc battery replaces 100 disposable batteries. See below:
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Yet I saw an audiologyonline.com (see this link How Long Will Silver Zinc Rechargeable Batteries Last, and How Are they Charged? Barry A. Freeman Batteries 13671), it says A PAIR of (NOT a single) Silver-Zinc batteries replace 100 disposable Zinc-air batteries. See below:
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Which is correct? @kristen.demint who’s a Verified ZPower rep who had posted in this thread earlier. Can I have some clarification on this confusion, please?

By my math, the 312 disposable lasts about 4 days for me. So by this token, a Silver Zinc should last about 400 days of use IF 1 Silver-Zinc replaces 100 disposable Zinc-AIr. This is consistent with the 1 year (365 days) replacement claim. Maybe even slightly better (400 calculated vs 365 claimed).

But if A PAIR of Silver-Zinc replaces 100 disposable Zinc-Air, this figure is cut in half, of 1 Silver Zinc would only last me for 200 days.

Maybe for people who don’t stream at all, and/or maybe are using older generation hearing aids, their usage may last them a week per battery. But ZPower systems are being retrofitted into more modern hearing aids that can stream, and people are expected to stream, and from what I can tell, this combination of more power hungry modern hearing aids that allow people to stream will typically last only about 4 days before the disposable Zinc-air batteries must be changed.

When the ZPower work perfectly for me…and I am finding the left very inconsistent…I easily get 16 hours including minimum 5-6 hours of streaming. I am getting 16+ hours on the right - mostly.
I am a heavy streamer - Streaming daily on cell phone calls, iPad and TV Box at night, and I use Live Listen. I think Live Listen uses alot of battery power.
It is a huge PITA not to lose the dead ZPower Battery - store it safely - put it back in the aid in order to recharge overnight. That alone, re - seats the battery in the aid differently, making me think the battery is the issue.
Directions say not to open / close battery door to eke out a bit more juice like we do with disposables.
When they work, I love them.
I don’t think, I would ever want to rely solely on rechargeable technology after this experience. I want the ability to use disposables as a back up.

Thanks for this feedback. I think I’m going to keep track of my streaming hours more carefully today to see if I’ll be able to get to the capacity you experience or not. The fact that you’re getting 16 hours with 5-6 hours of streaming sounds encouraging. I might have used even more than 5-6 hours of streaming yesterday out of my 13 hours, I just didn’t keep track close enough.

If you want a rechargeable with disposables as a back up, it looks like ZPower is the only game in town for now. That is also why I opted to go with ZPower. Well, also because I didn’t have a rechargeable option before and ZPower is the only way to retrofit it anyway.

I use the packaging that the Silver-Zinc batteries came with to store them when I have to use the disposables. Seems like the safest way to store them for me.

I found this forum and great information here! I’ve been wearing OPN1 (rechargeable) since July 2017 - my first pair of hearing aids… I had many of the same issues/problems that folks have been reporting here… I’ve had a couple chargers, numerous battery doors,etc …I like the option of being able to use disposables… I’ve been disappointed with battery life of rechargeables - especially when streaming… I found that with 2-3 hrs of streaming (mostly from TV) the aids will only last about 14 hrs … this usually means the aids will “die” before I am ready to “call it a day”! and it’s a hassle (albeit a minor one, I guess) to then put in disposables for a couple a hours… I did notice on the Oticon site about the OPN S that it DOES appear a version of the S will be rechargeable (silve zinc) AND take disposables… I am assuming this is the “low” end of the S line… see link below… unless I"m misinterpreting? I do wonder if some of the new capabilities in the S line will be able to be added to OPN1s? I hope so…

I’m pretty sure that the OPN S miniRITE R version is a lithium-ion rechargeable system, not a Silver-Zinc system. It says so very clearly in the Genie 2 2019.1 documentation. Genie 2 2019.1 has the various S models added to this software.

Is there anything specific on that link that leads you to believe that a version of the OPN S will be ZPower based?

Hi. well there’s a chart on the link that shows the differences between all the S models and I thought it showed the first one (the one on the left) as having rechargeable (silver zinc) and 312 battery … unless I misread it?

Beside the option of waiting for it to run out near the end of the day and switch to disposable batteries to complete the day, a better option in my opinion, if you can afford to do this, would be to simply drop the hearing aids back into the charger some time during the day whenever you can go without them, and let it charge for however long you can. Lots of times when I just sit and write email or read or surf the net and don’t interact with people, I don’t really need to wear hearing aids during those times, and actually find it a welcomed break to not have to wear them all the times

It’s much less of a hassle to just take the hearing aids out and flop them into the charger for a while whenever you can to recharge in the middle of the day, than to take out the Silver-Zinc batteries, store them some place safe, put in the disposables, then reverse the process again before you go to bed in order to charge them for the next day.

A simple rule of thumb is that you’ll be able to extend the battery use for twice as long as the time you have it in the charger (based on a 7 hour full charge for roughly 14 hours of use in a day estimate).

No, you didn’t misread it. I think you’re right. So the regular 312 S models can be retrofitted with the ZPower system after all based on this information. That makes a lot of sense. Also means that Oticon is not forsaking the ZPower option after all.

Just a FYI on your Z battery life – Do not program your aids using the ZPower Batteries. Always use disposables - fresh ones if possible.
The brochure that came with my original kit, states to expect 18 -19.5 hours with no streaming. I’m not willing to test that and give up streaming, even for a day:rofl:

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I do program my aids and I just did a few hours ago actually with the ZPower batteries and it went OK. But for sure I wouldn’t do it close to the end of the day with the ZPower batteries. I always heed the advice to use fresh (or close to fresh) batteries when programming.

I think it is to preserve the Z Battery Life as programing drains batteries. I don’t think it would affect the outcome of the programing. Audi has actually stopped mid programing when we have forgotten to switch to zinc air and started over.

Thanks… good idea! I’ll give it a try!

I’ll have to pay attention next time I’m at audiologist … never heard about this programming draining thing…

I think what the audi did was not rational/logical to stop in the middle of programming if everything is already connected OK. If it’s already connected, it means that the batteries are fresh enough to proceed with the programming.

There may be a small possibility that the connection is lost in the middle of programming, but that chance is really small because being able to connect proves that the batteries are fresh enough already. Unless the programming goes on for hours, which is very unlikely, because most programmings are done in 10-15 minutes usually (if not even less), there should be no cause to worry.

Even if connection is lost in the middle of programming, the changes are simply not saved and you’d just have to redo from the beginning of the session, that’s all.

Your audi, not being a engineer, just doesn’t know better and would rather have followed instructions to a T just to be safe, that’s all.

I’m wondering if/when programming features for the S will be available for OPN1s? any ideas?

The Genie 2 version 2019.1 which has the OPN S models incorporated into it already came out. I installed it yesterday.

But it’s still unclear if any of the new functionalities available on the S can be waterfalled down to the original OPN. The S is on a new Velox S platform, so the hardware is a derivative and if the new S functionalities rely on the new stuff in the new hardware, then it won’t port over to the original OPN.

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is the Genie the TV box? I have a TV box … are you saying I can program it myself? If so, is it worth it? What features are new? Thanks…