Thanks for the info! Just wondering… is Zpower coming out with a “2.0” version of charger and batteries? Think I read it somewhere … if so, do you know if Oticon will be offering them to those of us with the OPN1 rechargeables? Also, I saw that Zpower batteries are now available on Amazon ($50 each) …
@kristen.demint My HCP doesn’t bother to diagnose the system. I don’t think they know anything about the system to diagnose anything anyway. If I have a problem with a battery, they’d just replace the battery for me. And I don’t blame them. They’re supposed to dispense the system, not be the technical expert to tell me why the battery is failing prematurely.
In my case, I know it’s not dirty contact preventing the battery from being charged properly. I simply swapped the battery from the right side to the left side and the same battery continues to fail prematurely on the other side, so that simply isolates everything else but the actual battery being a problem.
If streaming is an issue like you said with background apps draining the battery unknowingly, then both batteries would fail prematurely, not just the one same battery all the times.
So it’s not that complicated for even the user to point to a root cause of failure. We know the issue better than our HCP because we live with the issue, they don’t. What I know in my case is that it’s the particular battery in question that’s failing, not anything else.
So instead of being given the run-around on not knowing the root cause of the problem and it being too complicated to know, etc, I’d like to hear from ZPower specifically about what the manufacturing issues with the batteries are and how it is being addressed and when we can see reliable batteries that last a whole year as advertised delivered to us.
Like Mago said earlier, I also bought into the ZPower system because of the supposedly convenience of the system, but it’s now proven to be WAY TOO COMPLICATED to have to manage the unreliability of the batteries that it’s really not worth the trouble anymore.
When the system was released on the Oticon OPNs 2 years ago, I’ve heard of initial problems with the system, so I deliberately waited until 2 years later before I bought into it, hoping that all the kinks are already worked out by now. And maybe they have been, except for the remaining issue of the battery reliability -> the MOST important issue in my opinion. This has not been proven so far because all users of the ZPower system on this forum at least have been having their whole system or batteries replaced every 3 or 4 months from what it sounds. I have not seen any user reporting that their batteries lasted a whole year with no issue and they finally replaced their worn out batteries for new ones after one year as advertised.
I really hope that ZPower will have resolved this final manufacturing issue soon and continues to be transparent with the users to keep them informed on what the remaining issues are specifically with the manufacturing of reliable working batteries that last a whole year. Thanks.
It looks like those batteries are being sold by ZPower directly themselves. However, I would be very WARY about buying them because there’s no warranty being offered on them at all. At least I don’t see any mention of warranty on the Amazon page.
I think I’ve asked about warranty on ZPower batteries before in this forum, and the ZPower rep simply said that the warranty is through the OEM (like Oticon) and we need to ask the OEM about the warranty. My understanding is that the warranty is originally on the whole ZPower SYSTEM (with the batteries included), but any subsequent replacement batteries you buy outside of the original system will not carry any warranty.
Given that even the current batteries inside the ZPower system (and therefore under warranty) fail within a few months of use, I’d be really leary about buying replacement batteries outside the OEM umbrella that have no warranty whatsoever, even if sold directly by ZPower.
@kristen.demint, can you confirm that these ZPower batteries being sold on Amazon are being sold by ZPower directly? And whether they carry any warranty from ZPower? (I don’t see any mentioned on the Amazon web page).
The other thing is the price. I originally heard that it’d be $50 for a pair of ZPower batteries. Now it turns out that it’s going be $100/pair/year. That’s rather VERY expensive in my opinion. One can now pay a premium of only a few hundred dollars for a lithium-ion rechargeable pair of hearing aids that’s supposed to last for at least 3-4 year, with near warranty expiration free replacement extending this out to 5-6 years. If the battery replacement cost for the ZPower system is going to be $100/year, that’s going to be $600 for 6 years. How is ZPower going to be competitive with Lithium-ion based hearing aids cost wise, even assuming that all reliability issues have been addressed (which they have not).
@kristen.demint, With all due respect, the issues you describe are (or should be) part of a manufacturer’s quality control process before the product is even shipped out to market. It’s not necessarily a matter of “educating” the end users about how to avoid battery drain or dusty charging terminals. Most of us are more educated about our ZPower systems (and their problems) than our hearing care providers are–mainly because we’ve been talking to each other on sites like this and trying to brainstorm the causes and solutions. I can understand a bad batch of batteries, or a bad door spring here and there, but this problem now appears to be more widespread, especially with regard to ZPower use with first-generation Oticon OPN hearing aids.The early battery failure may be multifactorial, but, to @Volusiano’s point, no one has reported getting the advertised “full year” of ZPower battery life yet. So maybe the marketing claims and literature need to be changed on ZPower’s end when it comes to using ZPower with first-generation Oticon OPN? Just a thought. Thank you.
@kristen.demint, One more question. This is off topic, but it’s related to the ZPower product FAQs you cited. If ZPower is not meant to be used with drying systems, why is Widex selling the “PerfectDry Lux for ZPower” hearing aid drying system?
Hi @Volusiano,
Anything that affects the ability of the battery to properly charge will cause short run time. The only way to know for sure why a particular person has short run time is to evaluate their system to find out which issue caused the problem. We are seeing a big drop in complaints since we have made the upgrades to the system – unfortunately there are still people that are having issues. For those people the course of action is to work with their audiologist to trouble shoot their system. If the audiologist can’t figure it out the audiologist should contact the hearing aid manufacturer for help and a suitable solution. We work closely with the hearing aid manufacturers on trouble shooting, but they like to handle most of it in house when they can.
The ZPower batteries sold on Amazon are sold through LIBERTY Health Supply and they have set the price for the batteries. The warranty on the batteries would be provided by LIBERTY Health Supply.
@anon66854306 MG Development has recently launched the PerfectDry Lux dryer. Look for updated information from us in the coming weeks regarding the dryer.
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It’s very simple debugging 101 if there’s one good and one bad battery, like in my case. You simply swap the 2 batteries and if the bad one still under performs on what used to be the good side for the good battery, then it’s obvious that it’s the battery that’s bad and you can’t blame it on anything else but the battery.
Conversely, if the good battery continues to perform just fine on the other side that used to host the bad battery, then you can also conclude that that side is working just fine just as well and it can only be the battery and nothing else.
So that’s how I evaluate my system and can conclude for sure what caused the problem -> it’s a badly manufactured battery itself and can’t be anything else.
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@kristen.demint Thanks for the clarification. Obviously, Liberty Health Supply provides no warranty then. Definitely a no-buy without any warranty.
Nevertheless, if all the HCPs are also selling ZPower batteries at that price, especially without any warranty, I’m pretty sure ZPower won’t be able to compete in the rechargeable market in the future because people will opt for lithium ion based system which will be much more economically viable with full replacement warranty for at least 3 years, extendable to 6 with a near end of warranty replacement.
That’s just common sense input to ZPower from a common user here
It looks like all major hearing aids manufacturer have already offered a Lithium ion based option, including Oticon for the OPN S. So ZPower has serious competition now.
Incidentally, is there going to be a ZPower option offered for the OPN S? I don’t see any such announcement from Oticon.
I got a pair of OPN’s last year and they also came with the rechargables. I had 3 boxes of 312 batteries that were not expired so I thought I’d use them up before going to the rechargables. I’m wondering if I shouldn’t start use the rechargables before my warranty expires in Oct. of this year?
Omg what are you waiting for? Using up the disposable batteries is not a priority at all. Making sure your ZPower system and batteries work as advertised is the most important thing here. Especially given the notoriety of all the reliability issues people are reporting. You wanna know if your system and batteries have the same problems other people have or not so you can claim your warranty asap then start the verification process all over again with the new replacement.
Often things may start out working OK the first few months but then the batteries may start failing in the third or fourth month. So you need to continuously verify your system for the entire duration of the warranty, including the replacement because people are still reporting failures 3-4 months into their replacement as well.
Thanks for the update, Richnfamus1. I kinda figured as such. I asked that rhetorical question to rub it in just to make my point to the ZPower folks that they will need to be competitive or else they won’t last very long.
Charging $100 for a pair of rechargeable batteries every year that’s not even proven yet and without any warranty is not a competitively sustainable strategy against lithium ion or against zinc air.
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Thanks for the heads up Volusiano, I never looked at it that way. I had three boxes of the regular batteries and just thought I would use them up. I’ll get the Rechargables out this weekend and start using that set-up. My warranty is up in October.
CSB
Make sure you verify that you have the latest firmware for the charger. If not, update it first before using.
Volusiano, where would I find out what I have in there and what is the latest?
Since you are a Zpower Rep … can you share if ZPower is working on/planning on an updated charger/batteries…? Thought I read that somewhere but can’t find it now… Or next firmware update? I have the latest (I think it’s the latest) as of Nov 18 … TIA
Do a search for ZPower Station firmware update on this forum. It has the link to the app in the first post