Rechargeable aids: wanted by customers or by factories?

@DanH said:

EPA recommendation: ...Do not put button-cell, coin...batteries in the trash...

Hearing aid batteries are "morphologically" like button-cell or coin batteries, but they're different. Most sources don't list zinc-air batteries separately, but here's one from Missouri S&T that does. It says they aren't hazardous waste:

https://ehs.mst.edu/hazardouswaste/management/hazwastemgmtwmbattry/index.html#6

I rejoiced when rechargeables came out and I jumped on the Rexton Reaches and am delighted with them. I am awake 16 hours a day and have NEVER had to recharge them during the day. Before I got rechargeables I constantly fumbled with those damn teeny batteries slipping out of my arthritic hands and getting lost under my chair or sofa where our dog and many grandchildren crawl or reach, fearing a tragedy. I also remembered the days of battery-operated cell phones and hated changing those albeit large batteries. Yes, the safety packaging for handheld batteries was a sloppy rush job but that doesn't cancel out the advantages of rechargeable hearing aids.

Rechargeable HAs can be a pain in the ass, in my experience. Like when you're stuck in some protracted 40 hour delayed multiple flight hell. Or when you are on a multi day off grid motorcycle camping trip. Or when your 98 year old mother who has dementia, suffers a heart attack and you end up spending days sleeping next to her on a cot in Emergency. Nothing beats knowing that you could have a month's worth of power in a single pack of #13 batteries in your pocket with no strings attached. MTCW

I finally got around to ordering a replacement for my 7-year-old cell phone. Learning about the Oticon Verit was the "one more reason" that made it enough....

Not saying that I'm going to go that way just yet, but I am considering trying to set up a trial, and I figured why not be ready so I have the option. I feel like a lifelong Chevy fan-boy finally breaking down and buying a Ford. I'd hate to give up my beloved Phonaks...but if Phonak gave me up, then why should I feel bad about giving them up?

Anyway, I'm extremely curious to retry the Oticon sound and response to really see if I like it better than Phonak. The biggest negative is the price that I assume them to be...likely a lot more than these Costco aids. The other thing that I don't like right out of the gate is their choice to only offer the 312 battery. Based on their literature, it sounds like they'll give about 3.5 days...if that's true, that means 3 days from a practical view. Better than 1, but it's not really where it needs to be.

Battery update with my Sennheiser Sonite Rise.

I've not heard the battery warning beep in a while, and I've had a few days with a few more calls than is usual for me. Still not at all 'heavy' streaming or usage, but still. For perspective, my average wear time is somewhere around 17 or 18 hours per day.

What has changed is that I've been having an odd sort of routine lately...doing things like going out mid-day to cut the grass, then taking a shower so I'll drop the aids in the charger while I shower.... and then maybe later on in the day I'll do some other dirty or sweaty thing and drop them back into the charger again for 10-20 minutes or whatever. . I haven't checked what the charge level has been at bedtime lately, but I reckon that those little top-ups during the day are what's needed to have a useful margin in the charge level

I know that these particular aids aren't the absolute best on the market when it comes to battery life, but they're no slouches, relative to the market, either.

I'm solidly convinced that rechargeable aids aren't quite ready for prime time. They're getting closer to where they need to be, but they aren't there quite yet.

Let's not forget that if any of us have to be admitted in the hospital for a few days or more which I hope not!

We need to remember to bring your hearing aid charging case, the correct wall plug, and an extra long power cord to the hospital so you can charge your aids every night.

Bring an extension cord or long cable with you to the hospital as some wall outlets are often far away from the bed. A longer cord ensures you can reach the outlet while keeping your charger nearby on a bedside table. Some powered hospital beds may have an outlet on the bottom rail of the bed. My local hospital does.

Replaceable batteries would have been handy here!

That guidance from Leeds Teaching Hospitals is confusing or confused. The removable batteries used in hearing aids are zinc-air, not lithium, of course. Here's my post earlier in this thread, pointing out that US CPSC staff said zinc-air batteries aren't an ingestion hazard.

https://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/rechargeable-aids-wanted-by-customers-or-by-factories/107847/191

that reads like something generated by one of the AI search engine based on a poorly written prompt.

The follow-up prompt to the search engine should have been, "That's bad information. Hearing aid batteries are not lithium. They are zinc-air cells."

The response back probably would have been something like

"My mistake. You are absolutely right to question it. You hit the nail on the head! Hearing aid batteries are zinc-air and not lithium.

followed by something like this reply from google AI:

and did you pick up on the bad information there about mercury??

So then I had to ask:

how much zinc actually is in a hearing aid battery? Is it really enough to be toxic?

It replied in part...The Hazards of Ingestion

Zinc-air batteries are enclosed in a durable steel casing designed to contain their components. In the vast majority of accidental ingestion cases, the battery passes completely through the digestive tract within a few days without breaking open or leaking. [1, 2]

If a battery casing were to degrade or rupture inside the stomach due to gastric acid, the release of zinc could cause localized irritation, known as corrosive gastritis. The interaction of zinc ions with stomach acid can lead to acute symptoms such as: [1]

• Nausea and vomiting
• Abdominal pain or cramping
• Gastrointestinal irritation [1, 2]

Primary Emergency Concerns

The primary hazard of ingesting any button cell battery is not immediate chemical poisoning, but rather the risk of the battery becoming physically lodged in the esophagus or intestines

...and so it goes....bad info followed by more bad info. There's no doubt some useful stuff in there too, but a user really has to filter it

Don’t get me going on child safety. Battery packs used to be able to be opened with one hand. Now it takes both and a pair of scissors and maybe some bandaids. Child proof the original package, but not every battery after it’s opened or at least make it a little easier. Now, I have to ask a child to help me open it. ;)

Zinc-Air batteries were always safe on purpose. No lead, nickel, lithium, cobalt, acid… etc… The issue is choking hazards.

As the name says, Zinc Air needs ...air to work. Reason why when you insert new battery, need to let it sit for 2-5 mins after peeling sticker off (i've been doing 5 mins) to reach full power before use. On the last pair of 675, they lasted 19 days on my old ENZO 3D, and i use streaming a lot - can't beat that...

It seems one of your (wise) concerns is if power is out and you can't re-charge.

Signia makes replaceable battery models. Intuis comes to mind as one. I was offered several other models from them as well.

If you prefer a model which only comes in rechargeable, all is not lost!

Plan B:

If a vehicle is available, made are USB adapters which plug into the cigar lighter sockets- or maybe the car already has a USB charging outlet. The USB Type A plug that is on my Signia Pure Charge & Go recharging station plugs into my USB adapter in the car. (Went camping a couple of weeks ago and that's one way I charged.)

The Signia charger is pocket sized at 2-1/4" wide, 1" thick and 1-1/2" tall.

Plan C:

A little power bank will charge the hearing aids. My very small 1,200 mAh worked fine for many cycles with the hearing aid charger while primitive camping before I had to recharge the power bank by leaving it out in the sun, using its built-in solar panel. It's about 6" long, 4 inches wide and 3/4" thick. The cost was 6.99 US dollars at Menard's.

I also tend to use the power bank at home sometimes, letting the sun charge the bank while the bank charges the hearing aids.

Hope This Helps,

Paul

PS: If some of this is already posted below, please pardon this post. My browser won't display past the first few.

I was anti rechargeable until I took the plunge and bought Infinio 90's secondhand. I can get two days of usage on Calm Situation (my default progam with most options deactivated. If I go away the charger comes with me, plus a pair of Ambio77's with batteries, just incase.

I use Philips rechargeable (9040). I would never go back to zinc air. They last all day and recharge while I sleep. If power isn't available, the charger can charge for three or four days from its own battery without being plugged in.

One aid's battery never seemed quite right and recently (after 2 or 3.years) wouldn't last all day. Replacing it is a five minute job, but Costco isn't set up to do it in house. They would have returned it to Philips for free, but they were out of loaners and I would have been without it for two weeks.

I opted instead to order it online (about $40). It arrived in a few days and was easy to replace. There are ones that replace zinc air. Don't get those. They put out 1.5 V. The correct one is about 3 V @ 20 mah.

To replace poke a thin object in the small hole at the bottom of the aid and lift the cover. The battery can be slid out. Note it's orientation, as that determines the polarity. Slide the new one in and close the door. Charge the aid.

There is supposed to be a setting to tell it the battery is new. I have Noahlink, but haven't had time to check that out. In tells me similar percentages as the other ear, but shorter time left, but it hasn't caused me any problem.

The new battery packaging, motivated me to move to rechargeables and I would not look back.