ZPower problems?

Thanks for your post, oldyuk.

Sorry you have had problems with ZPower too. If you’ve gone through 5 batteries and two chargers since November 2017, it certainly sounds like there is a problem with ZPower system or the batteries. I hope that the ZPower representative will respond publicly on this board and give everyone an explanation of what the problems might be. It seems to be happening to a lot of us, and with more than one brand of hearing aid.

I’ve heard that while there’s a warranty on the Z power charging system and maybe the original batteries that come with the system, the replacement batteries themselves bought later on not as part of the original system will have no warranty.

I wonder if a Z power rep would care to comment on whether this rumor is true or not? Also, where would one buy replacement batteries from every year? Z power directly? Or the OEM company? Or from independent third parties?

At least in Europe there is a warranty of 6 months on OEM batteries.

Just to clarify my case, I have no problems with the chargers. I bought a 2nd charger from Beltone called ZPower Rechargeable Battery Door Retrofit including 2 tiny battery doors and 2 ZPower Z101-312 batteries (compatible with my ReSound).This allows me to load offline two ZPower batteries ( a charger from a different firm did not load ZPower batteries).
My Audi outlined, that Lithium Batteries need special care, e.g. they should be loaded directly when empty.
Perhaps ZPower should teach us a little bit more as how to use best their batteries.

For me, I am completely happy with the Resound/ZPower rechargeable solution despite the small problems with the batteries.

@Volusiano said:

Also, where would one buy replacement batteries from every year? Z power directly? Or the OEM company?

That’s a good question. I did a search a while back for the cost of replacement of ZPower batteries and found nothing.

We received this message from Oticon at our clinic:

Dear Valued Partner,

Thank you for your patience over the past several months as we addressed issues with the ZPower rechargeable battery system for Oticon Opn™. We are pleased to share with you new developments that will enable you to again order the ZPower rechargeable solution for Opn with confidence that the kits and the battery drawer modules will operate with the quality and dependability that you expect from Oticon.

Oticon Takes Over Production Process
Our analysis of the issues with the ZPower rechargeable system revealed that while the ZPower battery was performing as expected, in a number of cases, the rechargeable kits and battery drawer module were no longer living up to Oticon quality standards.

In February, our staff went onsite to the ZPower manufacturing facilities to monitor the production process. We were able to quickly identify the issue, and we immediately put an action plan in place to solve it. At that time, we also made the decision that Oticon would take full control of the ZPower production process. The Oticon team has remained onsite at the ZPower facility to continue to monitor the production process and to prepare for the transition of production of the rechargeable kits to Oticon.

We will soon be manufacturing the electronic components of the battery drawer module. In October, the improved production process officially moves to Oticon production facilities for all future kit production.

Many thousands of the ZPower kits and battery drawer modules produced with the improved production process have already been delivered. We are pleased to report that based upon feedback from many Oticon customers and Opn users, the ZPower kits and battery drawer modules are performing well – fully living up to Oticon’s internal quality requirements and standards.

Timely Delivery Back on Track
The continuous high demand for the Oticon Opn with the ZPower solution and the replacement battery drawer modules occurred while the rechargeable solution production process was under review and preparing to transition to Oticon control.

This change-over meant that we have not been able to maintain our timely delivery standards. With the production process now functioning smoothly, we are back on track to deliver the ZPower rechargeable system for Opn and replacement battery drawers according to our usual delivery standards.

We greatly appreciate your patience as we worked to resolve this issue. We are confident that we can now deliver rechargeable Oticon Opn, a unique combination of outstanding audiological performance, 2.4 GHz connectivity and a flexible rechargeable battery solution, with the quality and reliability you expect from Oticon.

It is our pleasure to serve you and we thank you for choosing Oticon.

At the end of the email:

ZPower warranty reset

Now that we have fulfilled our backlog of orders, we’re in the process of ramping up our stock so we can consistently fulfill all new orders as soon as they are received. We will also be automatically re-setting the warranties for ALL ZPower kits sold by Oticon since the product was launched.

This new, full warranty period will begin on August 1, 2018.

Thank you, Speedy!

This information is extremely helpful, and it’s too bad that Oticon and ZPower didn’t inform consumers of this sooner. It certainly verifies that there are known issues with the charging system. I’m glad to know that Oticon will be rectifying the problem by taking over the battery door/charger production process for their devices. Since I’m wearing Oticon Opns and I’ve had issues with two ZPower charging systems, it gives me hope that my system will soon be replaced with an Oticon-produced and quality-checked version that is actually reliable. Fingers crossed. Thanks again for posting.

Sure thing! Hope your audiologist can get you squared away!

Good points, Volusiano.

We can only hope that there is a global fix for all hearing aid brands that have exhibited charging problems with the ZPower system. I’m sure that ZPower strives to market a great product, and they will most likely be huddling with the manufacturers of all hearing aid brands/models that use retrofitted battery doors to address the issues.

Thanks to all who posted about their charging problems, whether those problems were from day one or intermittent. Maybe we’ve sparked a revolution in quality assurance!

UPDATE: I recently received a phone call from a ZPower marketing director, in response to my emails to the company (and my posts here) about my problems with my ZPower rechargeable system and my Oticon Opn hearing aids. I want to thank ZPower for reaching out and listening to my concerns.

As noted in the memo from Oticon that was posted elsewhere in this thread, a problem has been identified with the retrofitted battery doors, and Oticon will be taking over production of those battery doors for their devices in the near future.

The ZPower rep also assured me that she was going to speak with the ZPower engineering team about problems I have had with the charger’s indicator lights (i.e., blinking, not blinking, intermittent red lights, and not knowing for sure whether the batteries were ever fully charged).

I am hopeful that Oticon and ZPower will finally resolve the charging issues soon. I hope that wearers of other ZPower-compatible rechargeable hearing aids (ReSound?) will have their issues addressed as well.

Thanks to all who provided input on this topic. I think our posts have prompted attention–and, hopefully–a positive outcome.

From Resound there are no similar quality problems known. It appears they come out with a new inbuild version without refit (similar to Signia, perhaps in the US this is already on the market?.

Glad to hear you’ve had no problems with the charging system or the HAs. Thanks for the input. Not sure what you mean by “used up the disposable batteries,” as they are supposed to last for one year before needing replacement. Do you mean that you’ve switched between rechargeable and disposable batteries in the last 6 days? If so, don’t leave your disposable batteries open to air for too long (or touching any kind of metal), as they will discharge very easily and you probably won’t get a full year’s worth of power from them. Wishing you success with your HAs!

I meant that when I took the hearing aids home, the rechargeables were in them, but I also had a pair of disposables that had been opened, unsealed, and used to set up the HAs. The audiologist gave those to me as well, and I decided I might as well use them since they would probably self-discharge sooner or later, unsealed and partly used. They only lasted 4 days (the audiologist had said the setup would use a lot of them). So then I went to normal mode of using the rechargeables every day. The rechargables last all day even with heavy streaming use, and then the charger blinks appropriately when I put them in it, charges them up to full overnight.

Good to know, ha11. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Just to inform that Resound has launched the Linx Quattro with build in Li-Ion batteries. Lifetime up to 3 years!
There is a charger included.
I wonder what will happen with the Z power batteries?