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Regular Batteries versus Rechargeable

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Wow, we do get off track here, huh? Backpacking in the wilderness, ham radio, blowing up things with one’s chemistry set. Ah, I remember doing all those things in the good old days of adolescence (K3GMT here, although W0AOY for a year in the middle).

But to get back on track a bit, I believe my initial resistance to the idea of rechargeable batteries comes from my experiences in olden times when rechargeable batteries were pretty punk. Some still are, like the ones they gave up on with the wireless mics at church (we’ve “updated” with ones requiring AA batteries).

More recently, I started to remember visiting my nonagenarian mother. The first thing I’d have to do when I’d go visit was to replace the batteries in her so that we could chat. She no longer had the digital dexterity to change them herself. Good son that I am, I’ve inherited my mother’s penchant for arthritis. As a result, I’ve recently noticed that changing those tiny batteries is getting difficult. I still think my next HAs will probably be the replaceable type, but I’m guessing that in another 10 years, I’ll be looking at rechargeable ones myself, if only to save my children from having to change batteries for me, and during times before they visit, not being able to communicate with my spouse.

Glad to see another battery nerd on here Jim! And I mean that as a compliment. Battery University is great for a battery primer, but definitely not cutting edge or always up to date. There are lots of new lithium based battery types out there now and polymer has been really popular for custom applications. We’re about to try out some Lithium Iron Phosphate, (LiFePO4) which are pretty promising.

I’m sure the manufacturers are getting better and better at the number of charge cycles which is great. My concern still with these hearing aid batteries is that they are likely to run pretty full charge cycles each day of use and there is limited ability to top them off during the day due to inconvenience unlike a phone where you can handle having it plugged in or resting on a charge pad. Like TraderGary said, I’ll probably be on new tech in 2 years anyway, so it’d probably be fine.

The HAM radio stuff has been really interesting for me. I just got my license a few years ago, but it was for the sole purpose of communications during off road riding/racing. It’s cool hearing about guys bouncing signals off the ionosphere, but I’m not even playing in that realm. The real HAMs can be really hard core about that stuff! Maybe someday.

For Chromebooks if one wants a battery test, enter CROSH (like C prompt in Windows) by hitting CTRL/ALT/T and typing battery_test

Sorry, @jim_lewis, if my comment came off as critical. It was not meant to be. I was trying for a touch of lightness, I think. I actually love getting to know people better and getting to know their backgrounds and proclivities. I rather enjoyed reading your flagged “off-topic” post. Such things bring back memories, and I certainly knew people who became chemists in later life who did some weird stuff with their chemistry sets back in the day (some even with MIT associations). I tried, but never managed more than some brilliant flairs and stinks. I think it also helps to know from where one might be coming when they opine about hearing aids, batteries, audiologists, and the like. So throwing in the bit of the personal helps with the filtering process.

In reply to #65

@jim_lewis said: (unavailable)

On my flagged “off-topic” post on questionable juvenile behavior playing with fire, perhaps that deserves to go as possibly encouraging bad, dangerous social behavior by any minor (or adult) who would have read that post.

That’s hilarious! I wouldn’t be surprised if the forum platform auto-flagged it with the technology these days. I did a lot of dumb and dangerous things learning things the hard way, but I’m to prideful to share :slight_smile:

Hate reviving old topic and don’t mean to restart a rehash, but got some interesting feedback from my audiologist on rechargeables. I was actually considering them. He sees them as definitely useful for those that want the convenience but doesn’t consider them quite “mature” technology. The have occasional (estimated 10%) issues with both the batteries and the chargers. His biggest frustration is that when issues crop up, his only option is to send them in–nothing he can do about it. Just something to factor into one’s decision.

I think it’s good that you did revive the topic.

My take is that lithium ion batteries may very well be maturing. The Li-ion batteries in my phone easily last a day and a half with hours of screen time every day. Li-ion in my laptop easily last for more than 12 hours of use when out and about in the day with no need to carry the charger. The new Li-ion polymer batteries, and I assume that’s what is used in my Marvels, are supposed to last 6 years. Although I’m sure that within another year or two I’ll be upgrading to the next amazing thing! I do recharge all my devices every night.

I’m almost 9 months in with my Marvels and I can’t detect any lowering of daily use. I still have 30 to 60 percent of battery left at the end of the day, depending on how much music streaming I do, and so far reliability has been 100%. KOW (Knock On Wood) :blush:

I see that in iOS 13, one of the claimed improvements is the smarts to monitor your phone use habits and when the phone is recharged each day, it is only recharged up to the level you need for the next day, not a full charge. It is claimed this extends the life of the battery.

I know in my Toyota Hybrid a similar strategy is used with the NiMH batteries in it.

Perhaps chargers will get that smart at some point…

I’m grateful I found this thread…I’m a brand new owner of Phonak Audeo P90-R ’s. First full day of use today. I am disappointed in my rechargeable batteries. I typically wear my hearing aids 17 hours a day. Today I’m charging my batteries after only 11-1/2 hours of use. 10% life left in my L, and 12 % left in my right HA.

If I can’t figure this out I’ll be really disappointed.

Dave

My first thought is how much streaming do you do. That also includes time streaming phone calls. I don’t have the same ads as you do, I have the Oticon More1 aids and t does depend on the amount of streaming. I have gone well over 24 hours in a charge without streaming. But it get at least 18 hours with about 4 hours of streaming.

In reply to @DaveL

Make sure they’re fully charged and see what happens tomorrow. Keep track of time spent streaming. If still an issue tomorrow, report to person who sold them to you. It might just be a bad pair of aids or you might be better off with disposable size 13 batteries.

I don’t stream.

However, at lunch I found the hearing environment bad–noise behind. So I turned to one of the programs “talking with noise, or loud noise.” And I never switched back to auto.

I wonder if that ate extra battery time. That was from 2:00 pm or so to 8:00 pm.

Well I’ve never had rechargeable but there have been times when I have forgotten to put my aids in the dehumidifier at night.and there have been times when I’m out and about and my aids notify me that the batteries are about to die so it’s easy to pop in two tiny batteries that I carry as spares instead of heading back home. Take this for what it’s worth

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