Charging Resound Quattro with Phonak Mini Charger Case?

I think if you read Blacky’s posts - perhaps a Dr. Cliff video review, too? - the Phonak Marvel charger works by physical contact with contacts on the HA’s - the Quattro case works on wireless charging - no physical contacts.

I wonder if the ReSound One chargers work with the Quattro’s, too? If they did, maybe you could find an audi or other provider who would sell you one, since HCP’s who sell ReSounds are probably stocked up on those things right now. The ReSound One has a charger that just works on AC, no battery, so there is nothing to give out. And then there is the “premium” charger, like the one that comes with the Quattro’s, that has a battery in it.

Did you leave your Quattro charger plugged in all the time? Keeping the Quattro charger with its Li-ion battery charged to 100% all the time is probably not so great for the longevity of the device. It might be better to fully charge it, let it run down charging the HA’s, then recharge it when it gets down to just one LED lit in the back (I actually keep mine between 1 LED and 2 LED’s lit in the back rather than charging it to 100%).

Edit_Update: Sounds like from the Geoffrey Cooling review of ReSound Ones that the charging case is ~the same. Hopefully you could find an HCP somewhere near you with charging cases for ReSound Ones in stock, see if they work, and you might find the one that is AC-only charging is less expensive. A Review of Day to Day Experiences With ReSound One Hearing Aids1.

What about keeping HA’s in charger when they’re fully charged? I use quattros for 8 hours a day and when I put them off they have about 80-90% and I put them in the charger. Should I turn them off and put them in portable case or I can safely put them in charger? Thanks

If I remember correctly our last discussion / links about li ion batteries, conclusion was that the worst is to discharge them and/or have full cycles 0-100 all the time, but can’t recall if fully charge was bad, I think not. Eg I think it’s equally good if you stay in 40 range, be it from 60-100, 20-60 or 40-80. I think it was about battery on select.

@tamarack9676 go for warranty replacement or even just pay for new shell with battery, it is definitely less than new aids. Of course if you’re happy with your aids performance.

@jim_lewis aids don’t have universal warranty, it depends on the deals your dispenser got. Here in Germany default by manufacturer is only 1 year. My fitter as 2 years deal. But that’s it, for more - you can take the insurance. Which costs like half the aid whilst new shell is around a few hundred euros.

@dmrljes I guess that depends on how they did it, there are some devices that you can leave plugged in but they stop charging so it really doesn’t matter what you do, and then there are those which always charge. Altough, I’d expect aids to follow general electronics approach, and just stop charging when full.

Maybe user manual says something about it?

Phonak aids are stupid, if you plug out charger (the one without battery pack), aids think they’re out and turn on, which basically means they discharge while staying in the charger. Since resounds are induction charged I’d expect more brain is put into the charging process.

There sure is some smarter options, they stop charging after they’re fully charged and if you leave them 24-48 hours in charger, they, both, aids and charger would completely shut down. I think I saw somewhere in manual that is OK to put them in charger but I just want to be sure if is safe. And I’m amazed by battery life with Quattros

Agree that going from 0-100 is bad, but I’m also pretty sure that keeping lithium ion fully charged contributes to shorter life. My understanding is that a 50% charge level is ideal. I’m guessing for most people, the life of the battery exceeds the time they want to keep the device. I’m guessing this will also contribute to more older hearing aids being thrown away rather than reused by somebody else.

Yes, they will go into a deep sleep if not used for a certain period of time. I don’t remember what it was. Email us at optimalhearing.com1 and I’ll be sure to get that info over to you.

what’s your opinion on the Resound One with M&RIE with power dome for above hearing loss in first post or with standard MP or HP (see audiogram)

@Blacky said:

If I remember correctly our last discussion / links about li ion batteries, conclusion was that the worst is to discharge them and/or have full cycles 0-100 all the time, but can’t recall if fully charge was bad, I think not.

Yes, I agree with MDB. Keeping at a Li-ion battery at 100% charge is bad as is letting run down below 20% charged (some say 30%). So, as I mentioned in my post above, I keep the Quattro charging case ~between 33% (2nd LED light of 3 just comes on) and 67% charged (3rd LED light of 3 on back of charger just comes on). Basically, when I take my HA’s out of the charger, if I see only 1 LED light on the charger cases is lit, I charge the charger for 30 to 40 minutes and the charger will then charge my HA’s with no AC power connection for 3 to 4 days before its charge drops down to only 1 LED lit on the charger case again (< 33% charge), then I charge the case again, same as before. Using the Smart 3D app, I charge my HA’s to just over 4 out of 5 lights lit (> 60% charge), wear them for 6 or 7 hours until the number of HA battery lights in the Smart 3D app is 2 (20% to 40% charge range), then charge the HA’s again 'til 4 of 5 lights just lit. The 20 to 30 minute break each day gives my ear canals a chance to air out from my occlusive mold fit. When I go to sleep, I turn the HA’s OFF at <60% charge and put the whole HA, receivers and all carefully in the middle receiver bay of the case and only charge the HA’s for the day when I get up, am eating breakfast, brushing my teeth, washing my face, shaving, etc. That way, the HA’s spend overnight in the 40% to 60% charge range rather than in the charger case on AC power with both HA’s and charger case sitting overnight at 100% charge

So my approach is probably only for old retirees who have lots of leisure time and have good low frequency hearing like me. I don’t need to wear my HA’s to understand almost all speech, even almost all of my soft-spoken wife’s speech. But I haven’t experienced any noticeable decline in battery charge capacity either for my HA’s or my charger case in two years use. Just as an experiment, I’d like to see if both the HA’s can survive and continue to function well 5 or 6 years down the line and also, when I get new HA’s, whether the Quattro HA’s and charger case can be in good enough shape to continue to serve as backup HA’s well beyond 5 or 6 years of age.

Most people just prize convenience, just want to plug something in, let it go to 100% charge and be able to use it all day, only have to recharge at the end of the day. Throw it out, get new whenever. But I do seem to recall a number of rechargeable Quattro users saying their HA’s (and presumably their charger cases) are still working well 2 years later (maybe they don’t leave their chargers plugged in 100% of the time?).

BTW, the middle charger case bay really isn’t designed by ReSound to hold the whole HA’s. If you put the whole HA with receiver ON into the middle bay, you’ll get a tremendous feedback loop and loud, high-pitched squealing that people with good high-frequency hearing (like my wife!) can hear from a considerable distance away! So be careful following any “advice” that I give. It may not be optimal!

UPDATE: I was informed to leave charger unplugged for 2 days and try again. When I plugged it in the LED’s on back flashed several times then showed one red LED and 3 hours later it was fully charged and working as it should

I’m sure that even 50 dollars for a case is a high price and I will definitely write what and how, when I will change it myself, when I have a problem.