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Resound Quattro battery replacement

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My rechargeable Quattros are 4 years old, out of warranty. Both lithium ion batteries were replaced after about 2 years, when one of them started giving me the low battery chimes after about 10 hrs of wearing. Now one of them is giving me the same chimes again after about 12 hrs. Until recently, I’d wear them for 16 hrs without running the batteries down.

So, what say you? My audiologist (and Resound) say that to replace both batteries with a 6 month warranty on everything will cost me $500. To replace both with a 12 month warranty will be $750. (Half that if I only replace one). I was incensed: “I don’t need a new warranty, I just need new batteries!!” Resound customer service says that the batteries are an integrated part of the electronics. They say when I get the aids back EVERYTHING will be new, except for the cases.

I’m going to believe that nobody’s fibbing and the electronics will be new. Does this strike you as a raw deal…as I first thought…or a good one? I was also curious if this is typical of post-warranty battery replacements from a manufacturer.

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Although it might cost you more, you might get more for your money if there is a Costco near you and you got one of the newer models that Costco carries, unless you need tinnitus management. If you have health insurance, it might ~ wholly cover the cost of HA’s at Costco. I get $1,000 per ear every three years on my insurance, enough to cover the cost of a “defeatured” HA at Costco.

My Quattros needed refurbishment at the end of my three-year warranty because of poor external mic function, and I thought I’d get replacements with new batteries. But as I reported in the forum about a year ago, the replacements that I got, although they had great sound, did not come with “good as new” batteries. I didn’t have to pay anything for my in-warranty replacement. Perhaps, since you’re being charged and have been promised new devices, you’ll get that. If you decide to go the route you described, I’d check to be sure and complain if you don’t get good as new batteries.

A bit off-topic relative to your situation (but maybe not the one I described for my refurbished under warranty HA’s above), I’m getting an EV in the coming months. I read the EV battery warranty: 8 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first if the charge capacity drops below 70% of the original full charge under either condition. However, the fine print says the replacement is totally at the discretion of the OEM and could be a new battery, or it could be a refurbished battery similar in age and performance to the battery that failed the warranty test. So, that got me wondering what the fine print is on rechargeable HA battery warranties. The horse is already out of the barn door on my Quattros. Still, in the future, I’ll be checking to see if the OEM only promises to deliver a refurbished HA with a battery that’s only good enough to get me across the finish line of the warranty period and nothing more - which is the kind of warranty I took the EV battery warranty to be.

Thanks for your thoughts, Jim. As an additional thought, Resound told me that the battery manufacturer tells them that the batteries should reach 80% capacity at about 5 years. Certainly not my experience. I asked at the audiologist if they had any way to tell what is left of the batteries capacity now. They can only read the “dots,” which of course only tells me the charge, not the state of the battery.

You’ve given me something else to ask Resound if I do decide to let them do the replacement, namely, will I be getting refurbished electronics (or even a refurbished battery). With the battery integrated into the electronics, I’m thinking me getting stuck with refurbished units seem unlikely. But, I suppose, since they take in old but not depleted rechargeables, it’s not an impossibility. And, if I go forward with it, I’d wait a bit longer. I’m still getting 12 hrs out of the left , even with an hour or two of streaming audiobooks. And, eventually, Costco is a definite possibility even though I presently live 2.5 hrs away from the closest one and don’t have any insurance that covers HAs. My audiologist claims to know that Costco is going to stop having audiologists or technicians on staff and just sell their stuff . I find that hard to believe.

One more question. Is there any way of knowing if it could be the charging unit that’s malfunctioning and not the aid? At first I thought that wasn’t a possibility because the right aid is lasting so much longer. But then I thought maybe it’s the left “side” of the charger that’s cutting out too soon.

Thanks for any additional time you have to continue the discussion.

My two refurbished Qattros differed in runtime when I got them from ReSound.

You could always charge the left in the right charger bay if you’re careful with the receivers and the wires to see if that makes a difference. I would predict it won’t.

Edited

Replacing everything but the cases is what Resound did for my Quattros recently that needed new microphones. They were still under warranty, barely, but the warranty on the replacement aids expires when the original 3-year warranty expires, which is way less than six months.

Those prices seem a little high to me, but it may what ReSound charges. I don’t know whether I would pay that or move on, given that choice with four-year-old aids. If I moved on to new aids, it probably wouldn’t be with ReSound. That’s a little unfair IMO, just to get new rechargeable batteries. My audi had told me, at the time I first got the Quattros, in response to my saying that 4-year-old lithium ion batteries are not good at holding charges, so they’re going to have to be replaced, that he didn’t know for sure yet what ReSound would charge to replace the batteries, but he expected it to be about $300. Maybe that’s because he didn’t realize yet that they would have to replace all the electronics, not just the batteries.

Thanks for your thoughts.
I confirmed directly with Resound that their price for the replacement is $250/aid with a 6 month warranty and $350/aid with a 12 month warranty. So, at least, I now know that my audiologist isn’t the one doing the price gouging–if that’s what it is.

I’m still pondering what to do. Since the way forward isn’t clear to me yet, I believe I will wait and see how the current batteries perform for a while longer.

I am in a similar situation. After 12hrs (no streaming), left is dead and right is at 4/5 dots.

I.opened the casing and it appears to be a typical button cell (lithium obviously), in a typical battery socket, embedded in a soft grey vinyl like material similar to Hollywood prosthetic skin. It tears easily with a needle, and I suspect digging it all out and removing the cell would not be too difficult.

It’s still functioning properly, and 12hrs is usable, so I won’t futz with it now. Once it gets intolerable, I’ll probably dig in and see if it’s user replaceable.

Edited

Here is a link to a video showing the shell of a Linx Quattro being replaced390. At 2:33, you can see the grey “latex” sealant on the battery compartment. You can also see that it looks like a standard replaceable battery compartment, with the grey sealant applied and molded to fill the space.

What I know:
a) Generally, IPx8 ratings are not achieved by sealing the case (and as you can see this one is NOT sealed), but rather by sealing all the electronics with a waterproof/hydrophobic coating and the encasing the physical contact junctions with water tight connectors (such as SureFit 2).

b) The main reason the batteries are not user replaceable in IPxx devices is because the end user cannot do so and ensure the integrity of the IP68 rating. Which makes sense from a manufacturer perspective. If you want the manufacturer guaranteed performance, you use manufacturer certified techs to do the work.

c) The cell under the sealant absolutely looks like a standard button cell.

What I suspect:
The “latex” coating over the battery (described above) exists ONLY to seal the battery/contact interface so the instrument can achieve the IP68 rating.

What this might mean:
If you’re a disposable user, who is used to not having a water resistant instrument, it is quite likely that one can carve out the sealant, drop in a compatible rechargable cell, and repower the RE561-DRW at home much faster and cheaper than sending it back for repair.

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Disclaimer: I am geek/hacker by nature. I void warranties, often on brand new tech. Plus, my did not come with a warranty. Please consider your risk tolerance and the potential expense before following in my footsteps.

@jim_lewis said:

You could always charge the left HA in the right charger bay if you’re careful with the receivers and the wires to see if that makes a difference. I would predict it won’t.

Mine worked just fine. And the empty hole is large enough to accommodate the receiver wires backwards without unduly bending them.

Super interesting to see the video and to read your explanation. Thank you.

I like to think the best of companies, especially health care related–that they’re not lying about totally replacing all the electronics in the because the battery is integrated in with the electronics. I guess what they’re saying…assuming it’s true…is that they swap in all new electronics to assure that the hearing aids stay watertight.

Edited

In reply to @Noreen1009

Update: I just carved into the “latex” seal and the battery is spot welded. On a unit this small, unsealing, breaking the weld, replacement, welding, resealing, etc are all labor intensive. i.e. they are probably just throwing it away.

Which speaks to someone’s comment elsewhere in this forum about the true cost if the unit. If they are replacing the entire instrument for $250, the hardware cost (excluding development) is assuredly less than that.

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Thank you so much for the finding. You just saved us lots of time trying to find a way to replace this battery ourself. You are great.

Edited

In reply to @Noreen1009

@Noreen1009 said:

Is there any way of knowing if it could be the charging unit that’s malfunctioning and not the aid? At first I thought that wasn’t a possibility because the right aid is lasting so much longer. But then I thought maybe it’s the left “side” of the charger that’s cutting out too soon.

Update: I started reversing the (L to R and vice-versa) in the charging pod, and the problem seemed to go away. Just last week I stopped wearing my HA for about a week. I opened them on Tuesday to change the / and had a terrible time getting the left to connect to NoahLink. SmartFit would see it, then fail to connect. After a bit of frustration it occurred to me that the left had a dead/dying battery. And that’s when I noticed it. I put the HAs away in their proper charging slot, not reversed. I reversed them and tried 30 min later, no problems.

If the issue does not follow the charging slot (i.e. the issue does not seem to happen to the right HA when it’s charged in the left slot) and it does not follow the HA (i.e. the issue does not seem to persist when the left HA when it’s charged in the right slot), what is happening?

This is what I suspect:
There is an issue with the left charging slot related to the HA position/seating in the slot. Perhaps the Left HA is not positioned close enough to the coil, or maybe the HA walks up just enough to reduce conduction. As you can see in This Image14, swapping R & L positions flexes the RIC wire and creates a torque that rotates the HAs in their slots and forces them into the opposite wall of the charging well. The tiny change appears to either improve the HA’s proximity to the L coil, prevents it from walking up/away, or both.

SHOULD this be a large enough change to significantly affect charging in a well that small? No.
Has it made a difference in my (admittedly anecdotal) experience? Yes. My runtime disparity (L 25% << R) appears to disappear when L&R are swapped.

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@AtlantaNative said:

There is an issue with the left charging slot related to the HA position/seating in the slot.

At least for my Quattros, two optical windows are at the bottom of each charging bay. You might check if these windows are both free of debris for the problematic charging bay. Gentle wiping with a cotton swab might clean the windows if anything is blocking them. I have theorized that the windows are to optically detect when a has been placed in the bay to charge.

@jim_lewis - Good info, I had not noticed that. And I concur with your assessment of their purpose. It is certainly possible that the wire is lifting the just enough to allow enough light to pass to suppress charging (perhaps even intermittently). Why it appears to affect L more than R is anybody’s guess.

If so, perhaps the lateral pressure on the wire created by installing them reversed offsets this lifting force. Or the rotational moment applied on the HA creates enough friction to offset the lifting force. Or the position of the HA in the well relative to the sensors is allowing some light to pass in one situation and not another.

Whatever the case, it seems quite obvious that the position of the HA in the well has an impact on charging. And that those experiencing unilateral battery issues (without an obviously different audio profile) should look there first.

Thanks for this info! Unfortunately, a few days ago I took my Quatros in for battery replacement and to have them checked out to secure a 1-yr warranty. Although ReSound and an audiologist told me the cost would be a total of $700US for both aids, the second audiologist I consulted told me the cost will be a total of $600. With that, I decided to move forward.

Short version:
Replacing a cell is difficult, but not impossible

Long version:
This weekend I learned how to replace a spot welded battery. I was working with a cell 18mmx75mm, so I hearing aid will definitely require more finesse.

To make matters more complicated, the removal process requires using a tiny Dremel bit (about 1mm) to grind out the weld spots. This generates microfine metal dust. On a large cell/circuit this creates the possibility of short circuits, but that can usually be avoided by using compressed air after the service is complete.

With a hearing aid, which contains microcircuitry in very close proximity to the battery, the metal dust is a serious problem. And compressed air may not be a viable option because the hearing aid contains a very tiny pressure transducer (the mic) that would probably be damaged by high pressure air.

I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m going see if the metal used in the contacts is magnetic. If so, I may try performing the work in the field of a very strong magnet so that metal particles thrown from the bit would be pulled away from the hearing aid.

Note: LiPo cells can catch fire when damaged. If you decide to try this please educate yourself and understand the risks before you begin.

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