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Phonak Rechargeable vs Battery-Operated Aids

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OK!!! Much obliged for your suggestion here. Looks SUPER! I will show that link to hubs cuz I think it would be a great addition to our road trip packing list. :smiley:

In reply to @1Bluejay

Well I believe it was the charging base that caused most the bad problems with the Costco KS10’s and contributed to the fallout of Phonak and Costco. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is some kind of carry over.

Thanks for that insight, cleveto. I’ve never heard of a charging base turning aids ON, then jacking up the volume so there is non-stop feedback screeching inside the small box. Something seems fatally wrong with that model of operation.

In reply to @JordanK

@JordanK said:

Here is the Amazon link:

https://a.co/d/aMbmDMQ

Just bought it today! It’s a better model than what we have on hand cuz it parcels out the needed charge to devices as opposed to just zapping them with power. Laptops and cell phones have different wattage, which the device you link to determines by “communicating” with each specific device.

GOOD FIND!

In reply to @1Bluejay

I had my cpap plugged in. There was a power outage. Same receptacle–the tv didn’t start when power was restored. Surge protector worked.
I replaced the surge protector, just in case.

DaveL
Toronto

Yeah I know. I KNOW. Have we beaten the dead horse to death here?

But I had to raise the issue again. My mom was admitted to hospital for a couple nights. She’s 3,000 mi from me so I’m not able to act on her behalf.

Turns out she was sent from her assisted living place to hospital wearing her rechargeable aids … but no one thought to bring the CHARGER. I called the assisted living place to raise that issue. Fell on a brick. I called the hospital and spoke to her attending nurse who said she’d go check and get back to me. Never got a call back.

A friend of my mom’s picked her up after her 2-day stay and drove her home. She was without any hearing there! Like it wasn’t an issue? My mom told me in the past she loved the convenience and ease of her rechargeable aids. Batteries are so tiny! (yes, even the chunkier size 13s).

But for the 1,000th time, I found myself gnashing my teeth as I contemplated how very easy this kind of situation could crop up for folks who need emergency care and are whisked away without a sustainable power source for their aids! In fact, 20 yrs ago (before rechargeables) my dad had a heart attack, was taken to hospital where he spent his last month, and my mom told me how she had to not only take his batteries to him, but also check to see that his aids were IN and working while he lay there day after day in the bed.

And flash forward to 10 yrs later when my mom took a bad fall and ended up in a rehab place that allowed NO PERSONAL items of any value - no cell phone, no car keys, no jewelry naturally, but in short, the facility didn’t want liability if these things went missing. I can guarantee there would not have been a convenient place for her to string a power cord for a rechargeable base here.

Does no one care about folks who have issues hearing in critical situations? We can enact laws for the one-in-a-million chance of a kid eating a battery (unsupervised, I’m guessing), but what about folks who need battery aids, period? The trend being to rechargeables seems short-sited and perhaps utterly uninformed as to the nature and needs of rechargeable aids.

@Dusty said:

Absolutely. Please stop.

The worst-case rechargeable scenario, which you and others have pooh-poohed, came to pass for her mother. How is this not relevant?

it is an issue and I have solved the problem, for me, may not work for everyone. I now have 2 equal pair of primary aids. One of each.

In reply to @1Bluejay

Battery operated ’s is convenient, easy to carry around. No need of the charger, just a pack of new battery and off you go for holiday. Have a HA’s holding box/container with a pack of battery, just remember to put it into your pocket or carrying bag whenever you go for shopping, traveling or outstation. Be Prepared!

Disposable batteries in the US have become a lot less convenient due to recent changes in packaging. If all you’ve dealt with are old packaging, you may come to think that rechargeables are a better choice, even if you’re elderly. I traded in rechargeable Jabra 10s for the disposable version 2 years ago because I misplaced the charger and couldn’t find a new one quickly. My next aids will probably be rechargeable by choice.

@philbob57 said:

Disposable batteries in the US have become a lot less convenient due to recent changes in packaging.

Definitely less convenient, but how much less depends on one’s abilities and limitations. I just got my first box of child-resistant Rayovac 312 batteries. With steady hands and good eyesight and a pair of Fiskars scissors (the exact model I have isn’t available anymore), it was easy enough to make the suggested radial cuts to release the batteries. As I use up my couple of remaining boxes of old-style battery packages, I’m going to save the empty packages so I can put fresh batteries in them after freeing the batteries from new-style packaging. But I can see why this change would be the last straw for those who already find conventional batteries difficult to work with.

The saved empty packages are only going to last so long before they fall apart, however, and the battery cases I see on Amazon that hold two batteries seem less than ideal. We need someone to make a durable plastic version of a standard non-child-resistant carousel battery case.

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