Should I be skeptical about rechargeable hearing aid?

Yes, all P are still available. I think I can even still get the virto b 13 if I need it, though the other Bs have been discontinued.

I don’t know what their intent is. I get the feeling they think they’re educating people about the evils of rechargeables and are hoping for a mass uprising of demand for disposable battery models. I’m afraid the likely result is that some people will be scared into getting disposables when they would have been better off with rechargeables. On the other hand, some who truly will be happier with disposables will have greater awareness.

If I had the ability to swap out rechargeable batteries on the fly, I would support it. However, in the current landscape, only the manufacturer or designated hearing aid dispenser, like Oticon, possesses the capability to replace rechargeable batteries. Imagining a scenario where I could manage this task independently, I envision carrying spare rechargeable batteries with me wherever I go. This way, in the event of a breakdown, I could effortlessly replace the battery myself while awaiting the repaired one.

@MDB said:

I get the feeling they think they’re educating people about the evils of rechargeables and are hoping for a mass uprising of demand for disposable battery models.

That’s kind of an exaggerated, wacky version of what I’m trying to do. Not trying to incite a mass uprising, just trying to leverage this forum’s reach to move the needle on sales enough to make a difference. What deceiving or alarmist claims have I made? I say the charger is an added point of failure (seen it mentioned enough times here), and other users step up to point out that their charger has never failed. So the facts and anecdotes are out there, and shoppers can make their own decision. Shoppers think, or have been told, that rechargeables are going to save them lots of money, and I point out that batteries are pretty cheap. I’ve stated more than once that rechargeables are more or less mandatory for those who can’t handle changing batteries, or who have frequent moisture problems.

I was responding to Dusty’s comment that they seemed to be trying to bully Phonak into submission. I was giving an alternative interpretation. I think we pretty much know each other’s positions. I have no desire to rehash.

But would Oticon send me a replacement battery?

I doubt that, but you can buy them on eBay

Although I don’t rule out the possibility of them fading away, I don’t see it happening anytime soon.

@x475aws said:

I’m puzzled that you don’t support keeping them available.

Just because someone points out the obvious - that you can’t always get what you want, does NOT mean that they don’t care, don’t support continued availability of every option, or are somehow condescending or insulting. Facts don’t have motives. I for one wish you luck in getting every last thing you want in life.

As for what you should do, I’ve suggested multiple times over the years that the best hope might be a petition etc. Probably pointless, but far better chance of success than anything I’ve seen done here. In fact, the escalation of what-ifs etc. have hurt your cause if anything. I can imagine that if the person responsible for making a profit and competing was reading some of the posts here, that person might be inclined to offer some tissues and directions to their competition.

ALDs usually come with the capability of using either kind of batteries. I guess there are no hearing aids with that same feature because it would take up too much space. That makes me wonder whether the extra space is like telecoils. Many audiologists don’t even mention them because they make the hearing aids a mm or 2 larger. I’ve seen both with and without telecoil together and can’t tell which is which. The lack of availability of hearing aids that can use both types of batteries might be due to the ridiculous stigma attached to them. I would be happy to wear a box hanging around my neck like in the early days of hearing aids if it would bring sound in with more clarity.

Yeah @carolagate, I have often said on these forums over the years, I would wear hearing aids the size and colour of 2 large bananas, if I thought they would help me hear better I simply do not care about any aesthetic aspect of hearing aids, if folks don’t see them, I will point them out… Cheers Kev

@Heather_R said:

I’ve seen folks mentioning throwing their charger in their bag for top offs, is the charging connection actually secure enough to literally charge in the bag? Or do you still need a stable surface? I see folks mention the charging connections getting bumped but I’m not sure how big of a deal that is.

Also, can the charger itself be charged by a battery bank or does it need an actual outlet to plug into?

Being able to charge without a flat stable surface and use the same extra battery banks I have for my phones would be a step toward me considering rechargables if they ever become available for me.

Something like the Oticon Smart Charger below has a lid to cover up the top portion so I can’t imagine that the aids can be dislodged once they’re put in place. I’m not sure, but there may be some kind of magnet that may snap the aids into the slot securely as well.

The induction charging doesn’t require any contact point to transfer the charge, so it should work regardless of the orientation of the charger during transport.

It just requires a 5V source to recharge its internal built-in battery, which is used to charge the aids, so this can be a power bank without having to be plugged into the wall, but it can be plugged into the wall as well. It can do 3 complete charge cycles before needing to have its internal built-in battery to be recharged again.

@Heather_R said:

can the charger itself be charged by a battery bank

I remember reading something on this forum about some battery banks being unsuitable for powering a hearing aid charger (with or without internal battery? not sure) because the charger didn’t draw enough current to activate the battery bank.

@Volusiano said:

Something like the Oticon Smart Charger below has a lid to cover up the top portion so I can’t imagine that the aids can be dislodged once they’re put in place. I’m not sure, but there may be some kind of magnet that may snap the aids into the slot securely as well.

The Oticon device does not seem to have a magnet to hold the aids in place. It does, however have a springy lining in the lid over where the receiver wire comes out of the aid that might help hold the aid in place (I have NOT measured anything - the charger came with my new Real 1 aids that have 85 dB receivers in molds). The instructions say to close the lid during charging.

The Oticon smart charger has a USB-C port - the info plate on the bottom says input of 5 V and 1.0 Amp. I have no idea of the current draw after both the internal battery and aid batteries are charged and I don’t have a way to measure that. The charger has 3 LEDs near the charge port on the back.

Some battery banks can be set such that they do not turn off with very small loads. The disadvantage of that is the bank will discharge itself due to the operation of the internal converter when set that way so you would need to turn it off when done charging.