I keep my hearing aids in the charger and last night I saw the right hearing aid’s LED blinking indicating it was charger which is strange since they have been in the charger for several days. Well, this morning the right aid is dead! As per instructions, I reset the charger which didn’t work. The charger is working fine. So then I tried resetting the hearing aid but it didn’t respond, battery is DEAD! Called Costco and she said they will have to send it off to replace the battery with a turn around time of a week.
Yikes, that is alarming! One thing I wonder about, is it ok to leave the in the charger overnight every night, or, in this case, for several days. The general wisdom with computers and phones is not to overcharge them, and even, not to fully charge them, as it wears the battery down faster. Apple still said this recently.
But when I asked about it here, people said that it wasn’t true with HAs now. But I still wonder. It would be good to ask Jabra.
I asked the same question with the audio tech at Costco, and she said it was perfectly fine to leave them in the charger saying once charged the go into a sleep state.
Today’s are supposed to protect themselves against overcharging. At the same time, is it waise not to wear them everyday? Also, QC processes can’t prevent every failure.
Philbob57, as a retired It analyst with a background in engineering I agree with you. My hearing isn’t very bad, and I usually wear the aids when I attend meetings or socials. As for the batteries I have a cabinet full of 18650 lithium-ion batteries. I found there is a wide variation of internal resistance of the batteries even from the same batch.
People tend to think that the charging process is managed by the charger in modern tech devices. This is used to be the case in the past but not now for most devices (This is based my experience as an engineer and product manager working in tech in Silicon Valley).
For most modern tech devices, the charging process is handled automatically. They use built-in algorithms designed by engineers to optimize battery life based on factors like usage patterns, battery age, and hardware needs. These systems are pretty advanced and far more effective than anything a user could manage manually.
What can the user do to improve battery life:
(1) Try to keep the battery from dropping below 10%, as deep discharges can put a lot of strain on its internal components and speed up chemical wear.
(2) Avoid high temperatures.
(3) In some cases, charging devices to 100% can have an impact. Modern algorithms use trickle charging to safely reach full capacity without issues. That’s why when charging a Tesla, the first 80% fills up quickly, but the process slows down significantly afterward.
So you can’t overcharge a battery (good modern devices).
If you are going to store them, they self-discharge due to internal chemical reactions so it is a good idea to keep the battery between 50% and 80%.
Use your when you need them and let the algorithms handle the rest—they’re here to serve you, not the other way around.
EDIT: Some say 10%, others say 15%—it’s not a number set in stone.
What can the user do to improve battery life:
(1) Try to keep the battery from dropping below 10%, as deep discharges can put a lot of strain on its internal components and speed up chemical wear.
(2) Avoid high temperatures.
(3) In some cases, charging devices to 100% can have an impact. Modern algorithms use trickle charging to safely reach full capacity without issues. That’s why when charging a Tesla, the first 80% fills up quickly, but the process slows down significantly afterward.
So you can’t overcharge a battery (good modern devices).
If you are going to store them, they self-discharge due to internal chemical reactions so it is a good idea to keep the battery between 50% and 80%.
Use your HAs when you need them and let the algorithms handle the rest—they’re here to serve you, not the other way around.
“What can the user do to improve battery life:
(1) Try to keep the battery from dropping below 10%, as deep discharges can put a lot of strain on its internal components and speed up chemical wear.
(2) Avoid high temperatures.
(3) In some cases, charging devices to 100% can have an impact. Modern algorithms use trickle charging to safely reach full capacity without issues. That’s why when charging a Tesla, the first 80% fills up quickly, but the process slows down significantly afterward.
So you can’t overcharge a battery (good modern devices).
If you are going to store them, they self-discharge due to internal chemical reactions so is a good idea to keep the battery between 50% and 80%.
Use your when you need them and let the algorithms handle the rest—they’re here to serve you, not the other way around.”
@OcramSagev Thank you very much!! That clarifies the issue!! I didn’t know that letting the battery go below 10% was bad for the battery. It sure would be helpful if the manufacturers let us know this.
What you see as 0-100% might not be 20-80% for the actual battery though - so the aid/charger IS actively managing this kind of function through the firmware inside the device. This is what modern electical engineering is about in the industry - making the aid use the power as sparingly as possible whilst controlling the discharge cycle.
Yes, they usually are. Unfortunately in many case as in hearing aids the device must be sent back to the company to replace the battery, which means down time of a week or more. For me, I am not hearing aid dependent and doesn’t cause any major problems.
I learned exactly what you wrote when I inquired why my Apple computer rarely charges past 80%. An Apple engineer (ten steps beyond Apple Support people) explained that the device “learns” how much usage is spent with the computer on the charger and how much off. It adjusts charging percent to optimize battery life.
I did experiment a bit. When using the computer to < 5% battery, the unit then charged to 100% after doing the 5% several times. It learned that I stay off charger for long periods, so it gave me more battery percentage. After going back to normal use (on charger most of the day), the computer went back to ca. 80%. Really smart of Apple to do this and save the batery.
For my Signia, the audiologist recommended leaving them on the charger when not in use because the devices will stop the charging when optimal level is reached. Signia also wrote what OcramSaveg mentioned about long term storage: Keep them between 50 and 80%.
Also note that the audiologist practice will give loaners if the device has to go in for service. They program the loaner to your programming. No charge.
I have not seen any claims from manufactures that they truly have smart charging. Can someone give me a link to such? A smart charger should have the option to shut off before HA hit 10-20%. All these could be optional for those that don’t need every last drop of run time.
If they have it, surely it would be part of marketing claim as this would sell more products.
Says: No hearing‑aid manufacturer today offers true smart charging — meaning adaptive, battery‑health‑optimized charging that stops at 70–80%, learns your schedule, delays charging overnight, or dynamically adjusts charge ceilings. None of the major brands (GN/ReSound/Jabra, Phonak, Oticon, Widex, Starkey, Signia) implement anything close to this.
AI many times is wrong and I hope they are here. Both Edge and Chrome AI say similar.
Wales, UK