Oticon dome becomes lodged in ear canal

@The_Latinist said:

compared to Li-ion’s 1.2v).

That’s incorrect. The intrinsic operating voltage of a single cell li-ion battery is 3.7 v or greater. Li-ion batteries can also deliver higher current flows on demand than zinc-air. They can also give a more accurate readout of % remaining charge, too. Zinc-air voltage vs. charge discharge curves are unusably flat.

Combining and Charging multiple Lithium Ion Battery Cells (3.6 V or 3.7 Volts)

@jim_lewis said:

Considering the expenses you’ve incurred with lost domes, it would seem reasonable to spring for molds.

I know nothing about this. Please explain about the molds, what they are, and how to get them.

Thanks

@Raudrive said:

You haven’t shared your audiogram. It would help us understand your hearing aid and your dome/mold needs.

Closed domes, and I’m not posting my audiogram on-line (sorry)

@The_Latinist said:

There are many factors limiting the type of battery that can be used, including current demand, minimum voltage, etc

I haven’t looked into the circuitry of these hearing aids, and don’t know if I can without buying schematics (if they are available to a non-pro).

The fact is Oticon marketed rechargeable batteries which cost hundreds of dollars for the charger and batteries and they knew the batteries wouldn’t last all day. Sorry, there is no excuse for that. It’s better not to market them at all if they can’t make them last all day.

So after 10 hours, I have to take the rechargeables out and put a disposable battery in. I don’t care what the voltage of the cell is, or how many amp hours at the expected load or any other specifications. That’s not the issue.

The issue is that Oticon knew the batteries wouldn’t last all day and out of greed sold the rechargers and under-capacity batteries anyway. That is the crime.

Their customer service is nil, basically was “too bad sucker”

It would be like your favorite recording artist releasing CDs or downloads that abruptly end mid-word somewhere about 7/8 through the song.

It’s criminal and I urge everyone to avoid this greedy company who puts profits before people. Oticon - Profits First

Bob

Or they provided a rechargeable battery option that some people wanted with the best battery life that was available and which for many people might be perfectly adequate and you failed to research and adequately understand the battery life you would get in actual use with rechargeable batteries. It took me 10 minutes online before I purchased my Opn aids to realize that rechargeable batteries weren’t adequate for the 18 hrs/day I often wear my aids. Surely an electronics expert such as yourself could have done the same.

@jim_lewis said:

That’s incorrect. The intrinsic operating voltage of a single cell li-ion battery is 3.7 v or greater. Li-ion batteries can also deliver higher current flows on demand than zinc-air. They can also give a more accurate readout of % remaining charge, too. Zinc-air voltage vs. charge discharge curves are unusably flat.

You are right; I mistyped: it is NiMH batteries which have a nominal voltage of 1.2V and are therefore inadequate to power the Opn. Li-ion batteries won’t work because their voltage is far too high and must be downregulated for hearing aid circuitry. They therefore cannot be made into ~1.4v size 312 batteries that are interchangeable with Zn-air batteries. Li-ion rechargeable hearing aids must be made specifically for Li-ion batteries.

@The_Latinist said:

You are right; I mistyped: it is NiMH batteries which have a nominal voltage of 1.2V and are therefore inad

I thought that might be the case. If you look at the PowerOne website, though, they are covering all bases. They sell or manufacture for HA OEM’s zinc-air, NiMH, and Li-ion batteries and give a little blurb (but not very detailed) on the limitations/advantages of each. http://www.powerone-batteries.com/en/products/1

@BobbyBoomer said:

Do you check out everything you buy from a trusted source?

Indeed, I have never made a $6000 purchase without doing extensive research on it and understanding its specs and features and whether they were adequate for my needs.

@davart said:

It’s possible it wasn’t clicked on properly too.

I suspect this was the case for me, as I’d had them off for cleaning just before I had the issue. Sometimes I also find that they can feel like they’ve clicked on but actually be at a slight angle with one edge still off. I’ve been extra vigilant since this incident, of course.

@davart said:

Mine are 312 disposable batteries. I get 9 days each, including streaming 7 hours a day at work.

Really? I get nowhere near that with my Mini-RITEs with a milder prescription than yours. I used to get about 7 days with my Alta2’s before streaming, but that’s down to 3-4 now.

That just goes to show that for some people a rechargeable battery just might be an all-day solution. If you’re getting 9 days from a 170 mAh 312, that’s about 20 mAh a day. A 32 mAh rechargeable AgZn battery should work fine for you.

I have an appointment with the audiologist next week. I’m going to inquire about the molds. If that is a workable solution, I’ll consider it.

These Oticons give me 4 days of charge using disposable batteries. The audiologist said that was normal (that was before I got the charger and rechargeables). She said the new technology “eats batteries for lunch”.

My guess is that the technology that delivers better sound to my ears might be due to a higher sampling rate of the A/D (audio to digital) and then the D/A converters. If anyone knows differently, please correct (I’m always curious).

I know in audio products, higher sample rates render better high frequencies and all other things being equal would probably require more power to operate.

And as far as the rant goes, I wouldn’t continue ranting if some troll wasn’t trying to convince me there is nothing wrong with the design of the hearing aids.

[tlahey1] posted here that Oticon replaced his out of warranty hearing aids and chargers with the new model. I tried going through Oticon for that and they first gave me a form letter that had nothing to do with the question I asked (probably generated by a bot) and then ignored all subsequent emails from me.

@tlahey1 - I had OPN1 rechargeables for over a year and the batteries never lasted for an entire day. It got to where I just started using regular batteries. About 2 months ago my audi got Oticon to give me a free replacement pair of the new OPN S1 rechargeables. The new HAs are excellent. Oticon has changed the battery and the charger. They recognize there was a problem with the old system. Have your Audi talk with an Oticon rep and see if they will replace them.

I’m going to ask my audiologist to see if Oticon will do the same for me. If Oticon replaces these, I’ll let everyone know there is a happy ending and they redeemed themselves. If not, I’m going to have her put the original doors back on and I’ll go back to disposables trashing the planet with used cells and used cardboard and plastic packaging.

Yes the cost of removing the domes is absurd. That’s for-profit medicine for you.

My wife broke her arm in Australia last year. We had no insurance there so we were charged full retail price for an osteopathic surgeon, MD, anesthesiologist, a half dozen nurses, cast, and supplies. Total cost less than $500 US. Yet here in the US it costs +$2K to remove a dome in our emergency room.

When she got back to the USA they did x-rays and said nobody could have done a better job of resetting the bone and putting the proper plate in her wrist.

But that’s another thread.

Back to the domes.

After the first stuck dome (10mm) I made sure that when I did my regular replacement of wax filters and domes that I made absolutely, positively sure that the dome was seated well.

The audiologist’s assistant put an 8mm dome in it, that is a bit too small so I have an extra plastic ‘wire’ to hold the aid in place. This may or may not be the solution but a quick fix until I get to see the audi at my appointment next week.

There are a lot of military people with noise induced hearing loss (mine was allergy induced but with similar results) so if someone could find a way to regrow those hair cells, that person would make tons of money. That’s the up side of for-profit medicine. Hopefully that day will come soon.

Bob

A few years back I lost a dome. I thought it dropped onto the floor. I couldn’t find it. Two months later I went to my primary care doc for my annual checkup. When she looked into my ear she found my missing dome. It was pushed far back by the receiver and replacement dome. She could not reach it with her tweezers.

I went to Costco HA, and they told me that they don’t venture into ears. But they did recommend a nurse practitioner who specialized in cleaning earwax and doing other things with ears. She had the right pliers and popped it out in about 30 seconds.

The morals of this story are:

a) These things probably aren’t going to do a lot of damage if they are in there for a bit. So, there is time to look for a cost-effective practitioner.

b) Keep doing your annual checkups, everybody! You just never know what they are going to find.

Thanks. That’s worth a try.

OK I saw my audiologist today, the appt was delayed due to Dorian.

The solutions:
1a) A slit was cut in the closed dome to keep from creating a suction. I’m not sure if I like this or not. On the way home the radio bounced from ear to ear. I turned the dome around.
1b) Make a mold, which I shall use as a last resort because I don’t know if I want the mold in my ear canal all day
2) A new set of rechargeable batteries. She says they are a little better than the originals (more amp/hours). When these go to where they don’t last all day anymore, I’ll just go back to disposables and trash the planet.

She says the batteries usually last 6 months and cost $65. That’s $130/year. At the rate I go through disposables it would only cost me $42/year. That’s quite a difference.

Plus mining gold for the contact of a battery that lasts only 6 months is not environmentally sound anyway.

I’ll see how the slit works out.

Is there a better choice than Oticon out there?

Bob

I’ve been told that Phonak rechargable batteries last six years.

Hey I’ll let you know how the custom silicone tips do next week then! My aud-guy says you need a tool to remove them, so I think they’d likely stay PUT at the end of the receiver.

re rant # 1, I have had domes stuck in my ear (twice in a year). I have gone to a smaller ear dome and no problems since. However the domes slip out and they do not work as well. I am thinking of getting an ear mold.

Have you tried retention “tails”/concha locks that fit on the wire-end side of the receivers and curl around in the bowl of each ear? They help the receivers stay in place, to some extent, and also give a safe handle to use to pull receivers out of the ear canals. I got used to mine right away, and I had attached them myself by choice (my HAs weren’t dispensed with them).

I ended up getting new hearing aids (Phonak) and got the speaker mounts molded to my ear canal.