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Rechargeable Lumity Life NOT holding its charge anymore

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In reply to @1Bluejay

@1Bluejay said:

I’d just keep the 2nd pair as my identical backup to use like when I turn in the first pair to have the rechargeable battery changed.

Swop using them every month to keep the battery active.

Not using them for 2 or 3 years until the battery needs to be changed in your other pair, means spare pair will likely not turn on and will need a battery change.

GOT IT. Hubs has found that Android 13 is likely not yet rolled out yet for my model of Samsung Flip-4 … yet. So I’ll limp along with the solution here and maybe in a few months things will be better.

I cancelled my appt with audi. Seemed no reason to go there. The answer was HERE (like over and over and over and over again). :face_with_peeking_eye:

In reply to @1Bluejay

It was unlocked. Update showed up automatically in December on both our phones about two days apart. Canada was several weeks behind some other markets. Perhaps try having your phone check for updates if you haven’t already.

Edited

In reply to @WhiteHat

I didn’t read your article carefully down to exactly what every sentence says. I think it’s important to find out by experience what the self-discharge rate is for each type of Li-ion battery is and act accordingly.

Obviously, it’s probably not a good idea to store things like cell phones or hearing aids in a refrigerator but my best experience with long-term preservation of Li-ion batteries is with my Sony camcorder (2009 purchase) and my Nikon DSLR (2006 purchase) batteries. I only use these devices infrequently, about once a month or so when visiting relatives or on a special outing to a nature park, special event, or some such thing. Otherwise, my iPhone works great as a camera or video device.

The Sony camcorder batteries because of a monitoring chip in the battery have a relatively high rate of self-discharge (~20% per month). The Nikon batteries self-discharge very little in storage (a few percent per month). I store both sets of batteries lightly wrapped in plastic sandwich bags in a “security” compartment on my refrigerator door, always at about 50% SOC. The temperature is usually about 42 to 45 deg F inside the compartment as measured with an infrared thermometer gun. I always let the batteries warm up to room temperature to avoid condensation before removing them from the bags after I take them out of the refrigerator door compartment. And to further avoid condensation within the removable drawer of the compartment, I always remove or replace the batteries in the drawer as rapidly as possible before returning the drawer to the refrigerator door.

After ~16 years of storage like this, the Nikon batteries (2 batteries) are rated by the Nikon camera software as ~good as new (I’ve taken less than 10,000 pictures ~evenly divided up between the two batteries). The Sony batteries don’t have a health rating system, but they still hold a good charge at 13 years of age.

So perhaps if one had a set of rechargeable hearing aids that one intended to keep as a backup pair, a similar storage system would work if one were careful to let the ’s warm up in their container before removing them. If one is careful to keep all containers containing liquid closed up in a refrigerator, except for momentary condensation caused by holding a refrigerator door open, the inside of a refrigerator ought to be relatively dry because of the freezer compartment freezing moisture out of the interior air.

The most important point I’m trying to make is be sure to determine the self-discharge rate for any variety of Li-ion battery you want to store. The second thing is a Li-ion battery stores better at a cool temperature above freezing as long as you don’t try to charge it before it warms up (very bad to do). Normally, something like 55 deg F to about 77 deg F is the optimal Li-ion battery charging environmental temperature. Phonak says not to charge the Lumitys at a room temperature above 85 deg F although the specs say that they can be used up to 104 deg C (I don’t think such a high use temperature is good for a long battery lifespan, though).

Relative to the recommendation to cycle a battery every 3 months in the article cite by WhiteHat, I have not done that. The Sony batteries because of their self-discharge and their more frequent use than the Nikon batteries have effectively been cycled between 30% and 50% to 60% SOC every month but the Nikon batteries, which consume very little juice even in use have always been cycled between about 40% and 50% SOC. The article cited by WhiteHat doesn’t define what “cycle” means. One might take it to mean to range between, say, 5% SOC and 100% SOC. To do that wouldn’t be very smart, as that sort of discharge would age the batteries more rapidly. The principal aging mechanism of Li-ion batteries are chemical and structural changes that occur in a battery at extremes of charging (the volume of internal structures changes with SOC and the structures begin to break down with repeated cycling). Staying within a reduced charge range minimizes the structural changes that degrade battery performance. Neither the iPhone nor the Ford F-150 Lightning EV manuals (latter battery ~$20K) state any need to cycle their batteries in storage although both manuals recommend long-term storage of the respective device at 50% SOC.

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