Replacing rechargeable batteries in Oticon More

@drdigital1 said:

My audiologist is pretty good but she charged me for the new batteries (

What was the approximate price?

Lithium rechargeable batteries for systems like phones and hearing aids come pre-equipped with a battery management system for preventing overcharging and over-discharging.
This takes the form of a tiny silicon chip which is part of the physical battery package.
(I took apart the battery of a Widex DEX accessary and found the chip between the outside terminals and the chemical battery).
Older battery types like Nicad, NiMH and Zinc-power come as just a simple chemical battery with no smart control system stored in a silicon chip.
The silicon chip has firmware (permanent programming) so it can store data and thus record each battery charging session. The HA programming software can communicate with the silicon chip and reset the data on the chip back to “start”/zero.
Each HA manufacturer thus has the option to decide what the firmware program on the silicon chip does, so they have the capability of ensuring that only batteries made by them can be used when replacing rechargeable batteries - the HA programming software can check to see if the firmware program on the silicon chip says it is made by the HA manufacturer…
My guess is that the Orticon HA programming software takes the battery number that the audiologist inputs and asks the silicon chip in the battery “Does this number match the number stored inside you?”. If not, then the HA programming software may refuse to work with the hearing aid as it is using a non-legit battery.
As older battery types did not have this chip, it was viable to use cheaper 3rd party batteries when replacing a battery.
FYI, Makita power tool batteries have a similar battery management system which is why their batteries can tell you how much charge is left before you bore a hole in wood.

@paul.cleary.nz: What excellent, valuable information you’re providing to us Forum members! Outstanding!

Thank you very much for this!

$65 for 2 batteries. Based on what I’ve read, the price is reasonable. But I’m confused about the “3 year warranty” comment.

@drdigital1 said:

$65 for 2 batteries. Based on what I’ve read, the price is reasonable. But I’m confused about the “3 year warranty” comment.

I was simply saying that if your hearing aids come with a 3 year warranty (like most do), you should be able to ask your HCP to replace them with brand new ones if they’re broken.

Now even if they’re not broken, it seems like it’s a normally accepted practice that HA mfgs accept warranty claims from the HCP on behalf of the user and are willing to give users a completely new replacement of the hearing aids (and assumably their batteries included) shortly before the 3 year warranty is up.

I’m only aware of this when my HCP approached me and asked if I wanted to get new replacements for my OPN 1s about 1 month before my warranty was up. In my particular case, I did have some issue with one of my OPN 1s about a month prior to that and already asked my HCP to replace them with brand new ones under warranty, so I found it unnecessary to get them replaced again just a month later, so I opted out.

I have to assume that maybe not all HCPs proactively do this like mine does. Perhaps with some, they wouldn’t do it unless you ask them, and maybe even go as far as require that there is an actual issue with your HAs. But I was surprised at how my HCP made the process seem so easy and was even proactive about reminding me that my 3 year warranty was coming up. I have to believe that the HA mfgs don’t really frown on this practice, even if they don’t officially sanction it.

Having said all this, if your More 1s were under warranty when their batteries went bad, I wonder why your HCP made you pay for them and not cover it under warranty instead?

Maybe just the HAs have a 3-year warranty and the batteries don’t.
Given what you’re saying, I should probably do something about the HAs before the 3 years go by. I’ll discuss with the audiologist

I would ask your HCP where in the purchase contract it says that the More batteries are excluded from the 3 year warranty. If it’s not explicitly stated so in your purchase contract, then it should be covered as part of the warranty.

@ziploc: If you’ll remember, my first set of More1 batteries gave up the ghost after only 8 months of use (although I did let them get below 5% charge on 2 occasions).

The front-end girl spoiled the first set of replacements by putting OpnS batteries into the Mores. The audi, himself, replaced and recalibrated the third pair if batteries almost a year ago, and they’re still going strong.

My average daily use is over 17 hours.

It seems like a good strategy to combat this issue is that whenever you have a break during the day, preferably in the early to late afternoon, when you don’t really need the hearing aids, to just flop them into the charger for 15-30 minutes to replenish it to guarantee that you won’t run the risk of draining it too low should you need to use more juice than usual that day.

Volusiano suggestion of charging the batteries for 15-30 minutes during the day is sound indeed.
I am bothered though by the possibility that the life of the battery can be cut from 3+ years to 1 just because the user drained them too much a few times. This seems very “unforgiving” e.g., a Lithium battery in a cell phone doesn’t behave that way.

Usually, the 1-time loss/damage replacement is not free even though it’s covered under the warranty. At least from my purchase, the 1-time loss/damage replacement would cost me $300 for each hearing aid replacement. But it’s stipulated clearly that it’s going to be $300/each to replace due to loss/damage.

If I were you, I would insist on not having to pay for the rechargeable batteries because they’re part of the whole system and there’s no explicit exclusion stated. But since you already paid and it’s only $65, you may decide that it’s not worth the hassle to bring it up… unless/until it happens again and then you’ll have to fork out another $65 because you’ve accepted their precedence by paying for it before.

If I remember correctly, someone on this forum was trying to ask to see if they could switch to a disposable battery version due to the very issue you’re experiencing, but without much luck. It might even be Jim here (@SpudGunner). I think in his case, the disposable battery version wasn’t available yet so he didn’t really have a choice when he got his More 1 in the first place.

I wonder if the disposable version is cheaper simply because you don’t need a charger and rechargeable batteries.

It costs me about $32/year for disposable batteries for an average of 4 day use per set. If the rechargeables can last me about 2 years at the cost of $65/pair, then cost-wise, it’s about the same either way. Then I’d rather use the rechargeable instead for the convenience of not having to keep disposables around with me and not having to change out batteries in the middle of the day. But that’s just me.

The More1 aids cost the USA VA just under $500 each. To be honest I don’t mind the rechargeable aids but if the VA had given me the choice I would have chosen the disposable batteries too.

@cvkemp said:

if the VA had given me the choice I would have chosen the disposable batteries too.

@cvkemp: Chuck, when the Canadian Forces starts issuing rechargeable rifle scopes, maybe I’ll feel 92% comfortable with the technology and sign up for rechargeable hearing aids, too!

I got my aids before the disposable ones had been released