Transear and batteries

[krbonner]

A question for other TransEar users...

My audiologist told me that a battery should last 2 weeks or a little more, and that I'd hear a beeping when the battery is getting low.  My experience so far is that the beeping is nonexisitant and the batteries are consistently lasting 11 days (at which point the thing stops dead in its tracks). 

What's your experience?  I'd appreciate annecdotes to take back to the audiologist when I see her again next week.

Thanks!
Katie

[Boppie]

Katy, I get 20 hours on the Duracell batteries.  When the battery is run down I hear a beep at first when I insert the ear piece.  Then as I wear the run down battery I just notice a rapid decline in volume on 2½ setting.  It is a different signal than the program beep.  I have used a battery tester on the cell right after remove a used one and they always register in the ? area.  I don't know what 2 weeks would mean but I doubt the bone conduction ITC aid like TransEar could last for two weeks of day long wear.

Jeanlea uses a Radioshack brand of cells and commented on their strength.  Maybe she will tell catch this thread.

[Gennysmom]

Katie, mine is the same....I never hear a beep.  I just all of a sudden notice that somethings different.  I usually plug my good ear to see if I can hear the whooshing sound of white noise in the TransEar or not.  My batteries are lasting around 2 weeks, but I don't wear it usually on the weekends...just at work.

[krbonner]

I just checked the brand of my batteries.  They were given to me by my audiologist, and aren't branded.  But I know they've been lasting 11-12 days.  I've been experimenting with my iPod (if I hold an ear bud up to just the TransEar, I can hear the music clearly - it's amazing!) daily just to check battery duration and strength.  It works great up to day 10 or 11, and then it's dead the next day with no warning beep.

I wear it most waking hours most days (I forget or skip it 1-2 times/week for parts of the day). 

I know Kathleen also got her TE fairly recently.  Do you think there's been a change in the product that has affected the battery life?

Katie

[Boppie]

Words are tough!  I mean to say I only get a beep telling me the battery is bad when I insert the unit for the day.  Thereafter, the bad battery continues to try to function and decline.  The beep doesn't repeat itself.  I only get one notice a day (at morning insertion time)

20 hours is disappointing though.  I keep thinking about the hard of hearing who need to change two batteries so often.  Not surprising they toss them in the drawer.  WE need a better battery.

[Gennysmom]

Boppie, do you wait till it's in to turn up the volume?  Maybe that's why we're not hearing it.  I get the volume set and then put it in.   That volume switch is nice, when it gets to crowded/noisy for me I just turn it down till I'm out of that situation.  It's real easy to use!

[Boppie]

I set the volume to 2½ and then insert the canal piece.  I will hear the beep immediately if the battery is too low.  Sometimes I just take it back out and use my tester on it to make sure.  I know I won't hear much that day unless I just put a new battery in.  Since I don't use my TransEar for a work day, I know my wearing times will be 2 to 3 hours for most days.  I get about 5 days out of the battery about 20-22 hours at most.

On occassion I will turn the aide up to 3 and the battery goes down much faster.

It would be interesting to hear what others do. 

I leave my battery in the slot, open the battery door and put all of it in the Dry And Store box.  On warm days I will run the Dry and Store for the full 8 hours.

[Gennysmom]

Hmmm....I have never heard a beep.  I keep my Transear on about 3.  I haven't been keeping track of battery life, but I seem to be going about 2 weeks of about 12 hours a day.   those are from the batteries I got at the Audiologist, and it looks like they are Rayovac....I cut up the package to fit in the little case, so I'm not sure on that.  I put mine in the dry and store when I get home at night, so it runs the whole cycle. 

Funny side note, I'm still having trouble remembering to put it in in the mornings, as it's the last thing I do before I leave.  This morning my other half was saying something to me from the laundry room, and I had to ask 3 times "what"?  He was saying "where's the scoop?"  and all I got out of it was "in the stingle".   What the heck is a stingle?  ha ha ha.  This was just before we were leaving and after I finally heard him, he goes "Go put your TransEar in".  He knew I didn't have it. 

[krbonner]

I've never heard any sort of beep either.  Boppie - how does your unit know that it's being inserted to beep at you?  I'm looking at mine, and I can't figure out how it would tell the difference between being in my ear, in the carry case, or left on the counter?  Very curious...  Maybe these things have more AI than I give them credit for!   

Katie

[Boppie]

Okay, I'll report back to tell you more at the end of the week.  I turn it on, set the volume and insert in one movement.  I always use the auragel...

...Running a test.   Putting in a fresh battery today and logging my hours.  I'll post here.  ...later

[krbonner]

There must be something different.  I don't "turn on" my TransEar.  It's always on.  When I take it out at night, I just turn the volume all the way down.  The only way to completely turn it off is to remove the battery.

I'm finding this a fascinating discussion.

Katie

[Boppie]

A slight and almost imperceptible bump or "click off" point exists at the lowest end of my volume scale.  My audio mentioned that taking the battery out was an easier method to turn off and perhaps esier on the equipment.  She said the off on switches are the mechanics that break first on these small instruments.  But perhaps this on/off step is where I am getting the beep.  My TransEar is an early TransEar I version 2006 including the hard wire connector.  A  month or two later the newer TransEar II (2007) came out.  Perhaps the switch was found to be redundant.  More later.

[krbonner]

OMG!  I just figured out how to turn the unit off!  Thank you, Boppie!  Maybe that will give me the low battery beep when it powers up now.

I'll have to tell that to my audiologist - she told me there wasn't a way to turn it all the way off.  But even with not turning it off, the battery has been lasting almost two weeks before it stops working. 

"Learn something new every day" (to quote the PBS Kids intro to "Curious George"  which I'm quite familiar with!)

Katie

[Joef]

I have the same thing with the BAHA ... sliding the volume until it goes off...

the thing I hate is the feedback I get when touching it (adjusting the volume) .. and of course its these movable things that break ...

I hope that someday , there are no moving parts .. there should be a seperate blue-tooth credit card shaped remote the that controls volume and on/off .. that way it does not have to be small ..(and expensive!) and since its bluetooth enabled -- it works great with cell phones -- why has nobody thought of this !!!

[Jeanlea]

An interesting conversation.  I'll have to add my two cents.  I wear my TransEar all day for about 15 hours.  It might be a little less on the weekends.  I have been keeping the volume at about 3 now.  My batteries (Radio Shack brand) last about 8 days.  My aid will beep when the battery is getting low.  It beeps about three times in a row approximately every 30 minutes or so until the battery finally dies.  I'm not sure exactly how long, but maybe a half day.  If it's not real quiet I don't even hear it.  I'm at the point now where I sort of expect it and so am more aware of the beeping. 
I put my Trans Ear in the Dry and Store every night with the battery door open.  I don't change the volume. 
On a side note, I forgot to put in my TransEar last Sunday when I went out for breakfast and grocery shopping.  I was having such a difficult time with hearing that I wanted to have a temper tantrum in the store.  lol  Just when I think it's not doing much, I don't wear it and realize it really does add a lot to my hearing.

Jean