Spare Sonnet 2?

[SarahDunlap]

Does anyone know if it’s possible to buy a spare Sonnet 2 processor in the US? If so, any idea the range in price? I’m just looking does a ballpark if it’s even possible. I had moisture issues this morning that made me nervous (it’s still new-ish) and I’m going to be traveling for extended periods for the rest of this year. I have a spare hearing aid. How do I get a spare Sonnet? I have a Rondo but still I want to know how much it might cost, if it’s even worth looking in to. 

[Mary Beth]

@SarahDunlap

In the US, we can self pay for a processor kit at any time but it is expensive and the warranty period is different.  Your customer service rep can give you the details.

Are you comfortable using your Rondo as a backup processor in the event your Sonnet 2 needs service?

I find it reassuring to have back up items for my Sonnets and when I travel I bring them along.

mic cover

DL cable

battery cover

rechargeable battery adapter or disposable battery frame 

o ring at the base of the control unit (This was never in my kit but after two of them tore and the processors would not work, I bought a few extra.)

I also bring along my Rondo processor just in case.

[Tim]

@SarahDunlap Mentioning moisture problem and @Mary Beth about O-rings reminds me that a Med-El engineer asked me whether I used the dryer for my Sonnet 2 regularly.  I admitted that I didn't and he said that was really beneficial and strongly recommended that it be done every day.

I asked about UV damage to the coil cable with frequent dryer use and he said that he had not heard about any such issues. (I thought that I had heard about this in past but perhaps for a different brand of CI.)

That at least got me wondering whether UV light disinfecting might cause issues for the rubber gasket.  People have reported problems with the O-ring and many forms of rubber can suffer from deterioration due to UV. 

I had an older and more compact dryer/UV from a previous device that I had set out but never used.  I liked that it was smaller than the "saucer" dryer (Dry-Space UV) that came with my Sonnet 2. 

After getting this recommendation, I decided to set up start using the saucer dryer.  There are many variables that might have gone into Med-El's selection of the dryer such as time of UV exposure, UV intensity, maximum temperature, etc. so I figure it is best to use their suggestion.  I like that it seems like Med-El's engineering conservatism seems to really pay off on the battery cycles.  (They gave a conservative estimate in # of charge cycles and found that the actual useful life is much longer as discussed in another HearPeers thread.)

I'm curious though whether the UV might be causing any degradation in the O-rings on the Sonnet.  If people have problems with O-rings, it might be good to know how often they use the UV dryer and which dryer(s) they use. 

 

 

[Mary Beth]

I use Med-El’s recommended dryer (great size for two Sonnets) every night.

[SarahDunlap]

I use the recommended iv drier every night also. Since I had static yesterday (working out, personal training while wearing it), i popped the mic cover off, used a dry pack and put everything in the drier together. I don’t have any issues today, but I’m bringing my Rondo along just in case. I’m constantly knocking Rondo off my head so I rarely use it even though I know it handles moisture so much better. Something about the ear hook w/activity hook keeps things in place when I’m moving around a lot.

22 hours ago, Mary Beth said:

@SarahDunlap

In the US, we can self pay for a processor kit at any time but it is expensive and the warranty period is different.  Your customer service rep can give you the details.

Are you comfortable using your Rondo as a backup processor in the event your Sonnet 2 needs service?

I find it reassuring to have back up items for my Sonnets and when I travel I bring them along.

mic cover

DL cable

battery cover

rechargeable battery adapter or disposable battery frame 

o ring at the base of the control unit (This was never in my kit but after two of them tore and the processors would not work, I bought a few extra.)

I also bring along my Rondo processor just in case.

I haven’t heard of needing an O-ring but that makes sense. My Sonnet is constantly exposed to various conditions due to my work. I have spares of everything else and yes, I can wear Rondo if needed, I was just curious if there was a ballpark figure on what one would cost out of pocket. If it’s$10k I just want to have an idea, that’s all. I can reach out but I didn’t want to make anything official.

(working backwards on this post)