Max rechargeable batteries with Sonnet?

[Hilary Beaumont Brown]

Anyone here used the new Max rechargeable batteries with a Sonnet 1?
 

I just ordered 4 and new covers for my Sonnet 1 and Sonnet 2. Work fine on my Sonnet 2 but none work on my Sonnet 1. But my old rechargeables DO work on my Sonnet 1 so that leads me to think it's not something up with my processor... but I'm at a loss. All the other rechargeable batteries were interchangeable between the Sonnets and there's nothing on the ordering website indicating that the new Max batteries are just for Sonnet 2s. I'm stumped!
 

I have emailed Union Hearing (my local Sonnet retailer) but just curious if anyone else has experience.

[Enegra]

That is a really strange issue. What happens if you switch the battery adapter between the processors? Could it be that the old adapter might not work with the new batteries?

[Mary Beth]

@Hilary Beaumont Brown

I tagged you where this was discussed and a solution was found.  They do work with Sonnet 1 but obviously something is amiss.

[Hilary Beaumont Brown]

Okay. So it is the battery adapter- the Sonnet 2 adapter on the Sonnet 1 works with the Max and the Sonnet 1 adapter does NOT work with the Sonnet 2 with the Max. BUT the Sonnet 1 adapter still works with the old batteries. I've not seen info from others or on the website that I'd need a new adapter though- just new covers which I did buy.

[Hilary Beaumont Brown]

2 minutes ago, Mary Beth said:

@Hilary Beaumont Brown

I tagged you where this was discussed and a solution was found.  They do work with Sonnet 1 but obviously something is amiss.

Thanks will go check it out!

[Enegra]

Glad you got the problem narrowed down, that should help your Med-El retailer with responding to it accordingly. I was thinking that maybe the old adapter is a little bit strict about the voltage that might be different with the new battery. Just a speculation from me as an engineer. I don't think it is an intended behaviour, but probably not much you can do other than ordering a replacement if the part is out of warranty.

[Hal in Maryland]

Have you tried switching the Rechargeable battery adapters R with L and see if the problem stays with the adapter or with Sonnet 1. 
I am using Max batteries in my Sonnet 2 processors. They last all day. By evening, I swap for regular rechargeables. 

[Mary Beth]

@Hal in Maryland

How many hours are your rechargeable MAX batteries lasting in your Sonnet 2?

[Hal in Maryland]

50 minutes ago, Mary Beth said:

@Hal in Maryland

How many hours are your rechargeable MAX batteries lasting in your Sonnet 2?

Hi @Mary Beth. My Right Sonnet 2 uses more power than the Left.  Right lasts about 10 hours, Left about 12 hours. This is great. It allows me to drive a long distance without worrying about changing batteries. Using AudioLink, I get less time as BT uses a lot of power.

 

[Mary Beth]

Thanks @Hal in Maryland

[Hal in Maryland]

@Hilary Beaumont Brown When I first got the Max batteries, one didn't seem to work. I swapped the RBA with one I had in the rechargeable battery kit I got for my Sonnet 1.  It's not a matter of voltage; both are the same so I assume the RBA just didn't make a solid connection with the battery. Now, my Left Sonnet 2 is using the RBA that came with my Sonnet 1. I hope this will help isolate your issue.

[Ricky]

I have been using the battery max for a week now. They didn’t work until I accidentally discovered something that caused them to work. In the morning I would connect battery to the processor and hook them to my head, leave it. It will turn on after a few minutes. Just be aware of sudden noise if you are busy doing something, you’d get startled. 
 

I was getting frustrated at first because the office told me something that didn’t make sense to me. After a few times of trying, I left the processor on my head so in a few minutes it turned on. Not exactly ideal but that’s how I’m doing it now. Lasted all day long. No more changing batteries midway throughout the day. 
 

I’m using Sonnet 1

[Hal in Maryland]

I'm using Sonnet 2 processors. When I connect the Max battery to the processor, I wait until the light on the processor flashes, then I put it on my head.

Maybe Sonnet 1 behaves differently.  Good luck!

[Mary Beth]

@Ricky

Batteries should turn the processors on as soon as they are attached.  
 

We should not have to wait minutes for the processors to power up.  And the processors should turn on even when they are not on our head.

[Tim]

I've never noticed a significant difference in the time for the processors to turn on between Rondo 3 and Sonnet 2 (with either Audiostream or Max Batteries).

Perhaps there is a difference but if so it, it wasn't noticeable for me.   @Hal in Maryland must have more patience than I do. 🙂 I don't bother waiting for the lights, once I turn it on (R3) or slide sleeve on (S2), I place it on my head and move on to the next thing in the morning.

[Ricky]

4 hours ago, Mary Beth said:

@Ricky

Batteries should turn the processors on as soon as they are attached.  
 

We should not have to wait minutes for the processors to power up.  And the processors should turn on even when they are not on our head.

Tell Med El, I didn’t make the batteries.

[Mary Beth]

@Ricky

We can ask @MED-EL Moderator if they have any suggestions for why a Sonnet 1 would take several minutes after the battery cover is closed to power on when using the rechargeable MAX battery.  Hopefully they can help.

[Dianna]

I have been using battery max, max cover and sonnet2. Its the first thing on in the am, last thing off in the pm.  Occasionally, i might need an hour or so on my regular battery, especially if i have streamed from audio stream or not Maybe a second delay, not a minute or two. Some part is not working 😕 

[MED-EL Moderator]

Hello everyone, thank you for tagging us. We have discussed this issue with our product experts and recommend trying to attach and de-attach the Battery Max Cover a few times to activate it. 

Please let us know if this helps.

Kind regards,
Gordana

[Mary Beth]

@Ricky

Right before the small o-ring on my Sonnet 1 tore, my Sonnet was not starting up correctly.  Once that o-ring tore, it was easy to see what the problem was and replacing that o-ring solved the problem.  It also made me realize that I needed to have spare o-rings for whenever this happens again.  
 

Just sharing in case this happens to you as well.

Follow this link for pics and the post about Sonnet o-rings

 

[David]

@Mary Beth

I also stock spare o-rings.

[Julian]

Hi there, I apologize for bumping this topic, but I recently had similar issues after recently buying MAX batteries. I've been using my older standard batteries for around 6+ years, and they've started to suffer through battery degradation, so I got them replaced with new Max batteries plus a new battery cover to fit them. When they arrived, I ran into similar problems where the eventual solution was to wait up to 30 minutes for the cochlear to turn on, but since then it's recently had problems where it would randomly shut off for no reason. The most recent of which happened last night, and since then No amount of fidgeting or hodge podge maintenance has seemed to do anything to fix this problem. My income isn't very high, so I can't just get replacements or schedule an appointment to get this fixed. Is there anything further I can try to do to fix this, or will I need to downgrade to my failing batteries and hope I get enough money to buy a SONNET 2, since it appears this problem is localized to the SONNET 1?

[Mary Beth]

@Julian

The processor should always turn on immediately and if it does not, there is a problem.  Since you recently bought the MAX batteries and battery cover, they should be under warranty.  Med-El US is great with customer service under warranty.  Just contact them via email or  phone.  Hopefully this will be a quick and easy fix.  Keep us posted.

[Hal in Maryland]

Hi @Julian, 

Since your profile does NOT indicate if you have binaural Cochlear implants or just one, let me ask:

If Binaural, are both Sonnet 1s? If you only have one processor, is it Sonnet 1?

When the Processor does NOT start with the Max battery, have you tried a "standard" battery? Either cover works with standard battery.

The "rechargeable battery adapter" is the same for sonnet 1 and Sonnet 2. If the standard battery works but the MAX does not, try wiping down the battery contacts.

Mine (2 sonnet 2s) start up after about 2 seconds. Occasionally, when the Processor does NOT start up with the max battery, I re-seat the adapter and clean the battery contacts. That always does the trick. I don't understand the 30 minute wait for the processor to turn on.

Every once-in-a-while, my processor turns off for no obvious reason. I open the battery cover then close it and it always starts up.

Your profile says you're in the US. Check if your health insurance will pay for an upgrade as it has been more than 5 years with your current processors.  If you're old enough to have Medicare, Medicare may pay for the upgrade.

I hope this helps.

[Julian]

7 minutes ago, Hal in Maryland said:

Hi @Julian, 

Since your profile does NOT indicate if you have binaural Cochlear implants or just one, let me ask:

If Binaural, are both Sonnet 1s? If you only have one processor, is it Sonnet 1?

When the Processor does NOT start with the Max battery, have you tried a "standard" battery? Either cover works with standard battery.

The "rechargeable battery adapter" is the same for sonnet 1 and Sonnet 2. If the standard battery works but the MAX does not, try wiping down the battery contacts.

Mine (2 sonnet 2s) start up after about 2 seconds. Occasionally, when the Processor does NOT start up with the max battery, I re-seat the adapter and clean the battery contacts. That always does the trick. I don't understand the 30 minute wait for the processor to turn on.

Every once-in-a-while, my processor turns off for no obvious reason. I open the battery cover then close it and it always starts up.

Your profile says you're in the US. Check if your health insurance will pay for an upgrade as it has been more than 5 years with your current processors.  If you're old enough to have Medicare, Medicare may pay for the upgrade.

I hope this helps.

I use a single SONNET 1 Cochlear, yes. I've also tried using the standard battery, but the cochlear won't turn on unless I use my older AudioStream battery cover, which isn't large enough to fit the MAX batteries.

When I initially called Med-el back when I got the products, they sent in a replacement package to see if it was faulty parts, then recommended I try cleaning the 4 strips on the back. I did also clean out the battery contact bits.

I'll give everything a reclean when I get home from work to see if that works.

I should also note when I did have it briefly turn off for a bit, I usually had it fixed by fidgeting and lightly squishing the battery cover around, although I haven't found anything consistent to tell what exactly the issue could be, and it unfortunately isn't fixing the issue currently.

Regarding having medical insurance replace it, there's a bit of a lengthy off topic story regarding that, but the tldr is that chances are very low for me to get any insurance coverage on a upgrade. That's an issue for me to work out on my own though.

I'll let y'all know when I get home and clean these out, and see if that fixes the issue or if there's something else going on.

Admittedly my main frustration is that this problem seems difficult to understand, as there's no cues to tell me if it's dirty, something's loose, or if it's connecting too tightly or loosely. If I can't figure it out by Monday, I'll give Med-el a call (I can't currently anyways cause Double shift weekend at work, yahoo). Thank you all for the quick responses though, I'll get back to you all soon as I can.