question for freedom users

neecy

neecy

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I'm wondering if any of the Cochlear Freedom BTE users have had a similar problem I've been encountering. Three times now the rubber sheathing that covers the wires linking the processor to the transmitter (leading from the coil to the bte itself) has split. Each time I've had to send the coil back to my audie to get replaced. It seems the sheathing is so thin and it can't stand up to more than 6 months of usage before it starts splitting both at the coil end, and at the end linking it to the processor, showing the wires inside.

Has anybody else encountered this issue? Any ideas on how to fix it short of sending them back to my audie every 6 months for a new one (which seems ridiculous - and my warranty wont last forever.)
 
must be quality control issue.. Have you informed Cochlear (not your audie) about this? so they can check into these and probably they can contact your ci center to collect those items if your audie don't bother to send them to cochlear for investigative to beef up quality.

Hope they eliminate the quality defects for good and make it long lasting.
 
Yep. I've had that happen once. Luckily it happened close to the time when I had an appointment with the audie, so she replaced it immediately with a spare one that she already had on hand.

It might be worth writing to them and outlining your concerns? Another idea that my audie had was to possibly wrap some thin, see through tape around it to prevent splitting.
 
I gave them to my Audie, but didn't follow-up with Cochlear itself. I think I'll write them a letter, as something this important should NOT have such a flimsy covering over the wires.
 
had my implant almost a year now and i checked the wires, still looks great. but i did have one problem. the outer peice cracked underneath where you pull out the batteries holder. i just gave it to my audie and got a replacemet in less than a week. i was like wow! then cochlear sent me a tote bag and keychain thingy that helps me with pulling it out easier! i don't have very strong grip in my hand, so it was always a pain in the ass for me lol. i love my little keychain thingy lol. anyone has one?

off topic....do i see a doc for my un-implanted ear weird ringing. it's like short beeps everytime i move my head....getting on my nerves now. could be leftover from a cold maybe?

have a good day!
 
Stacieleigh,

No problems with the coil yet. 3 months with it so far. The paint on the battery chips when dropped. Not going to worry about it. Still works. May try to find some model paint to fix it. We will see.

Yep, non implanted ear noise.
Constant tinnitus normal but not intermittent pops at random times. Don't like it but that's life. I'll be seeing my surgeon probably in the next 6 months and will talk with him about it unless it becomes more difficult to deal with.

Steve
 
it happened to me once.. in 2 years. but the problem i'm always experiencing is that the LED display always fade.. i always have it exchanged.. and it happen again.. am i the only one?

for example it supposed to say "P2" but i see "2" when i change sensitvy i see "1" instead of "11" so its confusing.
 
I've yet to get the battery holder thing but I want to get one. The only other issue I have had is the rubber protective 'insert' that covers the port at the bottom of the BTE (to plug in personal audio cable or tv cable) came off about 3 weeks ago.
 
DeafSCUBA98 said:
it happened to me once.. in 2 years. but the problem i'm always experiencing is that the LED display always fade.. i always have it exchanged.. and it happen again.. am i the only one?

for example it supposed to say "P2" but i see "2" when i change sensitvy i see "1" instead of "11" so its confusing.
Click to expand...

I had 2 do that to me - so far this one (my third) has had no problem with the LED display.
 
DeafSCUBA98 said:
it happened to me once.. in 2 years. but the problem i'm always experiencing is that the LED display always fade.. i always have it exchanged.. and it happen again.. am i the only one?

for example it supposed to say "P2" but i see "2" when i change sensitvy i see "1" instead of "11" so its confusing.
Click to expand...

Yes - I had that problem once too. My audie said it was a common problem with the Freedom - I think my friend also had the same problem. However, Cochlear fixed it with no charge. My audie had a spare speech processor on hand so it was no inconvenience to me.
 
StacieLeigh said:
had my implant almost a year now and i checked the wires, still looks great. but i did have one problem. the outer peice cracked underneath where you pull out the batteries holder. i just gave it to my audie and got a replacemet in less than a week. i was like wow! then cochlear sent me a tote bag and keychain thingy that helps me with pulling it out easier! i don't have very strong grip in my hand, so it was always a pain in the ass for me lol. i love my little keychain thingy lol. anyone has one?

off topic....do i see a doc for my un-implanted ear weird ringing. it's like short beeps everytime i move my head....getting on my nerves now. could be leftover from a cold maybe?

have a good day!
Click to expand...

Is that the blue battery holder? Yes I got that with the package and like it. It makes me feel like that I won't get caught out if I am out somewhere and my batteries run out. I always take my car keys with me wherever I go.

I'd go and see an audie about the non implanted ear to see if anything has changed in terms of hearing levels and they can always refer you to a specialist if needed.
 
Ekk. Wish I didn't read this before my surgery tomorrow, as I'm getting the Freedom & now I'm scared. I don't know if yall remember but at the hospital I'm having my surgery at, they only work with Cochlear Americas and MedEl. They said there was nothing wrong with Advanced Bionics but they choose not to work with that company for now. So if I had wanted an AB, I'd have to wait til I get different insurance which would let me go back to my favorite hospital but that could take years. :( And besides I've kinda been drawn to the Freedom since day one. . . but now I'm lost and confused. . . I'm worried I'm gonna end up crying so much tomorrow and maybe end up yelling "Wait, let's postpone!" but that would just really fucking sucks as I've been looking forward to tomorrow & to activation day, which I am guessing would be June 6th or 7th or June 13th or 14th. I am hoping for the 7th 'cause of my daughter's graduation & honors assembly on the 13th. :]
 
Don't worry about a thing!!! I love my Freedom and I'm sure you will too. Don't think negative! like they says "high hope, low expectation"
Best of luck with your surgery and can't wait to hear of your activation day!

deafmama78 said:
Ekk. Wish I didn't read this before my surgery tomorrow, as I'm getting the Freedom & now I'm scared. I don't know if yall remember but at the hospital I'm having my surgery at, they only work with Cochlear Americas and MedEl. They said there was nothing wrong with Advanced Bionics but they choose not to work with that company for now. So if I had wanted an AB, I'd have to wait til I get different insurance which would let me go back to my favorite hospital but that could take years. :( And besides I've kinda been drawn to the Freedom since day one. . . but now I'm lost and confused. . . I'm worried I'm gonna end up crying so much tomorrow and maybe end up yelling "Wait, let's postpone!" but that would just really fucking sucks as I've been looking forward to tomorrow & to activation day, which I am guessing would be June 6th or 7th or June 13th or 14th. I am hoping for the 7th 'cause of my daughter's graduation & honors assembly on the 13th. :]
Click to expand...
 
Don't let worry get to you - every new product has some "quirks" - the PERFORMANCE of the Freedom has been unbelievable for me. Best of luck with your surgery!!!
 
deafmama78 said:
Ekk. Wish I didn't read this before my surgery tomorrow, as I'm getting the Freedom & now I'm scared. I don't know if yall remember but at the hospital I'm having my surgery at, they only work with Cochlear Americas and MedEl. They said there was nothing wrong with Advanced Bionics but they choose not to work with that company for now. So if I had wanted an AB, I'd have to wait til I get different insurance which would let me go back to my favorite hospital but that could take years. :( And besides I've kinda been drawn to the Freedom since day one. . . but now I'm lost and confused. . . I'm worried I'm gonna end up crying so much tomorrow and maybe end up yelling "Wait, let's postpone!" but that would just really fucking sucks as I've been looking forward to tomorrow & to activation day, which I am guessing would be June 6th or 7th or June 13th or 14th. I am hoping for the 7th 'cause of my daughter's graduation & honors assembly on the 13th. :]
Click to expand...

I agree with the others. The Freedom has exceeded my expectations and the problems I've experienced have been minor and have been addressed very quickly.

I think that it's important to know that no device is perfect and that problems can happen, as with hearing aids. I think that as man made devices go generally, cochlear implants are very reliable on the whole.
 
I love my Freedom. It allows me to do so much. Come to think of it, they still owe me the TV cable. It was back ordered when I received by suite case sized box at activation. Guess I should call for a mapping appointment and ask about the cable as well.

Also, Remember, 99% of the time, you hear the bad and it can be overwhelming. I know this with my job. All I ever hear or have heard in the past 10 years is what is wrong or didn't go right. What we so often forget is how much works right and goes as planned and we rarely talk about those.

For example, I have owned the same TV for the past 8 years and it still works great and hasn't let me down, neither has either one of my vehicles. 191000 miles on a 96 Ford Taurus and 171000 miles on an 04 Chevy Silverado but I rarely talk about how great they are. My 6 year old Refrigerator is another story. What a junky ice maker it has. Never has it worked right since I've owned it. O'well. At least my food is still cold for now.

Remember, on average, a bad experience will be replayed to maybe 10 people and a good experience may travel to one other person.

For me, I'm glad I went with the Freedom because the clinic I go to knows them inside and out but am sure I'd be happy with one of the others as well since all three do basically the same thing in pretty much the same method.
 
Just recently, I had to replace the coil because the wire cover at the end of the plug where it plugs into the BTE started to split. Otherwise, it was fine and I could hear just fine. So, I let my Audi know and quickly came the replacement and I sent the other back (if you don't you will get a bill). ;)

And like deafscuba, I had two LED issues in the beginning and they promptly replaced them. So, far, I hadn't had any problems with the LEDs since then (about 1 1/2 year ago).

I have been getting superb performance from my BTEs as a whole and nothing to complain about.

FYI - In case any sharp eyes amongst you notice, I was in a study for the first six months and used their BTE before getting my silver processor and later my blue one (hence the 1 1/2 year mark even though I was implanted over two years ago).

Update: How one treats one's CI makes a whole lot of difference in how long the parts last...:whistle:
 
I've haven't had the split on the coil cord, but you might want to make sure you aren't twisting it to much when placing it on your head. (that's a suggestion I read somewhere else)

Both of my processors needed to have the bottom part (controller) replaced because they cracked, mine are brown. No problems since they were replaced. If you are out of warrenty the cost to replace a controller is in the thousands.....so if you are still in warrenty always take care of the problem right away.

The led display has not been a problem, now if you ask me about the displays in the phones in my house they are a problem. I jsut thought it might be something in my home causing the displays to go. I had the display on my wrist blood pressure cuff go wacky to. UGH.
 
Ekkk. That makes me wonder how long is warrenty? I've probably been told but I don't remember by now. I don't even now what each of these parts are that you all are talking about. lol. I know my Audi showed me everything on the Freedom, as it is what she had with her when we went in a room to discuss my candidacy and the 2 brands of CI's to choose from since my hospital doesn't work with one of the CI companies at this time. I remember thinking "Wow, I can't believe she's showing me all this now just minutes after finding out that I'm for sure a candidate!" I knew I wasn't gonna remember everything of what's what yet. But I'm not worried, I know she'll be patient and explain what's what on my activation day and I'll ask about warrenty and batteries and so on. I think I'm getting like 300 batteries, or a year's worth? Is 300 a year's worth of batteries?

Can't wait to enjoy my Freedom in a few wks! :)



Both of my processors needed to have the bottom part (controller) replaced because they cracked, mine are brown. No problems since they were replaced. If you are out of warrenty the cost to replace a controller is in the thousands.....so if you are still in warrenty always take care of the problem right away.
 
deafmama78 said:
Ekkk. That makes me wonder how long is warrenty? I've probably been told but I don't remember by now. I don't even now what each of these parts are that you all are talking about. lol. I know my Audi showed me everything on the Freedom, as it is what she had with her when we went in a room to discuss my candidacy and the 2 brands of CI's to choose from since my hospital doesn't work with one of the CI companies at this time. I remember thinking "Wow, I can't believe she's showing me all this now just minutes after finding out that I'm for sure a candidate!" I knew I wasn't gonna remember everything of what's what yet. But I'm not worried, I know she'll be patient and explain what's what on my activation day and I'll ask about warrenty and batteries and so on. I think I'm getting like 300 batteries, or a year's worth? Is 300 a year's worth of batteries?

Can't wait to enjoy my Freedom in a few wks! :)



Both of my processors needed to have the bottom part (controller) replaced because they cracked, mine are brown. No problems since they were replaced. If you are out of warrenty the cost to replace a controller is in the thousands.....so if you are still in warrenty always take care of the problem right away.
Click to expand...

I 'think' she said a controller cost about $2000 or so. (that's the bottom part of the bte) I had been thinking much lower, like around 500....you'd have to ask your audiologist when yo usee her. it hasn't seemed to be a big problem and the company has been replacing the controllers quickly so it's not a big deal. The inplanted part has a 10 yr warrenty? the outer is probably just 1 or 2...someone else will have to answer that since I can't remember. :) it's possible that if you are on some type of gov program they'd replace a nonworking part. Or you could buy insurance, which is something I really should look into now.

enjoy your hearing experience. The turn on is really something. I enjoyed it more 2 weeks later when I got to have 3 different speed programs to decide which I liked better. I seem to perfer 750 hrtz. 900 is ok to. but get much faster then that an there is way to much noise set off. (i keep wondering if some peoples static is what I call the sirens, lol)
 
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