There are quite a number of hearing aid model where opening and closing the battery door is the only way to turn them off and on. I have not had any battery door wear problems on my CIC’s.
But to turn them on and off, you don’t have to fully open the battery draws unlike when changing the batteries.
It’s up to you to decide. I originally thought it was to much trouble, but then just got in the habit of taking the batteries out every night. The battery door really gets no more wear and tear that it would if you just opened the door to turn the HA’s off, since it is still pivoting on the two pins on the door.
Partial, or full, it matters not one bit. My last CIC, had for 8 years, I pulled it out of my ear by the battery door every night. Never wore out.
They are still Rayovacs. Shoot, do the math and figure out where you get the best deal and do it. I work in the town where thy make the batteries. People that work there constantly inform me that our prices are too low. Just another perspective.
I am a newbie to hearing aids Kirkland Signature 5.0. I find the first day of use of new battery is good. The following day until end of life, approximately 5 days, it doesn’t seem as effective. Anyone notice this? Thanks
I don’t know beans about Costco brand hearing aids, but I do know digital is digital, it either works or it doesn’t, unlike analog, which slowly degrades as the battery does.
I find that the Costco batteries, which I think are re-branded Rayovacs, don’t last as long when I do a fair amount of streaming. They seem to hit a point where they drop streaming but continue to power the aid a day or so sooner than the no-name batteries I bought from eBay. I get about 4 days out of Costco 312s, and 5 to 7 out of other brands, all other things being equal.
All batteries will die sooner using streaming.
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No kidding. But you missed the point. The Costco branded Rayovac batteries drop streaming sooner than other batteries, but continue to support the hearing aid operation except for streaming, and for a shorter period of time than other batteries. And the real point is that they degrade, and as they degrade they affect the overall operation of the instrument. Your point was digital is digital and it either works or it doesn’t, and I’m calling BS on that.
I have little experience with streaming in an aid, but I suppose its possible that streaming has a higher voltage cut-off point than the aid, or its higher current draw pulls the voltage down until it is stopped. But, as far as what the aid is designed for, outside of this relatively new streaming nonsense, a battery will work until it dies in a digital aid. The sound quality or the amp level will not degrade, it will work until it hits the low voltage cut-off.
Just a tiny nit-pick, the Costco 312 batteries fall out of my KS5s all too easily, which can be a problem at night. Vernier calipers measure 7.78mm battery diameter and the holder is larger at 7.8mm - clearly the source of the problem. However, Rayovac specs its 312s at 7.9mm !?! (too big) while iCellTech specs theirs at 7.78mm…
Some questions:
Do other KS5 owners have this battery fall-out problem?
Could it be that the Costco batteries are sourced from iCellTech, rather than Rayovac?
If I routinely opened the battery doors completely, the batteries might fall out. I only open the doors to the first detent unless I am changing the batteries.
I had some problems with some DOA Costco batteries. Now I wonder if they were just too short to make a connection. I was also having some problems with some batteries not lasting very long, like 1 day, and some batteries not strong enough to use for bluetooth. Some would also drop out of bluetooth connections but still run the hearing aid for another day. I switched to Power One, bought from the forum owner (Local Battery) and I am much happier with those batteries.
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I had some problems with some DOA Costco batteries. Now I wonder if they were just too short to make a connection. I was also having some problems with some batteries not lasting very long, like 1 day, and some batteries not strong enough to use for bluetooth. Some would also drop out of bluetooth connections but still run the hearing aid for another day. I switched to Power One, bought from the forum owner (Local Battery) and I am much happier with those batteries.
I’ve experience similar issues with the Costco batteries. The ZeniPower or PowerOne batteries seem to last longer overall than the Costco batteries.
PowerOne 312 batteries spec at 7.9mm. Do they fit snugly in the KS5?
Localbattery.com price is $23.90 / 60…
As usual I am delighted with this forum and its ability to cut my learning curve. Glad to see such detailed information and the potential negative consequences of such small differences in specs.
Just for confirmation, I called Ray-O-vac to ask how both they and Costco can claim to have the longest lasting hearing aid batteries, and was surprised to hear them admit that they private label the Costco batteries and that they are exactly the same as their Ray-o-vac branded batteries.
The PowerOne batteries do NOT fit snugly. They fall out easily. They measure exactly the same as the Costco batteries: 7.78 mm. Several websites that post the dimensions of hearing aid batteries are dead wrong about the specifications of different battery makes. 
I tried the Power One’s and they fit my Linx perfectly. I’m just not convinced that they are any better than the Costco batteries. I’d like to be, but I didn’t get more days out of them than the others. I also tried other brands but don’t find any difference. Personally, I’d pay more to change them less but so far, haven’t noticed any difference.