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Battery life

S

SophiaW

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,015
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
We had our first battery alarm today. I'd noticed the battery icon drop from three bars (full) to two bars over the last couple of days. This morning the school phoned to say the pump was alarming for a low battery, it was down to one bar. I have a question. Once the pump alarms for low battery how long do we have until it goes flat? I went into school straight away and changed the battery but it occured to me that if I hadn't been able to go straight in would the battery have held out for a few more hours?

Also thought I'd mention so that others don't do what I did. On the Animas pump (not sure about others), I changed the battery and the display came back on when I tightened the battery cover. It prompted me to enter what type of battery I had put in and date/time check. The basal and all that seemed to be okay so I left school and Jess went back to class. As I walked into the house the phone rang and it was the school saying that the pump was alarming again. When you change the battery the cartridge needs a full rewind, reload and prime. It doesn't tell you that straight away, it alarms a couple of minutes later by which time I'd already left.
 
Hi,

I am on teh Combo..so it will be differentt, but I carrry round a battery in my emergency spares bag..just in case. Appreiate that while jess is young, and she is at school, you are going to ghave to go in and sort it out.

To be honest, and I guess this is fairly generic...once my battery is anything other than "3 bars" I change it, and was advised to change it every 6 weeks anyway. I guess you know know roughly how long the battery lasts now...so I would make a note to change it, about 2 weeks or so shy of how long this one lasted...if that makes sense? then you can do it at a regular cartridge change and not have to rush off to school.

I don't know how long it last after alarming..I imagine it is like teh fuel gauge in teh car....but I confess that the constant beeping drives me mad, so haven't tested to see what happens. :D
 
I think that's what I'll do, change it for a new one once I notice it drops to two bars.
 
hiya

we changed ours when it reached 2 bars i didnt want to risk leaving it any longer than that but the first 2 bars do take a while to go down so it stays in a while we have done one battery change since having the pump

anna marie
 
I think that's what I'll do, change it for a new one once I notice it drops to two bars.
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Yes I do that. I get 'prescribed' 2 batteries a month and end up with lots of stock. In the early days I had a battery run out on me during a run, it started alarming during the run and by the time I got home all the displays had gone out.
I have a minimed though and all you need to do to change a battery is take the old one out and put a new one in. Much easier it seems.
 
Sound like it should be a case of change the battery at the next cartridge/ set change after it hits two bars then? If your getting a couple of days between two bars appearing and the alarms kicking in it should work out fine...maybe.
 
The manual says that when the alarm sounds you have a minimum of 1 hour left. My husband says he remembers the rep saying that when the battery gets to 2 bars to change it. I guess I forgot her saying that with trying to remember everything else. Also, the manual says that when the battery is changed over it clears the Insulin on Board calculation so be aware of that if you're going to bolus shortly afterwards and you still have active insulin on board.
 
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