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Is My Sd Code Free Dying

lucylocket61 said:
I test several times a day, up to 6 times, so i think maybe i have been lucky with this meter?
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Yes, or maybe the manufacturer has changed their design now, or changed suppliers, so may be yours has a better quality component in it. Mine is nearly 4 years old now, and I test around about 6 a day too for DVLA requirements, I also parallel test with another meter on all readings and have clocked up over 1000 days doing this. My other meter is not showing any forgetfullness except when the battery conks out, but I did change it two years ago when the CCG's stopped supporting my Abbott meter so it is not as old as my SD.
 
lucylocket61 said:
can you just clarify? are you saying that, if someone were testing 6 or 7 times a day, this meter chips is only made to last 6 months? that seems odd, given that it has a 12 month guarantee and is made to be used by all types of diabetics.
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Technically that could be the case, but there are ways the manufacturer can extend life, The write cycle limitation is a specification / certification limit, but is what it is guaranteed to meet and is a minimum. Most chips will last longer since it is a statistcal thing and depends on the quality of their production line when making the chips.

I designed aircraft computers, and we had to do a load of analysis on all our components so that we could guarantee a unit life of 20 years. So that is what we did in the military field using expensive components, but an SD meter is using the cheapest ones they can get away with, so they will probably struggle to meet the 1 year warranty period. My computers cost the customer tens of thousands of pounds each, and how much is a Codefree? Big difference.

Edit to add: If your meter stores the last 100 readings, say, then it will be some time before it starts to overwrite the locations, so it is not so simple, but something like a timer will probably overwrite every time the meter is turned off and on again so it may be more related to this activity. It comes down to how the OS uses memory and can it swap out bad locations when a fault is detected.
 
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Rachox said:
Ah so the Code Free is Home Health’s own product, I’ll do that then thank you as it’s only a month out of warranty.
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Rachox - The Codefree isn't Homehealth's product, but they are the sole UK distributor for it, unless things have changed recently.

Homehealth are a family run business and they really do seem to care about their customers and achieving excellent customer serives. I have used the Codefree since a few months after diagnosis.

On your initial query - My meter has run 2 days and some hours out for a looooooooong time now. It hasn't impacted on the accuracy of the meter, so for me, I plod on.

Whilst in the earlier period of my diagnosis I tracked every test, in an app, I no longer do that, as I am testing less frequently, having found a way of living that seem to largely suit me.

It's up to you how you handle the situation, but I just wanted to reassure you that, in my personal experience, the time reading inaccurately didn't impact on other aspects of the meter.
 
DCUKMod said:
Rachox - The Codefree isn't Homehealth's product, but they are the sole UK distributor for it, unless things have changed recently.

Homehealth are a family run business and they really do seem to care about their customers and achieving excellent customer serives. I have used the Codefree since a few months after diagnosis.

On your initial query - My meter has run 2 days and some hours out for a looooooooong time now. It hasn't impacted on the accuracy of the meter, so for me, I plod on.

Whilst in the earlier period of my diagnosis I tracked every test, in an app, I no longer do that, as I am testing less frequently, having found a way of living that seem to largely suit me.

It's up to you how you handle the situation, but I just wanted to reassure you that, in my personal experience, the time reading inaccurately didn't impact on other aspects of the meter.
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Time may be important for DVLA reasons. and the memory recording in these meters has to comply with meeting those. However, the onus on the manufacturers is only for providing the facility, and then it bcomes incumbent on us to make sure we use the meters properly. It is only needed if required as evidence in a court of law,

So now when you sign up to the [new] DIAB1 form to comply with DVLA needs, then it is part of that. It is just that ignorance is no defence in the eyes of the law. So if you are not on insulin or using a hypoglycemic medication then it is not a problem even if you drive since DVLA do not need to be informed, but if you are an HGV or PSV driver, then it can be important.
 
Oldvatr said:
Time may be important for DVLA reasons. and the memory recording in these meters has to comply with meeting those. However, the onus on the manufacturers is only for providing the facility, and then it bcomes incumbent on us to make sure we use the meters properly. It is only needed if required as evidence in a court of law,

So now when you sign up to the [new] DIAB1 form to comply with DVLA needs, then it is part of that. It is just that ignorance is no defence in the eyes of the law. So if you are not on insulin or using a hypoglycemic medication then it is not a problem even if you drive since DVLA do not need to be informed, but if you are an HGV or PSV driver, then it can be important.
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Thanks for that point.

As I, peronally, have never taken any medication, I am not required to test, so that is for me, a moot point. I'll leave @Rachox to decide for herself how meaningful it is to her, but of course your information could be helpful to others.

I would like to think, that any person needing to test, for driving purposes, would be provided with the relevant kit on prescription.
 
My Abbot Freedom Lite which got I a year ago in January, has been used to test 1457 times to date approx.

Edit: Typo
 
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Tipetoo said:
My Abbot Freedom Lite which got I a year ago in January, has been used to test 1457 times to date approx.

Edit: Typo
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My SD started on Day 54 of my recovery, and I am on Day 1064, and I do 4 readings a day at least, so 4040 at least, It has only recently started playing up, It has always read at least 1 mmol/l above any other meter I have used for parallel testing, so I have always treated it as my backstop meter, and currently use my GP supplied Caresense Dual for my official DVLA type testing. So even though I am a driver, I am not affected by the meter losing track of time, but recently it has also been losing actual readings, which is not good news. I suspect that I need to replace it when the next freebie offer occurs. I doubt I would get a warranty replace after 3 years, But then I did get one of my older XCEED meters replaced when it lost the plot.
 
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Thank you everyone for all your comments and advice. I have received the following reply from Home Health:

Hi Rachel,
There is no reason to think the readings will be at all inaccurate as there is no connection with the date. If you do suspect that the results are starting to get a little inaccurate then please let us know.
Kind regards
Home Health (UK) Ltd

As I’m on just Metformin I have no requirement to take readings for DVLA requirements, so I shall carry on using it til such time as the actual readings are causing a problem.

Edit to remove correspondents name.
 
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Rachox said:
Thank you everyone for all your comments and advice. I have received the following reply from Home Health:

Hi Rachel,
There is no reason to think the readings will be at all inaccurate as there is no connection with the date. If you do suspect that the results are starting to get a little inaccurate then please let us know.
Kind regards
Home Health (UK) Ltd

As I’m on just Metformin I have no requirement to take readings for DVLA requirements, so I shall carry on using it til such time as the actual readings are causing a problem.
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From past dealings I've had with Homehealth, I have found ***** is a lovely person, very helpful, and always genuinely concerned when there is an issue with the Codefree.

Edit to remove contact at Home Health’s name.
 
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a bit off topic but where does one get the replacement batteries as I can't see them on the home health site
 
Serena51 said:
a bit off topic but where does one get the replacement batteries as I can't see them on the home health site
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Homehealth, did offer to send me one, but it was cheaper to get one from a supermarket, as the postage was more than the battery : )

when you take the battery out, it has the code for what type to get etched on it.

Edit to remove name of Home Health contact.
 
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lucylocket61 said:
***** of Homehealth, did offer to send me one, but it was cheaper to get one from a supermarket, as the postage was more than the battery : )

when you take the battery out, it has the code for what type to get etched on it.
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It is a bog standard CR2032 battery widely available on the high street, most supermarkets, Wilko, hardware shops, electrical retailers such as Currys etc

Edit to remove name of contact at Home Health in quoted content.
 
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Rachox said:
I bought mine from Amazon when Newly diagnosed, but have used Home Health since for supplies, and yes I agree @lucylocket61 they helped me out with a rouge set of testing strips. I think mine’s out of warranty so may just order a replacement ready for if/when my current one dies.
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@Rachox I had this problem twice. Like you my initial purchase was on Amazon. Home health happily replaced both meters free of charge. Worth giving them a ring.

Edited to say posted before reading the whole thread. See you’ve already been in touch with them.
 
Update: My SD is started to fail big time now. Not only is it scrambling the time values, (but it is keeping the date ok).it is now dying mid reading, in that the strip is recognised when being inserted, it goes to the blood symbol showing as normal, and it starts the coundown as soon as I feed it a blood sample. When the timer finishes, then the screen blanks and no symbols are shown, no reading value displayed. This is with brand new batteries too, so not the battery to blame. Not yet a hard error, so I can usually retest with a new strip, but this indicates a death spiral is not far off. It is also reading about 2 mmol/l higher thn my other meter, except on occasions when it suddenly reads lower (it has up till now been very consistently and steadfastly 1 mmol/l high compared to any other meter I parallel test with (NEO, XCEED #1 XCEED #2)
 
Oldvatr said:
Update: My SD is started to fail big time now. Not only is it scrambling the time values, (but it is keeping the date ok).it is now dying mid reading, in that the strip is recognised when being inserted, it goes to the blood symbol showing as normal, and it starts the coundown as soon as I feed it a blood sample. When the timer finishes, then the screen blanks and no symbols are shown, no reading value displayed. This is with brand new batteries too, so not the battery to blame. Not yet a hard error, so I can usually retest with a new strip, but this indicates a death spiral is not far off. It is also reading about 2 mmol/l higher thn my other meter, except on occasions when it suddenly reads lower (it has up till now been very consistently and steadfastly 1 mmol/l high compared to any other meter I parallel test with (NEO, XCEED #1 XCEED #2)
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Tell Homehealth. They will replace it and possibly send you a load of strips as well.
 
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