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Vibe Lithium batteries :-(

Spiker

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,685
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
I don't normally use the lithium batteries for the Animas Vibe pump because they are very expensive. However I discovered that Animas send them out "free" (and charge the NHS) so I gave it another go, only ever having used the ones that came with the pump when it was new.

They do last much longer, but the problem is they fail incredibly fast. I went to bed very tired at 11. The pump gave its first low battery alarm at 0006 and totally failed at 0436. I consider that a serious defect..

With normal alkaline batteries, that I can get for 25p each, I get days of warning before they fail.
 
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I only ever use the lithium ones as thy only last 4 odd weeks with the CGM enabled. though be careful they wont just send batteries so make sure you order with supplys
 
I am going to stick to alkaline.

I can't afford to have the pump and CGM stop while I am asleep.
 
Why would it stop? Ive never had it run out - I always change before 1 bar runs out. Im of the opinion I pay for enough stuff re diabetes and coeliac if ill get free batteries ill take them.

Also never let a rep know your using alkaline.
 
Somewhere in the info Animas tell you that when the low battery alarm sounds you have approx an hour to change the battery. I have found this to be true. I get my batteries from Animas and I watch when the indicator hits 2 bars. My pump flicks between 2-3 bars and then when it hits 2 bars solidly I change the battery before bed. I don't like risking being asleep and battery on one bar - whatever the type of battery!
 
On average I get 12 weeks with no cgm and using a lithium battery. 8 weeks cgm usage on average. As soon as the battery indicator drops down and flickers a bit I change it.
I've only ever had one battery alarm (careless on my part) when the alarm went off in Boots. It was very funny though as a very audible sound, the pharmacist looked up and said Avon calling? After explaining what was going on I was offered a little room to change the battery and prime the pump. Very good service.
 
Engineer88 said:
Why would it stop? Ive never had it run out - I always change before 1 bar runs out. Im of the opinion I pay for enough stuff re diabetes and coeliac if ill get free batteries ill take them.

Also never let a rep know your using alkaline.
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You change it when it's still on 3 bars?

Alkaline is a valid option for the pump, you can select it at power up.

Anyone know what the lithium ones actually cost?
 
I reckon I had 3 weeks on this lithium, maybe 4. I get 1-2 weeks on alkaline. With CGM.
 
MushyPeaBrain said:
Somewhere in the info Animas tell you that when the low battery alarm sounds you have approx an hour to change the battery. I have found this to be true.
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Not for me. On alkaline I have 2-3 DAYS to change it after the Low Battery alarm (1 bar). On lithium, 4 hours.
 
Wee story about my vibe pump last night:
Noticed it felt quite hot next to my skin. Had a look and it was hot along battery side of pump, but the screen was still showing the battery at full power. Sat the pump next to me on the sofa to see if it would cool any, but it didn't. Blood sugars were still fine, so and hour and a half later I headed to bed, pump still hot. Just as I was getting in the low battery alarm sounded. Changed the battery and today pump is back to normal temp again.

This is only the second time I've had to change the battery in mine. First time I don't recall seeing the battery status at anything but full. This time round had me worried as I'm sure the heat from the battery wouldn't be good for insulin for any length of time and no indication that battery was anything but full until the alarm sounded. I've emailed Animas to see what they say. But otherwise the pump is working fine again today.

Moral of the story: I'll always carry a spare battery and not go by the on screen info on battery life!
BTW, I use the lithium batteries in mine. Last time I bought them at half price in Argos, need to restock again now.
 
Cheapest place I've found for batteries is Amazon but I'll stick with the Animas free ones for the pump. I spend enough on batteries for my son's toys already!!
 
Spiker said:
You change it when it's still on 3 bars?

Alkaline is a valid option for the pump, you can select it at power up.

Anyone know what the lithium ones actually cost?
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No sorry I change it before the last bar goes out as in :

III= Full; II or I and I change

They cost £7 for 4 in wilkos. I know because I ran our of spares last month or the month before but bought 2 in tesco for £4. Why dont you get them from animas just out of interest?
 
I have changed batteries twice since may using lithium ones animas send a packet (2 batteries) for 3 months supplies so animas are obviously expecting batteries to last about 6 weeks if it is going that quickly using a different battery I would be reporting a fault to animas tbh

Danae
 
It's not the 4 or 6 or 8 weeks that bothers me, it's the total failure 4 hours after the first warning alert. People do have to sleep. I sense a medical device report coming on.
 
It's not a defect, it's just the way lithium batteries work. They have a very flat profile and then drop off a cliff whereas alkaline are a much slower decline.
 
Spiker said:
It's not the 4 or 6 or 8 weeks that bothers me, it's the total failure 4 hours after the first warning alert. People do have to sleep. I sense a medical device report coming on.
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There is only one warning and you need to change the battery within 30 mins or the pump will stop (page 12 of the manual)
As to needing to sleep perhaps think like a female and check your battery status before you go to bed.
 
Battery life also depends on how many times you are fiddling with pump settings, cgm etc.

I know I use a different pump, but when I've had swops with pumps and handsets we get told to ensure we have new batteries in both because the pairing of the devices drains the batteries!!

The more tests, more basal changes, checks etc.. The lesser time for batteries to last. Accuchek also told me that in my early days when battery life for me was appalling.. And frustrating as the remote batteries never start working in the remote unless you play around with the interior battery bit in the handset!!
 
ElyDave said:
It's not a defect, it's just the way lithium batteries work. They have a very flat profile and then drop off a cliff whereas alkaline are a much slower decline.
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Yes. Not a defect in the lithium batteries at all. A defect in a vital medical device that fails with insufficient warning.
 
Spiker said:
Yes. Not a defect in the lithium batteries at all. A defect in a vital medical device that fails with insufficient warning.
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I'm assuming the warning is based on voltage from the battery, so if that is the case, then it's the discharge cycle of the battery that is the issue, not the pump.
 
I should not need to check a vital medical device by inspection every night before I go to bed to see if it's going to fail. This is why it has an ALARM of impending failure and I would very much expect that its FDA approval as a medical device depends on it emitting this alarm. The alarm is useless if it occurs during sleep with insufficient time to deal with the alarm before waking, and the device then completely fails, losing pump basal as well as CGM function, without even repeating the alarm.

If I was NICE, in addition to the patient safety risk, I would be ****** off that the workaround is to throw away very expensive batteries at the first sign of depletion, rather than using them through their useful life.

One alarm in the middle of the night, followed by no further alarms followed by total failure of functionality is not acceptable.

If you had a car where the fuel warning light flashed once, and an hour later the car just ran out of fuel, would you say "well keep checking the gauge"? Of course not. You'd report the car to the manufacturer as faulty.
 
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