Accuchek Combo - battery query.

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PattiEvans

PattiEvans

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I've recently been in Corfu on holiday for a month. On day 2 of the holiday my meter failed, just wouldn't start at all. You cannot manually input BG into the pump, just input a standard bolus. Since I've got lazy after 8 years of the pump/meter calculating doses it was a bit nerve-racking. I tried changing the batteries to no avail. Luckily I had taken my old Combo pump with me and knew I could pair the old meter with the current pump, however it's nearly 4 years since I did that operation and I had forgotten how. You can't phone their technical 0800 number from Greece (I tried), luckily I found the manual online and on a very dodgy Wifi I managed to download all 526 pages and found instructions on P136. I had to guess the ratios to input into the old meter - fortunately lunch and dinner are 1:10 so easy enough and I guessed at breakfast (seems I guessed more or less correctly).

Got home 2 days ago and finally got in touch with Roche who seemed to think it was user-error. After we got over that the (very pleasant) customer services lady told me that I should have been changing the batteries every 2 weeks on both meter and pump. Has anyone else been told this? I did my training nearly 8 years ago and I swear I have never been told to change them every 2 weeks! I've just been leaving them until I got the low battery warning.

Anyway, they are replacing the meter.
 
Nope, we had Combos for 8 years and were never told anything of the sort! In fact we used to get 3 months use out of the lithium batteries they send with the service packs!

We did occasionally find the meter wouldn’t turn on though and have to do a fair bit of removing and replacing batteries and wiggling them around to get it to work again (although I have to admit the second one seemed to have far fewer problems in that department than the first). I think Roche are known to have issues with battery contacts. I phoned them once and was told that when replacing batteries you should always but the bump end in first and then push down the flat end, the contacts are not designed to take the pressure the other way round. Not sure whether I really believe that but I tried to comply! When the first one was not far from being replaced I found that Duracell batteries seemed to fit more snugly and be more reliable than the lithium ones, tech man at Roche said the lithium ones are actually a teeny tiny bit smaller, not sure whether I believe that either when they are supposed to be standard size but I definitely found I had fewer problems with Duracells, very strange...
Thankfully we never had any problems with the battery in the pump itself!
 
Sorry you had such an issue whilst away. I am sure our pumps know when things like that are most inconvenient.

I used Combos for eight years. I was also told the big about putting bumpy end in first, so did do that.
I wasn‘t told at the start about timing of changes of batteries, but as all the controls were through the handsetI changed those far more than the pump one. I was later told to change batteries in the handset each month, or before if prompted to do so. I was also told to change the battery cover on the pump when I changed the battery.

Glad that they are sorting you out with a replacement.
 
Thanks @Sally71 and @SB2015 you both seem to have been given bits of info, like putting the bumpy end in first, that I’ve never been told. If they change advice due to new discoveries e.g. things work better if you do this, then it might be an idea for them to disseminate this information to their users. They have our contact info. i am sure an email update would be helpful, the way Abbott do. I may suggest it to them, but of course there’s no guarantee they will take any notice.

In the event, the envelope etc for returning the non-working meter arrived in the post yesterday morning and the new meter arrived early evening via a courier who was gushing apologies as it was scheduled to arrive before noon.

I’m due a new pump in November. At present my clinic are offering a choice of the Medtronic or the Omnipod (though this may change before November). I am leaning towards the Omnipod.
 
Pattidevans said:
I’m due a new pump in November. At present my clinic are offering a choice of the Medtronic or the Omnipod (though this may change before November). I am leaning towards the Omnipod
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Things are changing so quickly nowadays. Who knows what will be available by Nov!!
I am glad that you have received the replacemeant.
 
@Patti - I was thinking about my batteries the other day, the one in it when I got it i Jan lasted about a month so I replaced it in literally the middle of the night - very popular with Pete as you can imagine - but haven't needed to do it since, so thought I'd do it tomorrow when I replace the cartridge before we go on hol on Monday. I order batteries when I order my 3 months cannulas, they send 3 AA and shedloads of AAA. (possibly, 9, LOL)

Nowhere locally to recycle batteries - so have to go in the ordinary bin. Bloody nuisance now, they are.
 
trophywench said:
@Patti - I was thinking about my batteries the other day, the one in it when I got it i Jan lasted about a month so I replaced it in literally the middle of the night - very popular with Pete as you can imagine - but haven't needed to do it since, so thought I'd do it tomorrow when I replace the cartridge before we go on hol on Monday. I order batteries when I order my 3 months cannulas, they send 3 AA and shedloads of AAA. (possibly, 9, LOL)

Nowhere locally to recycle batteries - so have to go in the ordinary bin. Bloody nuisance now, they are.
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Our husbands have to have the patience of saints don't they?

If you order 3 monthly and they send you 3 AA and 9 AAA, and they're supposed to last 3 months then it would suggest they get replaced monthly not every 2 weeks?

Does your local supermarket not have a battery bin? All ours do, though you sometimes have to ask where it is as they tend to be squirreled away in some obscure corner. Have a lovely holiday, where are you off to?
 
Site near Bungay ...... not a bit of the country we know even slightly so 'whatever' !

Our Tescos used to have bins for batteries - that stopped completely last March when Covid hit. Otherwise would have to make an appointment at the tip approx 5 miles distant and drive there to get rid! EVERYthing, not just NHS glitches, is Covid's fault, nobody and nothing anywhere else is to blame for ANY thing......
 
Oh tell me!
 
I only used to order service packs once or twice a year when we were getting low on stock. I hate waste and used to leave the batteries in until I got a low battery warning. Which I also thought was bad design on the Combo handset, it only told you that the batteries were low when they were so low that it had turned the bluetooth off to conserve power, which meant you basically had to change them immediately. Anything else with batteries in has an indicator on all the time so you always know where you are!
 
Sort of, success - this afternoon we happened to go into Decathlon and guess what they had in there? - a battery recycling bin! Not a place I'd ever have thought to look, and it does mean having to specially go there, but uses the same carpark as 'our' Tescos, so Pete can just drive round the long way next time I have some batteries to chuck. It was never a problem in the past cos 5+ years ago shedloads of things used AA and AAA batteries, including a lot of the grandkids toys, and there's quite a lot of life left in the batteries anyway for gadgets requiring less voltage to operate than Bluetooth does. Just haven't got such things now.
 
trophywench said:
@Patti - I was thinking about my batteries the other day, the one in it when I got it i Jan lasted about a month so I replaced it in literally the middle of the night - very popular with Pete as you can imagine - but haven't needed to do it since, so thought I'd do it tomorrow when I replace the cartridge before we go on hol on Monday. I order batteries when I order my 3 months cannulas, they send 3 AA and shedloads of AAA. (possibly, 9, LOL)

Nowhere locally to recycle batteries - so have to go in the ordinary bin. Bloody nuisance now, they are.
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B and Q have a battery recycle (at least the one at Binley does)
 
..... er, not exactly handy and once again needs the burning of fuel (diesel not petrol) to achieve - which is more than a bit counter intuitive when attempting to avoid landfill with em, really. It's bad enough having to stash other recycling waste on a worksurface in the kitchen to save having to walk down the side of the house to the bin so many times a day - so we just do it about twice a day. (the paper/card, tins, bottles, plastic bottles and jars, other metal so lids off bottles, silver foil etc .... and all the packaging detritus from pump consumables, test strips and Libre and envelopes all have to go in landfill so B good job we invested in a swing bin for the kitchen 20-odd years ago, ain't it!)
 
Our local kerbside recycling says it will take batteries, but the last time I put a paper bag out they got left, so I’m back to Wilko which has a battery-shaped bin.

A pharmacy on the same street has recently started taking used blister packs for recycling with some cancer charity tie-in so that’s another little container to collect things until there’s enough to make a trip. Fortunate that it’s walking distance 🙂

Sorry about your meter woes on holiday @Pattidevans - glad you are getting/have got a replacement, and were able to use your spare in the meantime.
 
Our kerbside did take batteries for a while but has not done so for a couple of years.
 
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