Veo battery life

[Redkite]

Have any Veo users noticed problems with batteries not lasting as long as they used to, or suddenly draining? We used to get 6 weeks out of each battery. I have started noting on my calendar when we put a new battery in, and the last one lasted just 16 days.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Perhaps you have a faulty batch of batteries. Might be worth trying a different batch if that doesn't work then give pump company a ring.

 

[Redkite]

Thanks Sue. I don't think it's a faulty batch because this has been going on for a while with batteries from different packs, it's just that I've only just started recording the exact date I change them. I guess I need to keep an eye on it for a while and call Medtronic.

 

[Sally71]

Oh that sounds really annoying, sorry to hear you're having problems!

Do you use "normal" batteries i.e from a shop, or do you get special ones from Medtronic? Our pump came with an alkaline battery which lasted a month, but since then Roche have always sent lithium ones which last 3 months!

Definitely keep a note of everything for a while and then contact Medtronic. If you're using their batteries too then you've got double the reason to complain. Maybe you'll get a nice new pump if it's developed a fault!

 

[Flower]

Hi Redkite,

Yes, I have noticed the battery life is not as long as it used to be by a good few days.I only have a full battery symbol for a couple of days before it starts decreasing.

I have also noticed the battery power symbol decreasing by 2 blocks out of the 4 in one go then after a few days sometimes regaining one of the blocks. I did ask Medtronic some time ago if there was a change in the batteries but was told there wasn't a problem.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

ISTR Medtronic changes the batteries they sent out a while back.

They used to be called 'industrial' but are now something else.

I seem to get 4-5 weeks out of them still - but I don't have a CGM draining juice with bluetooth all the time.

16 days is very weird... Might be worth asking about battery cap?

 

[Redkite]

Yes I get them sent from Medtronic. He rarely has a CGM, as we only have funding for ten per year. Flower, we have also seen what you describe, ie going from 4 bars to 2 but sometimes picking back up to 3.

 

[AlisonF]

I used to get about 4 weeks from a battery in the veo with 24/7 CGM use, but that has dropped to 3 weeks in the last few months. Still longer than 16 days though, and that's with CGM so it might e worth looking into with Medtronic.

 

[chandler]

Veo battery life is very poor for me. I have not managed to get the duration some of you mention here, a week is about the limit and once it was barely 3 days!

I asked my DSN and she advised my to speak to Medtronic. They replied that the "industrial" batteries were no longer supplied and I should expect around 1 week from the energised cells they supplied. As a side note, they seem happy supplying a pack of 4 AAA per month, so that kind of confirms their expectations.

I have vibrate turned off to conserve battery life. also limit number of times I download to Carlink.

 

[Sally71]

One WEEK? 😱

That is terrible, this thread has put me off Medtronic if we get a choice on the next pump! Although I don't think we're due for one for at least a couple of years so let's hope they've solved the problem by then!

We didn't get a choice of pumps, we were just given the Roche one. Which I'm actually quite pleased about as I knew precisely zero about insulin pumps at the time and wouldn't have had a clue how to decide which one was best for us. Consequently I love the one we've got and would seriously miss the remote functionality if we got a different one. So the chances are I'll stick with Roche anyway. They all have their pros and cons, but battery life has never been a problem!

 

[HOBIE]

Havnt noticed any difference. Its energizer batteries problem not the pump you have had for a year or more. 😉 Everything is getting made smaller from mars bars to pkts of chrisps 😉

 

[chandler]

Here is the response to the battery lifetime query I raised with Medtronic back in April.

The minimum life expectancy of the energizer AAA batteries is one week. We used to be able to provide the Energizer Industrial which had a longer lifespan but unfortunately these are no longer available to us to order.

The battery indicator in the top-right of the pump will display the estimated life left, however the life left can be affected by the temperature. When leaving a heated house to outside and vice versa the battery indicator will change accordingly.

There are a few steps you can take to ensure that the battery lasts as long as possible:



· Ensure each battery placed into the device is new

· The backlight is not used in daytime

· Clear and respond to any alarms on the device. If left they can drain the battery

· Is the pump on vibrate mode? This will use more battery than the audio alerts

· Is the “remote” feature turned on? This feature will use more power as it keeps the pump awaiting an input form the remote using the radio frequency receivers.

· Uploading the pump to Carelink once a week will have a heavy impact on the battery life

 

[Sally71]

We get Energizer Ultimate Lithium from Roche, hope they are not going to be discontinued too!

Although a week still seems very feeble to be honest. Our pump itself uses 1xAA and the test kit/handset uses 3xAAA. On the above lithium ones they last for 3 months! Even on bog standard alkaline batteries we got a whole month out of the pump and then the handset went a couple of days later. And that's with Bluetooth, vibrate etc switched on all the time.

I don't know if we are somehow lucky though, even the people at Roche don't seem to expect them to last that long! Wouldn't have thought that having less basal / smaller boluses than some people would make a massive difference??

 

[Hanmillmum]

We've just received new batteries with our last reservoir order from Medtronic and got sent the Energizer ultra+, they tend to last 4-5 weeks on average for us 🙂