670G and Energizer battery life

Diabetes Technology Insulin Pumps
1

Today, after 17 days of use, I got a low battery warning despite the fact that this morning, the battery charge was “high”. I have been using the Energizer battery that came with the pump. Someone on FB said that they get a month out of an Energizer Max, but that battery doesn’t really last any longer than a regular Energizer, does it?

I tried Googling and all I see about “long lasting” re the Max is that it has a great shelf life of 10 years, supposedly.

I bought, but didn’t open a 36-pack of Energizer Max and wonder if I should return them and go for a Lithium battery instead. What say the folks that have used a 670G? Should I spring for Lithiums? Keep in mind I’m not using a sensor, so battery life should be longer than with a sensor.

I sure don’t want the battery suddenly dying as I’m not one to drag around extra batteries. I never did that with my 530 as the battery life was very predictable. It would run for days when it showed low battery. I afraid this 670 is going to die suddenly.

2

That’s a crappy battery life for not using the sensor. Will the 670 battery meter read a lithium battery? The other Medtronic pumps don’t, I found the lithium battery life is triple of the max with my last few Medtronic pumps. The battery meter is no help if they didn’t upgrade it with the 670.

3

I just got a “30 minute warning” that the pump will stop delivering. Pretty lame compared to every other MM pump I’ve owned. I called tech support and they claim that an Energizer is good “for a week”. Not too accurate when not using the sensor. They also claim that a lithium will last 4-5 weeks. They cost 3X as much, but if they last a solid month I’ll be OK with the additional cost. Time to go change that battery now…

EDIT: Now this is interesting. I’ve checked numerous Energizer AAA batteries over the years that come out of the 5xx pumps–they show a pretty healthy charge, so that they can be used in other devices. The battery I just removed from the 670 however, tests very low. At least that means that Medtronic is now allowing a more complete use of the batteries in it’s newer pumps.

4

Wow. That pump is going to burn through a lot batteries over the years. I’d get 3 months out of Energizer lithium with my 530 using the enlites. The battery meter showed 100% full until the battery was almost completely dead, then I’d get an alert the battery was dying and have a few minutes to change it before the pump shut off.

What is the battery life in that pump when running it in Auto mode with the G3 sensors?

5

Try eneloop rechargeables

6

Dunno (obviously) but I remember when I had Enlites running on my 530G that Energizer AAA’s lasted a very short time, compared to w/o. I think the running time was cut in half, from a month or more to a couple of weeks or less depending on how much I used the pump for bolusing and lighting up that stupid hard-to-read screen.

7

If the 670 is getting a little less than 3 weeks without auto mode and CGM, the battery life must be horrible when running the loop system. I’d try a lithium in the pump and see how long it lasts. You’ll get no warning the battery is going to die until the very last minute.

8

Sensor enabled pumps do eat up pump batteries more quickly.

I use a lithium AAA battery in my Loop system’s MiniMed 722 pump. It only lasts about 10-14 days. For all the quality of life benefits that Loop provides, it’s easy for me to just buy a generous supply of these batteries and deal with it. It’s a small price to pay for the metabolic sanity it gives.

1 Like
9

I just got some Lithiums at a great price. Home Depot gave me an accommodation price on two 8-packs because they couldn’t find the 12-packs they thought they had which is what I was looking for. So I got 16 batteries for under $13. Normal price is $1.33 each when you get a 12-pack.

10

Nice! You “should” get 5-6 weeks out of each battery. That pump sounds like it was designed to eat batteries. Good luck, @Dave44

11

Yes, it sure uses them up faster than the 5xx series and not only that, but they are AA instead of AAA. Color screen the cause, maybe?

12

Might be the screen, it’s a very tiny screen. Just bizarre the battery life of that pump is so bad. Even if the lithium batteries last 4 weeks, you’re good to go for a year until you need to stock up again. Home Depot gave you a very generous deal.

13

For sure. They have given me a few accommodation prices on a variety of items in the past and those prices have always been generous.

14

A good business model, help the customer get what he needs and keep him as a loyal customer.

15

Try eneloops - just make sure they were made in Japan

you only need to buy them and a charger once

16

I’ll see how it goes with the Lithiums first. I’ve got 16 of them for under a buck each, thanks to Home Depot’s accommodation price. They should last over a year for about $13. That’s barely over a buck a month. 3 to 4 cents per day, roughly.

17

I use the eneloops in my Xbox one s controller. I don’t know how they would behave in an insulin pump.

18

I think medtronic states they are fine to use - They are far better then alkaline

19

I have the 670G with A Guardian 3 sensor. I generally use Duracell (40 for $16 at Costco). I record how long they last which is 8 to 12 days, depending on how often I check my meter. Average is probably 10 days.

I recently purchased 4 Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries ($4.94) which lasted between 12 and 17 days. Average is probably 16 days.

20

They are far superior to a regular battery. They can sit on a shelf fully charged for years without losing any strength.