I was just wondering how often the rest of your are calling OmniPod regarding defective pods for replacements?
Since I started in early Feb '10, I think I’ve called in 4 pods. One for some reason that is escaping me at the moment, one because it never “double beeped” after I filled with insulin and wouldn’t activate, and 2 in the past 10 days for randomly “death beeping” after only 24 hours of use.
Does OmniPod start to question the validity of your claims for replacement pods after you’ve called in too many? Or is 4 pods in almost 3 months a pretty typical failure rate?
I don’t think there is a ‘typical failure rate’. When I call in about defective pods, the representative always asks for the error number that is stored on the PDM when a pod fails during use. Insulet knows that there are going to be pods that fail…it is after all a machine. I’ve been using the OmniPod since 12-2008 and they’ve never questioned my reporting of failed pods. One day I had 3 pods fail, one right after another. In the following two weeks I had 3 more fail. Needless to say, by then I was getting rather annoyed. But I talked with someone at Insulet and they were able to resolve my issues…haven’t had but one failure in the past 4 months (knock on wood).
In spite of pod failures I still love my OmniPod and would not go back to MDI if I had a choice.
Rachel -
I (for the longest time) thought I HAD to be the highest volume Pod returner in Insulet history! I once called in 20 pods in a total of 45 days…and I was waiting for Insulet to call me and cut me off. Never happened. We (myself AND insulet) realized that I had received a “bad box” of pods, and had to get 2 replacement boxes. All of the pods had the same problem, no beeps after primiing. This seems to be the most common problem, and it seems Insulet is VERY CONCENED with this issue and will gladly replace any pod that doesnt double beep. I have had a host of other problems, most of which I have written off as my mistake (ie placing pod in a “bad” location) (another is using insulin straight out of the fridge) and didnt call in the pods. Insulet will stronly reinforce that if the pod does not double beep after you haev injected the insulin, CALL IT IN. THEY WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT!!! Good luck, and welcome to the group.
Gosh, I never really listen for the double beep after priming. Maybe I should start listening to this. Have been using OmniPod for 4 or 5 months and was a Medtronic Paradigm pump user before that, so I never had an extensive learning phase - just sort of switched from one to the other… What sort of problem does the lack of the double beep indicate?
I think the double beep just indicates the necessary transfer of data has occured, (ie basal levels and history). And there are two “double beep” instances, one after you have injected the (ROOM TEMPERATURE) insulin into the pod, and another after the priming.
Thanks for this information. I would assume that without that data transfer, the pod cannot function, so I probably have never encountered it. On another note, I almost never keep my insulin at room temperature. Does that actually cause any problems? Gosh, I didn’t realize I was such a problem pod-user. 
The reason I don’t like to keep my insulin at room temp is because (1) I like to keep 2 open bottles going (one at work and one at home) and so I need them to stay fresh longer and (2) the temperature in my house varies a lot and is probably warmer than “room temperature” a lot of the time.
Carolyn - Yes, your insulin should be kept in a fridge, but it needs to be room temp as you inject it into a new pod, or it can affect the pod negetively as it primes. In fact, if you havent experienced it yet, the pod will go into a long beeep errror mode during the priming if the insulin is still cold (right out of the fridge). I try to remove my insulin from the fridge about 12 hours before the pod is going to expire.
I used to call in maybe once a month. but it’s been about 6 months since i’ve made a call. sometimes, you just have rough patches of time. i did have to call this week, though, when a pod failed to double beep after filling with insulin.
i hope they don’t start to doubt when calls are made frequently!
I had a random death beep too! It was the weirdest thing. I’ve been on the Pod for just under a year, and at first, I called in a pod a week for about a month, but after that, I hardly ever call them in. The trouble I’m having now is blowing through test strips that don’t read. I don’t think OmniPod gets weary of your claims though. They always seem really nice. Other than that, it’s smooth sailing.
The recommendation for insulin is that is should be used within 30 days of “cracking the seal” on a new vial. Any longer than that and it will start to degrade. Given that, keeping your “open” vial at room temperature is fine, I guess unless the room gets really hot (like above 90) or really cold (like below 50?). Unopened vials should be refrigerated, of course.