Last night I got the dreaded Dexcom transmitter low battery alert that stops the transmitter from pairing with the dexcom reciever. I decided to fire up the xdrip and see how long it will run before the transmitter truly has no power left. Right now xdrip is working like a champ!
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Wow. I am eagerly awaiting your next posts.
@Jim26 So, has it stopped working yet?
I think he’ll get another 2-3 months after the official expiration date.
That would be pretty awesome. My current transmitter is officially dead in a couple of days, but I’ve been using xDrip+ for the past month exclusively. I’ll be interested to see just how long it will last.
It only lasted 2 days. But not 100% it was valid because I got an xdrip update and even with a new transmitter I couldn’t get xdrip to work. Xdrp is working again and I’ll try again 3 months from now.
Well, rats. I was really looking forward to this experiment. Now I have to wait another 3 months:-)
You have plenty of people on xDrip’s fb-page running on “expired” transmitters, even with replaced batteries, so the experiment has already been done.
I don’t think anyone has published how long a G5 lasts on xdrip. Have you
read one such review?
Also - replaced battery: do you mean G4 or G5? I don’t know that it is
possible to change the G5 battery?
Yes, G5. There is a guy running a service to do the battery replacement. He used to be on eBay but moved to Etsy, I think. Very easy to find, just Google “Dexcom G5 transmitter battery replacement”, he should be on the first page.
I’ll also post ( hopefully not too soon) when my current transmitter gives up. I started the current one on 11/11/16 ( just checked), so tomorrow officially starts borrowed time.
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That’s great, thank you! Great news for me. I’ll look it up and post his contact. [quote=“doc77, post:10, topic:58388”]
I started the current one on 11/11/16 ( just checked), so tomorrow officially starts borrowed time.
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@Doc77, is this G5 from the factory or one with a replaced battery?
EDIT: just found the guy who replaces the batteries, TechGuruz on Etsy. The bad news is - they only work on xdrip for Android according to the listing.
Yeah. Sorry I forgot to mention that. The “timer” on the G5 transmitter is software based in the G5 receiver, so there is no way around that except to use a hacked receiver like xDrip+ 
The good news is that in the past month I’ve found that the xDrip+ algorithm seems to more accurately report bg according to finger sticks. The phone software is also far more complete than I think Dexcom will ever be ( IOB, prediction, momentum, bolus calculation, etc).
I understand your child is pretty hip to managing his Bg, maybe he (and you) would consider trying out xDrip+. I’m using a Sony Smart watch 3 as the receiver and it’s very convenient. Capture rates in the mid to high 90% range.
Best of luck to you and your child!
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Ok, so according to xDrip+ my transmitter is likely dead. Reading “Low double down” on watch (collector) and “??0” on phone. Finger stick shows my Bg at 80. Log says “Filtered data is exactly double raw–this is completely wrong–dead transmitter?–blocking glucose calculation”
But System Status reports " Transmitter Battery 216-ok"
Final verdict: I got 97 days out of my G5 transmitter using xDrip+. Less than the advertised 105 days if I was using the Dexcom receiver.
That’s too bad, doc. I had high hopes. Oh well. Thanks for sharing your experience, that is really valuable.
I still may try xDrip based on your feedback and Dragan’s. One problem is - I am on Android but the boy is an iOS due to dexcom specs. I’ll see what I can try. Right now the boy is hip deep into BG roller coasters so this will need to wait until he is stabilized.