Super helpful info, thank you! I don’t remember seeing this in the G6 manual …
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Yes, great to know about the Safety release. Would’ve been nice to know when it got stuck. And the Dexcom techs don’t know about this? They seemed surprised when I told them about it.
Yeah, doesn’t that take the cake?
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Thanks for posting this. I will be starting it eventually when my g5 transmitter is up prolly and I don’t want to walk around with that thing on my leg😹 First they have to send me the G6 transmitter.
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I had a whole batch that did this! 3 sensors in a row. It was terrible! At that point I was still new to dexcom and didn’t yet learn the “whacking it with a wooden spoon” technique. I did use this another time though and as crazy as it sounds it worked. I now have a wooden spoon sitting next to me on the counter every time I change it and my husband thinks im crazy 
Three bad ones in a row, that’s rough. I dread that box.
I really do love this old school dyi kind of approach, but know that if the wooden spoon whack fails you, the orange pin (the one you remove so that you can press the inserter button) can be poked in to that little hole at the top of the inserter, and that will definitely work. Or in case your dog runs of with the spoon or whatever!
well, … or definitely not work, as it turns out. This doesn’t seem to be an engineered Dex thing, but is a diy workaround, just like the wooden spoon whack, either of which might or might not solve the problem. I’ve tried both now, without success. The silver lining is that Dex is still good about replacement sensors (assuming, of course, that you have some patience to get through to their representative).
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I just got 2 bad sensors out of my last 4. Oddly enough they were both the same sensor 4 digit number - 9311. I have another 9311 sensor and I’m kind of dreading using it now.
9311 is common, I used several with that code.
More relevant would be sensors from same box or lot# for being same error, whatever the issue was. Are there sensor error message, or just bad readings?
No issues with readings. Just sensor would not come out of the applicator. They were in fact the same lot number as well.
Both times I inserted with the orange push button and everything was stuck, would not release. Once I ripped it off the needle could be seen sticking out.
Did you see prior post showing how to release when stuck, using the small orange piece to get it to release. Some times it works.
I saw it now but didn’t think to check for it before I ripped the whole thing off. I figured it was a rare fluke since I’ve been using G6 sensors since mid 2019 and had never had that happen. Now it’s happened twice in a month.
It can take quite a whack to get it to finish the insertion cycle. I always have a decent sized screw driver on my desk and I whack it with the handle, pretty firm whack. It has always finished the insertion cycle with one whack.
Well so I had a third one fail last night. I used a small screw driver and pushed the small tab on the inside of the handle which did release it. The tab is pretty difficult to push depending on the angle you have the handle in. I will definitely try whacking it with a wooden spoon or screw driver handle next time this happens. It’s been happening so often now it’s getting kind of aggravating.
I did contact Dexcom and they did replace the first two.
So I just recently had 6, yes 6, applicators fail in a row. Thankfully not all the same day (ran out of sensors, then after about a week my next shipment came in, then all those failed). All were from the same lot number. Dexcom sent a couple replacements for the first batch (the replacements are from a different lot # so the one I used worked fine) but they still owe me one…well technically 4 now. In each case no amount of whacking or poking in the hole on the back to release it would work. I had to yank each off, and then pull up the freshly laid dressing and adhesive. I was actually glad for the week break at that point because my skin was raw.
All of them got stuck either on the insertion, or the retraction. All with the needle still sticking out. The part that is sticking is the little flap which has the contacts for the transmitter. It is getting stuck in the slot. What it looks like is that the needle is getting stuck inside that piece, and then it fails to fully insert, or fails to fully retract as it doesn’t come clear from the flap piece.
All of these were lot # 7272847
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Thanks @displayname for these details. I haven’t experienced this yet (knock on wood) but I will on the look out now in case it occurs!
I have had this happen to me with my minimed enlite sensors. I think it sometimes is an angle thing and once you try to retract at an angle it is done. I will be starting my g6 this week. So I need to see how it is.
I’ve only had one that did this so far. I hold my breath everytime I insert a new sensor and say a quick prayer that it releases.
Thank you. We had the applicator recently fail (all tonight) on three out of three sensors. When the third failure occurred we found this forum and used the “wooden spoon” method with success with the third sensor. Dexcom was good in responding to our call and have offered to send new replacement sensors. This issue is quite concerning for a child living with type 1 diabetes. Hopefully this issue will be fixed shortly.
I think part of the issue is that the lot numbers that have this problem the most are already out in circulation, so you end up getting them from distributors that have them in their warehouses.