PDM cycles on and off ....by itself?

Jim ~ While I’m not pleased to hear you are also having problems similar to mine, I am somewhat relieved to know that I’m not the only one having the 2nd generation issues. The saddest part of all of this is (for me at least) … now that I’m 65 Medicare will not pay for the Omnipod so I am being forced to change insulin delivery systems. I love the Omnipod even with all of its problems, but I can’t afford $350 per month in addition to the cost of insulin and test strips. I think there is a bright future for the Omnipod and that these issues will eventually be resolved.

Just got off the phone with product support after wasting a test strip because the PDM cut off before I could complete my test. I got the same answer: try Energizer Max batteries because “our engineers have discovered that the Duracell Alkalines are a little small for the battery compartment.” Guess I’ll go bunny hunting and see how it goes. Bending the battery contacts didn’t help at all.

I’ve been on the pod since April and I just started having the same problems with the meter turning off & on by itself. Last Friday I also was told by Insulet Tech support that the battery issue is real and that I should use Energizer Max E92 Alkaline due to the length and that should stop my problem. I still love my Pod over & above any issues. Just thought I’d share…

I’m beginning to wonder ‘which’ problem is the reason these PDMs cycle off and on by themselves.

  1. Duracell battery length -or-
  2. PDM battery compartment size has changed during the mfg process??

IMHO (and I’m not accusing anyone of wrong doing) I think it could either the first reason or the second or both! Those of us with the 1st generation PDMs who used Duracell batteries since day 1 - why didn’t we have problems like this with that PDM? And again…it could be just a coincidence that Duracell is making their batteries shorter in length.

I bought a new pack of Energizer Max batteries and put the calipers on three of them. They measured 1.747 inches, 1.747 inches and 1.748 inches in length. The two Duracell Alkalines that I took out of my PDM were 1.742 inches and 1.738 inches. Not major differences, but both Duracells were smaller, and one significantly so. So far, I’ve yet to have a problem with the new batteries.

I too have had issues with my 2nd generation turning itself on at random times. When I called they told me I was using the wrong batteries and to use the energizer max batteries. My problem is that I work in a hospital that provides AAA batteries for our paging devices and other electronics and they are Duracell- which means any time my PDM batteries get low I grab the duracell replacements from the battery bin… I haven’t noticed that it actually affects anything other than the battery life. At least I haven’t had any blood sugar issues from it. I did have three pods fail to prime all at the same time and again they told me the issue was with the batteries- not really sure how the pod failing to prime would be affected by duracell vs. energizer batteries but thats what they told me. Haven’t had it happen again and I have kept using the Duracells when need be so who knows?

The Duracells will work. I think the problem is that the smaller batteries will occasionally lose contact with the conductors at each end of the battery compartment, and the PDM will cycle off and back on. If this happens during priming, then you may have a priming failure and lose the pod. If it happens while you’re testing, then you’ll have to put in a new strip and start over. Even a slight impact to the PDM can cause it to recycle, and each time it does, it is on for awhile. You may not even be aware of it, if the PDM is in your pocket or purse. If it happens repeatedly, then your batteries will wear out quickly. I noticed my unit cycling if I set it down with just the slightest impact, and I could hear it beeping in my pocket from time to time (it beeps once when it cycles on) – not good for battery life, particularly since I normally carry my unit in my pocket, and it is constantly being jiggled.