Relatively new to the OmniPod and experienced my first pod failure. This week I was in Vegas for a week (ugh) and was in the process of changing pods, filled a new one and the thing just went off with a long ‘beep’ and wouldn’t stop. Fortunately I brought 3 pods, withdrew the insulin from the “ringing pod”, and filled another one.
However, I couldn't get the damn thing to shut up! Anyone experience this? I actually had to slam it down on the floor, breaking it, to get it to stop. Can't imagine if that happened in public and it was attached to me.....
Yep. I have a small colony of pods that live together in the freezer. It’s the best way to shut them up that doesn’t involve a hammer - and then we don’t hear them as much while they are beeping. There is supposed to be a way to quiet them with a paper clip in a tiny hole by the big white circle, but so far we have only had that work once. I’ve been very tempted to send one back to Insulet in the recycling bag - but I’m pretty sure FedEx would trace it back to me . . .
There have been several comments about this over the past few months. It’s apparently a common error. Personally, I remove the offending pod, pry off the top with a pair of plyers and usually it stops. If not, then I remove the batteries. That’s probably what happened when you slammed it on the floor, it dislodged something inside and stopped the darned steady beep. Omnipod has replaced a half dozen pods for me over the past year where this has happened. Other people put the beeping pods in the freezer. I have had it happen in public so I have to explain and it’s not that big of a thing. People seem to be more concerned about whether I am okay. One day I opened a new box of pods and there was one of them beeping away. I quickly put it out of its misery and got an immediate replacement. My new order just arrived this past week and I have something like 3 extra pods that are replacements for failed ones. Seems to be the nature of the pod business.
We’ve had it less since I started leaving the Pod in the tray while it primes.
If I don’t pry it open, I stick it in the garage.
Recently Caleb likes to play hide and seek with them. He tucks them somewhere so that they are muted and has bro & sis go find them. We haven’t played much though since we don’t have many errors.
When mine does that I call them immediately. They want the numbers on the pod for some reason, maybe to see if that “group” of pods had a problem. They always remind you over the phone that pods costs $50.00 each. Like I’m feeling sorry for them. NOT.
They are very good about sending you replacement pods but when you remind them of the cost of insulin you just wasted in that bad pod, they readily inform you they are not the manufacturer of the insulin therefore they are not going to compensate you in any way for the lost insulin.
There are ways to retrieve the insulin from bad pods on another topic here so I won’t go into that, but there is a way you can salvage most of the insulin in the pod.
I’ve developed a nice solution where within 30 seconds or so I can pry the pod apart with the help of a set of keys inserted into the soft area in the back of the pod between the top and the bottom. Once it’s apart it usually stops alarming, if not it’s not hard to pop out the batteries to make it stop!
My son… w/out my permission…threw one in our pond…but instead of going into the pond…it went into the marsh grasses… never to be seen again…but heard… for 3 full days!!! Sounded like a rouge monster Mosquito! We haven’t had any since that one and only one before that. LOL Love the idea of hide and seak Lorraine!!!
I have had that happen to me many times. One cause of the constant beeping is because you haven’t properly discarded it and have started using a new pod. Another reason it could be making that beeping is if it is having an error. Also, I was having many pods go bad while I was wearing them after a short time and the company told me that I should not withdraw the insulin because of cross-contamination and infection. It wastes a lot of insulin, but if you call all of the bad ones in, the company has something where they will refund your insulin. I was going through insulin so fast from them having errors that my insurance company sent me a letter in the mail that said they weren’t going to pay for my insulin anymore, because they thought I was using it all and my diabetes wasn’t under control.
A paper clip or a ball point pen can be jammed into a small soft spot at the top of the pod. If you look closely, you'll actually see it. It takes a few seconds but agree with you that it is embarrassing when the damn thing goes off in a restaraunt or somewhere public. People tend to look at you funny.
As your all aware I'm new to podding as of Tues. Last night was my first pod change. The 2nd pod was bad and just beeped. All I had was a hammer and gave it a good wack on the kitchen floor and it stopped.
I finally figured it out! Take the adhesive off the back of your pod. Then with the catheter part pointing "north/straight up" there is a brass circle straight south of it. A hair to the left is a little green circle that is kind of squishy. Use a paper clip and push down into it until it breaks away. That should stop the beeping. It finally did for me. I thought I was going to lose my mind!
We have not yet had one of my daughter's Pod fail, so we've never had the [dis]pleasure of hearing a shrieking Pod. This may sound bizarre, but I kind of wish a Pod would fail so I could hear exactly what it sounds like.
You'll know something's wrong as soon as it fails. You can't miss the sound. It's a long high pitched tone that switches between one long note to a few beeps and back to the long note. Don't worry, you won't miss it!
We've only had one site failure (it likely wasn't a Pod failure) a few hours after a Pod change; my daughter's BG soared into the high 200's and there was a lot of condensation on the cannula window. I called Insulet in the hopes that they'd send us a replacement Pod. When the replacement Pod arrived, there was also some packaging and a postage-paid envelope for me to use in returning the questionable Pod to Insulet. This made me wonder what would happen if someone tried to return a still-shrieking Pod to Insulet by dropping the screaming postage-paid envelope into a mailbox...
Great photo. There was a thread about this not too long ago that could have used this. I use a used lancet, I always have one around and it has worked quickly every time for me.
Thank you for these details. I stopped to change a pod while in the car (2 months new to Pods), detached the wrong way, and the beeping started. No way I could drive with that noise! A ballpoint pen did the trick, but going to stash a paperclip or eyeglass repair kit in with my gear!
What is so amazing to me is that OmniPod does not cover this topic in the instructions. I use a safety pin because I can actually pin the thing to my carrying case. I have m ore than one pinned because I could drop one while using it and might need a backup.
The whole thing is ridiculous anyway. The beeping could occur in some quiet restaurant or a board meeting (etc.). Obviously they didn’t think it through.
slam it down on the floor, breaking it, to get it to stop.
Vice grip. Try “flattening” it a few times in about the center of the pod.
Can’t imagine if that happened in public and it was attached to me…
Hello FBI, ATF, Homeland Security, etc, etc. Heck, there was the big bru-ha-ha about the Muslim school kid who was arrested because they thought the clock for his science class was a bomb.
in some quiet restaurant or a board meeting (etc.). Obviously they didn’t think it through
I wonder if the FDA made them make it so loud (and continuous) because of the situation where it would fail while a person was asleep and so wake them up?
little green circle […] paper clip and push down into it
My problem is that I can’t find it - but I’m using the Classic pods where it’s not as obvious. There are a lot of things that look like “maybe little holes” on the back…
there was a lot of condensation
I had that a few days ago (more of a “bubble” appearance) and wondered if it meant the cannula hasn’t actually inserted. It went away in about 4 hours. Could it be that the skin around the insertion hasn’t completely “closed up” yet and insulin was leaking out?
It would be nice if they made a way to tell if the cannula had actually inserted.
(Perhaps coat the cannula with a conductive layer, put a small microamp charge on it, and monitor the capacitance like with a touchscreen every few tenths of a microsecond after the insertion. Patent pending unless someone else came up with the idea first (in which case it should be “obvious to those skilled in the Art” - or in my case, not skilled in the Art )
)