Last time I had an A33 error. This time, a repeated Failed Batter Test, in spite of using 6 brand new batteries and (on the phone with Medtronic) dusting the contacts in the pump with a Q-Tip. They said it was a problem with the memory.
I will be getting an overnighted pump that will arrive on Tuesday morning (no shipping on Sunday evening) at my work (it will arrive my first day of work).
Once more technical support at Minimed rocked… BUT honestly, this pump failure thing is starting to get old. I mean: two since Sept. 2007? Doesn’t sound right to me.
I’ve been using a Medtronic 522 pump since June 2006 with no problems, so it’s not all their pumps. I am on my third Medtronic CGM transmitter in that time. The old version was a much larger unit sold for $1000 (no insurance coverage) supposed to be good for up to 1 year, and guaranteed for 6 months. The first one died after 5 months with battery failure, and they overnighted me a free replacement. The second one also died after 5 months with battery failure, but they said the guarantee had expired six months after buying the FIRST unit, and did not get extended with the replacement.
Then I got a free replacement from AM-EX, because their Gold Card doubles manufacturers guarantees up to an additional 12 months. This third transmitter is the current “Mini” version with a rechargable battery. I’ve been using it for 8 months with no problems.
I have had problems with my 515. Twice it has been because of the battery cap area. I really think that there are major flaws with the casing that they are using on this style pump. My last pump from minimed never had a problem until the day I cracked the screen right after my warrenty expired. I have so far gotten 3 replacements for the 515. Thank goodness the support at minimed is good.
I have had four 722’s since April 2007!!! I am right there with you! The support from Minimed is amazing but I just have gotten tired of have to get a pump and reprogram everything. Sorry you are having to go through this but I am glad you had a “good” experience with the company.
I just applied for an Animas 2020 and have been approved!!!
I have gotten that from them before. My meter was chewing up a battery one per week, if not faster. Turned out the RatShack batterys that I was putting in it were not what the meter wanted aparently. Keep it fed with a bigger name now and it is happy.
I hadn’t had any problems with mine when I read this at first, but then yesterday, my paradigm 722’s down button stopped working. On the whole, not the end of the world since I can get it to work if I try persistently enough, but minimed is sending me a new one that I thought would arrive today. Disappointing for such an expensive and advanced piece of technology to work less consistently than the average cell phone or ipod, but I guess it is doing more than those.
Ugh, Animas is awful. Not only is their only purpose as an organization to try to keep up with Minimed, but their pump is inferior in every way. I would stay far away, if not only because their support team is filled with amateurs.
My Medtronic 722 has been perfect for me for 2 years. Even if it did fail every few months, I wouldnt care because of the Real Time System that they offer and the features on the current pump. I love the 24 hour support, and they have never let me down.
As for the A33, you need to use a fresh energizer battery everytime you put a new battery in. This will prevent a lot of problems.
I have had my pump since May 2006. I am hoping it keeps on working. So far I haven’t had any problems. It seems like the people who have problems, keep having them! Yikes! I hope that it all works out and you don’t have anymore problems.
Like Jessica, I too am having issues with my Paradigm’s down button. However, my pump is an out-of-warranty 511. A while back all of the buttons decided to stop working, no matter how much I tried to get some response from my pump. Since it was out of warranty and I was- and still am- in no position to get a new one, I had to settle back into a life of MDI. I wasn’t happy and my numbers weren’t all that great. On a whim, about a week after taking my pump off, I decided to put more new batteries in and play around with it to see what would happen. Much to my delight, I found that (for the most part) it worked again! I still have issues with the down button, but luckily after a bit of prodding it’ll work for me. While it was still under warranty, I did have to have my pump replaced a few times… I think maybe 3 times in 4 years, but never within such a short time span as you’re experiencing, Manny. I can see how frustrating it is for two failures to happen in about 4 months…I hope your next one lasts much longer.
My MiniMed 512 started malfuntioning by continuously priming when I was changing. Previously I had to have two replacemnets since I started using the pump in 2002. Now I am using the Animas 2020. I was able to trade-in my MiniMed with Animas and received a discount.
We had a Failed Battery Test problem tonight (Wednesday)! We called the help line and they told my fiance to use a Q-tip as well. They won’t be able to deliver a pump until Friday. It’s kind of scary because he (and I) are not very well educated on a back-up plan for insulin.
I’m happy that other people posted their experiences on here. I felt less surpised by the Q-tip suggestion.
They are only going to deliver a loaner to us. We have 3 months to get a new one. Apparently, his 4 year warranty expired in Jan. 08. Crap! You would think with all of the blogs I’ve read with this problem that we wouldn’t have to pay for a new pump.
On Monday, I was at the endocrinologist, and when I handed her the pump to review, the down button wasn’t working, and it didn’t work the entire one hour appointment (usually it would start working again in a few minutes). Once I got home, I called minimed, and after telling me to try a few things, they told me it was possible my entire pump wasn’t working correctly, and sure enough, at dinner my b.s. was 378! I had to give shots every four hours until the new one got here. I was not a happy camper, especially at lunch when a school administrator told tried to tell me I had to go to the attendance office (we don’t have a clinic) to do such things.
Wow, what are they saying this is, because I belong to a couple different Diabetes groups and have never heard of this with anyone else.
Guess you’re just a lucky one!! Maybe you are running some cordless device your MM doesn’t like having around, but I’m sure you thought of all this already and have checked. That’s just weird though, cannot wait to see how you make out with this one.
Please keep me posted as I just started with the pump in October and have have some major issues with bad sites!! Just not getting good delivery at all, if you can believe, it’s always on the right side of me, I can put the thing in the exact same spot on the left and no problems at all!!
So I can believe, it’s just one of those things with us lucky ones!!
Linda
Hi Emily,I have an Animas 2020 also.I haven’t gone in for training yet but soon.The customer support so far has been good.When I got my pump the sent the wrong color,so I called them and the next day I had my blue pump.I also misplaced the belt clip and they sent me a new one.I found the first one just after calling them.Oh well,now I have 2.
