Twice now the battery of the Dash PDM has dropped from a healthy charge to 0-1% in a very short time. Yesterday it was at 74% when I went to do some errands. Four hours later it was completely drained. 
Is anyone else experiencing this?
2 Likes
How old is it? Is the battery replaceable?
1 Like
Yeah, the Dash PDM has that problem. Is WiFi off? They were pretty good about sending replacements if youāre having battery issues.
1 Like
Date says Dec. 2022. Iāll check for replacement online.
Yeah, wi-fi is off and I reduced the screen brightness, too.
I stopped using dash maybe a year and a half ago? My PDM was always going from 90% to like 15 % in a couple of hours most of the time. I did all the things your suggested to do to keep the battery healthy like only leaving it on the charger until 80% charged and turning it off for awhile every day. So I contacted insulet and they sent me a new PDM.
Well ā¦ that PDMs battery was even worse than the one I wanted replaced. Lol
Eventually I just started carrying a couple of power banks with me. Plus syringes and a vial of humalog that had like 20 units left.
Im sorry that they have apparently done absolutely nothing to fix this problem. The Omnipod 5 controller does not have this issue.
1 Like
Wow - Iām thinking maybe Iāll continue using the Eros pods until Iāve run out of them and see if something else comes along in the nontube type of pump. I know Medtronic had ideas - but got their wrist slapped on āborrowingā certain technology ā¦ hmmm ā¦ when will they learn.
Anyways, some nice Dash using T1D Americans on my Eastern Loop sail this summer - donated their unused ones - so Iām good to go for at least another year until I figure out what my next insulin pump will be. Iām in Canada, where coverage for technology is hit/miss depending on where you live - so all good in my little world of diabetes that Iāve been living with for almost 60 years!
3 Likes
I want to get a second (longer) charger cable for the Dash PDM but I donāt know what kind of micro-connector it uses. Advice, please?
1 Like
I think this is what you need:
This Amazon link give you 3, 6, and 10 foot options. And free returns if it is not right.
But it seems to match from the pictures.
https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Basics-Charging-Transfer-Gold-Plated/dp/B07232M876/
2 Likes
@catlady Its a standard micro-USB plug, the other end is usually a USB-A standard that plugs into a charger supply. However, Insulet cautions people to only use the charger/cable provided with the PDM. That said, as long the charger/cable are from a reputable source (i.e. some charger supplies/cables on head-ons at check-outs of grocery/big box stores are questionable) and is the same charger strength output of volts/amps, it should be fine and not cause any problems. Note: Iām not an electrical engineer and do NOT speak for Insulet; not sure Iād tell Insulet I used a non-Insulet provided charger/cable!
3 Likes
Not to hijack the thread, but has anyone heard what the EUās requirement for a common charger type (stipulating USB-Cās oval shape ala Apple iPhone moving to USB-C) is going to do for Dexcom, Insulet, and other PDMS and devices? I donāt recall having seen anything on it.
2 Likes
As I understand it, the EU mandate is for all new portable consumer devices, so it would not include legacy medical devices. Since Insulets strategy is to use off the shelf hardware, I would imagine any new PDM designs will use USB C, but I doubt theyāll revise the design of existing hardware.
3 Likes
The information that comes with the Dash PDM also says to keep chargers in other locations (car, office, etc.)! 
Thanks, Eric!
2 Likes
Letās add this to the ever-growing list of diabetes rules we break. 
6 Likes
IRC the basic hardware retails for around $25 as a real cellphone. So the battery inside it has to be really cheap. Hereās a link:
Of course you are using a medical device so I would recommend, quite strongly, against doing anything including following that link. I donāt think āright to repairā applies to medical devices, if, indeed, it applies to anything.
What I did notice is that Insulet kept on sending me replacement PDMs. They did ask me to send the old one back but since there is no way of deleting personal data off the PDM, or at least they couldnāt tell me one, I havenāt responded: I can delete all the data but the process involves either a microwave (which may not work afterward) or a welding torch (which will).
Incidentally and completely off topic the cellphone itself is eminently reusable, the only problem is resetting it to remove the Insulet software. If I could do the latter I could send it back to Insulet and they could then give them to organizations which can make such things useful, maybe thatās what they do.
3 Likes