Is anyone else having trouble opening the applicator? The one I’m about to use this morning was OK but about 5 of the last ones took some real grit to twist the lid off.
I know I am older and getting older, but this could be a real problem for us as our grip strength decreases, I am also thinking about those with small hands.
I have another issue, direct to watch. The watch (Apple Watch 6) will search for the sensor. A screen comes up to tap app to pair. Does this mean the Dexcom app on the watch, the phone or what.
When I have successfully paired the watch the display would have a button that you have to scroll down to see ‘pair.” If I tap the screen with this screen the watch goes back into searching mode.
I am a hardware guy, my Mom (RIP) was the programer/mathematician. I beginning to think that there is a conspiracy by so called smart devices to convince us we are stoooopid!
Update- after 6 failures the screen wilh “pair” came up on the 7th. What a joke
I agee they are one there tight and could see it causing problems for some users.
Not sure if lightly tapping it like a jar would loosen the grip any.
I’ll try that next time I get one of those hard ones.
So far I’ve managed to get it, but I’ve got a couple pump pliers that I’ll use when the pain in those thumb joints gets too high. It’s no different than any kind of jar that’s not supposed to leak.
Maybe they’re concerned about humidity getting in and ruining the sensor.
@CarlosLuis Thanks for the mention, I’ve had similar thoughts about it but figured my grip strength was going with my age. My thought is they may be/probably are put together by machine that needs to be turned down a bit and the rubber seal probably dries out a bit making it harder to release. Of course it could also be we’re turning in to a couple wimps…
I’ve started to run my thumbnail over the seal on the rim to break it before twisting. It surprisingly seems to make it a lot easier to open.
I’ve done that from the beginning.
I sometimes struggle too. My grandma used to make us jar openers using squares of nonslip drawer liner / rug pad (similar to these: How To Make A DIY Jar Opener For A Bit Of Extra Grip ⋆ Hello Sewing). I find them helpful!
Yes!!
CR
Yes, why can’t the ‘pair’ button show in the watch window without having to scroll to find it???
And I can have watch next to phone & it not want to pair, but much later be down the hall from my phone & lo & behold it asks to pair!!!
CR
I wouldn’t try this if I were you. The sensor filament rests in a C-shaped needle and I think that dropping or bumping the applicator hard enough can knock it out like in the image below. If this happens (and you don’t notice and try inserting the sensor) the wire will not be inserted and the sensor won’t work. If you do notice this it’s much easier than you think to slip the filament back into the needle with a pair or tweezers or something. Source/evidence- I’ve only had one G7 sensor to ever have this issue and I had just dropped the applicator. I noticed the problem and fixed it in <10 seconds with a pair of tweezers.
Yes, the turning and also pushing the button on the applicator was very difficult. I had to have help. I only tried 3 G7 sensors so maybe it would get easier with more experience. I decided to stay with G6 for now.
@bwschulz Thanks for the info, another bit of trivia to stuff in my noggin! Can you please describe (or even take pictures the next time) of what it is you do? I’m trying to understand the “C-shaped needle and just not getting the picture. I’ve not encountered the situation and would most likely just call in the failure to Dexcom, but would like to know the specifics. While it shouldn’t happen (I’m thinking of how boxes of sensors get treated by the delivery and shipping industries), <10 seconds effort for saving a sensor doesn’t sound bad!
I can’t really find a better image. You can take a magnifying glass to your next sensor or click on the image I posted, click on “original image”, then zoom in for a better look. There’s a channel running down the length of the needle opposite the point. That’s how the needle retracts and leaves the sensor wire in. I’ve only needed to fix it once, but all you do is press the wire in the opposite direction of where it springs to move it back into that channel. I was on travel and only had the one sensor, so I was pretty desperate to fix it but was shocked at how easy it was.
I suspect a lot of the problems people are having with failed G7 sensors, especially multiple ones in a row from the same batch, are due to poor handling in shipping causing this problem rather than manufacturing defects.
@TomH and @bwschultz I used my high powered lighted magnifying lamp and could just detect the groove. The needle is silver and the lead dark. I suspect that you are right BW. After reading your post about the lead getting dislodged from jarring I am now wondering about how the DMEs are so cavalier about packing the sensor shipments.
I shipped some spare sensors to a friend cross country. I was thinking that he might think my packing was over kill. I used a HD rubber band to bind them together and completely surrounded with bubblewrap. Actually had to remove some to get the box to close. In my years of shipping delicate electronic devices I found that filling the space with cushion was the key to safe delivery.
That’s certainly been reported before (TUD?). IRC someone might have suggested a problem with low pressure; the applicator is sealed, I assume to avoid ingress of non-sterile air.
Try this, it’s cheaper than a new sensor:
The cap is 2.4"; there are lots of other similar wrenches, my recommendation is channellock because they have consistently served me well in this application (unscrewing sticky circular things) but YDMMV.
You may need two: think about it. Still cheaper than one Dexcom G7 sensor ($100).
