Hello!
I read on the Tandem site that the mobi is water resistant, but not water proof. I will be going on a trip that will likely involve some snorkeling/swimming, and was wondering if anyone had found any good options for protecting their mobi? I would rather do that than disconnect it, if possible.
Thanks!
I believe the short answer is that you should get one of the protective cases that are available to protect against sand and dust but only rely on the water resistance rating as stated by Tandem:
“IP28” means, “2”, that it isn’t particularly resistant to solid objects; it is not resistant to sand for example. The “8”, however means that it is protected against immersion in water deeper than 1m (3ft) under conditions the manufacturer specifies. The above web page states the limits:
The Tandem Mobi insulin pump is water-resistant to a depth of 8 feet (2.4 meters) for up to two hours (IP28 rating) when the cartridge is loaded.
The spec sheet of your mobi should also include the IP28 rating along with the limits for the “8”; IP28 is meaningless without the manufacturer limits.
The limits are longer than the Omnipod (1 hour) but less deep (25ft for the Omnipod), however neither device states the result of repeated immersion. I know from experience that the Omnipod will fail within an hour as a result of repeatedly diving under the water, even to a depth of less than 25ft.
I’d get a protective case for the mobi simply to protect against sand and dust but I can’t see a way of protecting a mobi or any similar insulin pump against water beyond the manufacturer’s recommendation (8ft for 2 hours max). Tandem go on to say this (emphasis added by me):
The Tandem Mobi insulin pump it is not waterproof and should not be worn while swimming, scuba diving, surfing, or during any other activities that could submerge the pump for an extended period of time.
I.e. do not swim or snorkel for longer than 2 hours.
It should not be worn in hot tubs, whirlpools, or saunas, to avoid exposing the pump to high temperatures.
I.e. no water temperatures above 104F (the hot tub approved max, also a quoted max for skin temperature in a sauna). Notice that US hot water temperature is limited by default to 120F.
You may have to disconnect if you are going to be immersed in the water for longer than 2 hours however if you disconnect for longer than 1 hour you need, at least, a long acting insulin. For SCUBA I always swapped back to MDI; I kept the Omnipod on but reduced the basal to 0 (it lasts longer than way) but then didn’t replace it when it failed. It didn’t fail on training dives; shallow and mostly short, it invariably failed on recreational dives even if the dive stayed above the Omnipod 25ft limit.
I would avoid diving while snorkeling even if I stayed within 8ft but most untrained snorkelers are unlikely to even dive that far.
I believe there is a way to build a dry-bag to enhance the water resistance of a tubed insulin pump. It is necessary to have some kind of sealing ring on the canula tube, e.g. an o-ring, but given that the tube can be temporarily disconnected and threaded through the seal I don’t think that is a problem.
Once this is done the dry-bag can be inflated to give enough air to support a particular depth or could be pressurized or, indeed, both. Then the bag will simply breath in and out round the pump and no water will get in. (This depends, as with any dry-bag, on the bag seals being correctly sealed!)
A more sophisticated solution would use a flexible pressure bladder within the dry bag which expands into a fixed space inside the bag. This automatically accommodates pressure changes without requiring careful inflation of the main compartment of the bag.
Just a note, in a dry bag or not, it is most unlikely that the sensor will work for prolonged periods in the water. It is not that it will stop trying. Water is just not a good conductor of the signal. I have usually found that is just as easy to disconnect. But that is just me.
My main concern about disconnecting is that I would then have to leave it somewhere when I am in the water and there is the potential to lose it. I’m not generally in the habit of losing things, but the mobi is very small… I would be constantly checking to make sure that it’s still there and therefore not be able to enjoy my time in the water!
I think that I will get a case to protect against the sand, as jbowler suggested, and then just limit my time in the water and try to avoid submerging the pump too much. If I’m in a place that I feel comfortable disconnecting, I may do that for a short time.
Thanks to both of you for the comments.
I have taken my Mobi on several week-long beach vacations, and have given mine so very many hours of 100% drama-free swimming (fresh water and ocean, with and without waves), waterslides, snorkeling, kayaking, and paddle boarding with occasional surprise dunking. I grilled multiple Tandem folks before buying a mobi about its water abilities and was reassured by every single one of them that it will hold up to the IP28 rating and if I somehow managed to break it with water damage they’ll replace it. Frankly, IP28 is a higher rating than I have if were I to get a label, so if Im down longer and deeper than it can handle Ive got bigger problems than a sad pump.
My only challenge when swimming is that when the Mobi alerts for any reason, its startlingly LOUD when both it and my head are underwater! And okay, a small annoyance if I was using the long tubing and didn’t have it tucked in for any reason that it feels super strange to have the tubing very mildly dragging through the water and so putting the very gentlest of pulls on the infusion set. Obvious solution is to tuck or cover the tubing better, and now I know.
I haven’t used any added cases (they cant keep water out anyway if you run the tubing to the outside of the case), and my only additional step for the days with waterslides or big waves is to use a stretch of “vet wrap” (goes by a couple names, stretchy, sticks to itself, readily available in many colors and widths on Amazon) on my arm to keep both the pump and infusion site from snagging on anything stupid if Im not already wearing the long sleeve rashguard.
After 3 days camping and swimming on a fine sand beach I was amazed to find sand trying to work its way into the screw threads of the little pigtail part where the cartridge and infusion set twist together, but I was swapping out sites anyway so mostly just a novelty notice of how dang persistent sand is at getting EVERyWHERE. The sand itself caused no problem.
I play hard and I am super happy with the adventur-ability of my Mobi: camping, hiking, foreign countries, week long canoe trips, beaching hard, airports, airplanes… all better with it than without and with relatively little accommodation needed.
Thank you for sharing your experience with the mobi around water, skye! It reassures me about my upcoming water adventures!