# I'm getting a new battery Monday **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 20, 2022, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091 "2022-01-20T01:24:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/1 "2022-01-20T01:24:46Z")
in the late summer of 2007, I got a pacemaker. The battery was estimated to last for 10 years, but here it is, nearly 14 1/2 and still going, but steadily weakening. So on Monday, they will replace it. I have to get a Covid test on Sunday and then get to the hospital by 7 AM on Monday, but I should be out before noon. They do have to cut though, but it is done under local anesthetic. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/2 "2022-01-20T01:27:48Z")
Best wishes! come back soon. In my home town years ago, when pacemakers were new, one little girl took her “battery operated grandfather” to Show and Tell. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/3 "2022-01-20T01:38:56Z")
See, this is why you should have held out for one of those plutonium-powered pacemakers they were touting in the 1970s. [![](https://media-ecn.s3.amazonaws.com/embedded_image/2016/01/plutonium-pacemaker3.JPG) ](https://media-ecn.s3.amazonaws.com/embedded_image/2016/01/plutonium-pacemaker3.JPG) Should be able to get a good 100 years out of one of those. PS best wishes, stay healthy ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/4 "2022-01-20T03:39:12Z")
Best wishes! ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/5 "2022-01-20T03:41:53Z")
Congrats on getting those extra years without issues. I hope all goes well and the recovery isn’t too itchy. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/6 "2022-01-20T05:13:24Z")
I hope it goes as smoothly as possible. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/7 "2022-01-20T16:52:08Z")
Good luck. Tell 'em to put a Duracell battery in. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-mmzouTABA) ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/8 "2022-01-20T16:54:58Z")
Is there a way to get a jump start if the battery dies? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/9 "2022-01-20T17:09:29Z")
Don’t know if you have a Medtronic device, but if so the dry room they make the batteries in is about 20 feet away from my desk. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/10 "2022-01-20T17:25:18Z")
It is a Meditronic. One thing I’m not clear on is whether they have to replace the whole device or can just replace the battery. The delicate part of a pacemaker is the lead to the heart, but that is intact and will not have to be replaced. I don’t know what happens if the battery dies first, but the last exam showed it good till at least March. Thanks for your wishes. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/11 "2022-01-20T17:32:43Z")
Is taping a wireless charger to your chest at night out of the question? 😄 ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/12 "2022-01-20T18:59:51Z")
Remind the docs that the end with the bump is +. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/13 "2022-01-20T21:16:46Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > Is there a way to get a jump start if the battery dies? One could uses [these.](https://images.thdstatic.com/productImages/e99f3c02-326b-413e-8d38-7cc7abe12aee/svn/stark-jumper-cables-21513-h-64_1000.jpg), especially if you’re into nipple clamps. After all more people have them in their car than [this version](https://www.denovamedical.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/thumbnail/565x/8e7699036eefeb66b7d63c84b2f2e8a6/m/e/medtronic-physio-control-lifepak-10-2.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/14 "2022-01-21T05:41:04Z")
I personally would show up at the hospital in a pink bunny suit banging a bass drum. 🙂 Best of luck Energizer! ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/15 "2022-01-21T06:14:44Z")
So isn’t there, like, a little plastic cover with a catch at one end and a small phillips head screw at the other and you just undo the screw and get the old battery out and put the new one in making sure you have it the right way around? I hate the way things aren’t user serviceable these days. I blame Apple. [hope it goes well] ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/16 "2022-01-21T08:21:30Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is taping a wireless charger to your chest at night out of the question? I was think more along the idea of grafting on some solar panels. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/17 "2022-01-21T08:25:47Z")
Here you go: > **[THE SOLSOL™ SNAPBACK 1.1W SOLAR CHARGER HAT](https://solsolhat.com/products/the-poweraid-sup-style-font-size-16px-sup-snapback-solar-charger-hat)** > > FREE U.S. DOMESTIC STANDARD SHIPPING Portable Solar Hat powered that can charge your smartphones, tablets, smart watches, digital cameras and other 5V USB gadgets. It's 100% safe, no batteries and charges your devices battery. Capable of charging... ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/18 "2022-01-21T08:34:55Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > The battery was estimated to last for 10 years, but here it is, nearly 14 1/2 and still going The JWST of pacemakers. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/19 "2022-01-21T08:39:10Z")
Don’t count your chickens. Could we say Mars Spirit instead? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091/20 "2022-01-21T15:11:53Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > Is there a way to get a jump start if the battery dies? The boss where I used to work had a heart attack. He didn’t need a pacemaker but had a bypass. When he came back to work someone had put a truck battery and a set of curly jumper leads on his desk, with a label: “FOR EMERGENCY USE ONLY” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-a-new-battery-monday/958091.md?page=2)