Widex FL-19 User Instructions

User’s instructions

The Flash Series

FL-19

Behind-the-ear

2

The hearing aid, earmould and accessories shown in
these user’s instructions may not look the same as the
ones you have. We furthermore reserve the right to
make any changes considered necessary.

Hearing aids and their accessories should
not be disposed of with normal household
waste. Please consult your national Widex
distributor for advice on how to dispose of
your hearing aid.

3

Contents

Your new Flash hearing aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Flash (FL-19). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The battery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Battery type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Inserting the battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Changing the battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Turning the hearing aid on and off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Right/left identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Placing Flash in/on the ear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Possible settings when turning on your hearing aid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Removing Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Automatic adjustment of loudness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Fine tuning loudness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Listening programs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Switching between the listening programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Keeping Flash clean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Cleaning accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

The hearing aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

The earmould. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Caring for your hearing aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Good advice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Accessories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Audio input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

FM systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

In case of malfunction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

4

Your new Flash hearing aid

Thank you for choosing a Widex hearing aid. Flash is a
hearing aid that allows you to be part of the process of
tailoring the sound to your individual hearing loss and
lifestyle requirements.

We recommend that you read the entire booklet to get
full satisfaction from your new Flash hearing aid.

We hope you will be pleased with your new Widex
hearing aid.

5

Flash (FL-19)

1. Microphone openings, where the sound enters

the hearing aid.

2. Volume control is available in some Flash models.

It makes it possible to fine tune the automatically
adjusted loudness.

3. Program button, which allows you to choose

between different listening programs.

4. On/off switch.

5. Battery drawer with a nail grip for easy opening.

6. Earhook – non-detachable.

7. Plas tic tubi ng.

8. Earmould.

9. Sound outlet.

10. Relief vent for

aeration of the
ear canal.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

6

The battery

Battery type

The recommended battery type for your Flash hearing
aid is:

Zinc Air battery type 13

To obtain replacement batteries, please consult your
hearing care professional. Please note the expiry date
and the recommendations regarding disposal of used
batteries on the battery pack. To ensure proper battery
function, do not use batteries past the expiry date. Be­cause they are Zinc Air type batteries, they need air to
work. Therefore, do not remove the adhesive tab until
just before inserting the battery in the hearing aid.
Once the tab has been removed, the battery will start
functioning after a few seconds. The battery life will
depend on a number of factors, such as the setting of
your hearing aid, how many hours you use it daily and
the listening environments in which you use it.

7

Inserting the battery

Before inserting a new battery in your
hearing aid, remember to remove the
adhesive tab. Do not use batteries on
which there is a sticky residue from the
tab or other unwanted substance.

8

Push the nail grip downwards to
swing open the battery drawer. The
nail grip is located on the opposite
side of the on/off switch at the bot­tom of the hearing aid.

The plus (+) sign of the battery must face upwards. If
the battery drawer does not close easily, the battery is
incorrectly inserted.

9

Changing the battery

If you hear four rapid beep-tones while wearing your
hearing aid, it is an indication that the battery is nearly
exhausted. Once the battery is totally exhausted, the
hearing aid will be completely silent. Exactly how long
the hearing aid will function after the beep-tones var­ies from one case to another. We recommend that you
always have a spare battery with you.

For adjustment of the beep-tone level or disabling of
the function, please consult your hearing care profes­sional.

Never leave an exhausted battery in the hearing aid.
Exhausted batteries may leak, which could damage the
hearing aid. When changing batteries, it is a good idea
to hold the hearing aid over a table or a carpet, in case
you drop the hearing aid or battery.

10

The hearing aid can be provided
with a battery drawer lock, if re­quired. This is a particularly good
idea if the hearing aid is worn by a
child. A special tool for opening the
lock will be included when order­ing the lock (see the drawing).

You open the lock by push­ing it to the right and then
downward with the tool in
one movement as illustrat­ed.

11

Turning the hearing aid on and off

The battery drawer is placed at
the bottom of the hearing aid.
The battery drawer also func­tions as the on/off switch.

The hearing aid is turned on
when the switch is pushed up­wards, and off when the switch
is pushed downwards.

The word “OFF” is clearly visible
on the switch when the hearing
aid is turned off.

Please remember to switch the hearing aid off when it
is not in use. Remove the battery if the hearing aid will
not be used for several days.

12

Right/left identification

If you wear hearing aids on
both ears, your hearing care
professional can put coloured
marks on your hearing aids so
you can easily see which is for
the right ear and which is for
the left ear (red mark = right
and blue mark = left).

13

Placing Flash in/on the ear

Insert a battery in your hearing aid. First insert the ear­mould in the ear canal while holding the lower part of
the tubing. It may also help to pull the outer ear back­wards and upwards with the opposite hand.

Once the earmould has been inserted, you place the
hearing aid behind the ear, so that the hook rests com­fortably on the ear, close to your head.

14

Possible settings when turning on
your hearing aid

Your hearing aid can be set to start up in two different
ways: In the standard start-up setting your hearing aid
may whistle slightly while you insert the earmould in
the ear. An alternative is a setting where the hearing
aid actively suppresses whistling while the earmould is
being inserted in the ear. Together with your hearing
care professional you can choose the start-up setting
that suits your needs best.

15

Removing Flash

Turn off your hearing aid before removing it. First re­move the hearing aid from its position behind the ear.
Carefully pull the earmould out of the ear canal, while
holding the lower part of the tubing. If it is difficult, it
may help to try to move the earmould carefully from
side to side while pulling it out. It may also help to pull
the outer ear backwards and upwards with the oppo­site hand.

16

Automatic adjustment of loudness

Flash adjusts loudness automatically in accordance
with your sound environment. Several thousand times
per second, Flash analyses the surroundings and tailors
its sound accordingly. With Flash you do not have to
think about adjusting the volume – it happens quite
automatically.

Important: If the volume in your hearing aid is too loud
or too weak, or if the reproduced sounds are distorted,
or you would like any further information, consult your
hearing care professional.

17

Fine tuning loudness

Your hearing aid may be provid­ed with a volume control,
shaped like a small lever. Push
the lever upwards to raise the
automatically set volume. Push
the lever downwards to lower
the volume. Use short touches

for minor corrections of the vol­ume. Faster adjustments are obtained by keeping the
lever pressed for some seconds.

Each time you operate the volume control, you will
hear a beep-tone. For modification of the beep-tones
or disabling of the beep-tone function or volume con­trol, please consult your hearing care professional.

Any adjustment of the volume setting will be cancelled
when your hearing aid is turned off.

18

Listening programs

Your Flash hearing aid may be provided with up to four
listening programs optimised for different listening sit­uations. Your hearing care professional can help you
select the programs that are of use to you. If your needs
change over time, the combination of listening pro­grams can be changed. In these user’s instructions, the
hearing care professional can list the listening pro­grams that are available in your hearing aid (see page

20). You can choose from the following programs:

Flash Master: This listening program is Flash’s standard
program. In the Master program all the automatic func­tions of the hearing aid work to optimise audibility,
speech intelligibility and comfort in all listening situa­tions.

Acclimatisation program: This listening program has
the same features as the Master program, but provides
slightly less amplification. The listening program is
i deal if this is your first hearing aid and you want to be­come used to all the new sounds gradually.

19

Music: This listening program is ideal for listening to
music.

TV: This listening program is ideal for listening to the
TV.

M+T: In this listening program you listen via the hear­ing aid microphone (M) and the telecoil (T). This listen­ing program allows you to listen to a specific sound
source and still hear surrounding sounds.

T: In this listening program you listen via the telecoil (T)
and not via the microphone (M) in the hearing aid. The
telecoil can only be used where a loop system is in­stalled. Activating this program allows you to listen to a
specific sound source and shut out surrounding
sounds.

20

Listening program form

Program Chosen

programs:

Application:

1.

2.

3.

4.

21

Switching between the
listening programs

You can switch between the
programs by using the pro­gram button on the back of
the hearing aid. If you do not
want to use the program but­ton, you can consult your
hearing care professional to
have it disabled.

Each time you switch to another program, you will hear
beep-tones. The beeps tell you which program you
have chosen;

• Program 1: One brief beep

• Program 2: Two brief beeps

• Program 3: Three brief beeps

• Program 4: One long and one brief beep

22

The number of different beeps depends on how many
programs you - together with your hearing care profes­sional - have chosen to have in your hearing aid. The se­lected listening programs are numbered 1-4.

If you – in consultation with your hearing care profes­sional – decide on other combinations of programs lat­er, these can be written on the blank forms found at
the back of these instructions.

23

Keeping Flash clean

Cleaning accessories

The following accessories are available for your hearing
aid:

1. Battery magnet to facilitate insertion of the

battery into the battery drawer.

2. Wax removing tool for cleaning the relief vent

opening and the earmould sound bore.

3. Soft cloth for drying and cleaning the hearing aid.

Contact your hearing care professional if you need ad­ditional supplies of accessories.

1.

2.

3.

24

The hearing aid

Never wash your hearing aid
with water, cleaning solu­tions or other liquids. In­stead, clean your hearing aid
with a dry soft cloth after
use.

When the hearing aid is not in use, it is a good idea to
leave the battery drawer open, so as to ventilate the
hearing aid and allow it to dry.

25

The earmould

Make sure that your ear­mould is clean and free of
earwax and moisture. If it
is plugged, clear the open­ings with a wax removing
tool (see illustration).

Disconnect the earmould from
the tubing at least once a week
and wash the earmould in luke­warm water. Rinse the earmould
thoroughly and allow it to dry
overnight.

26

If there is still moisture in
the earmould the next
time you want to use the
hearing aid, use a small

blower or the like to blow
it dry. Never use alcohol or other cleaning solutions to
clean your earmould.

If your earmould tubing becomes slack, stiff, yellow or
cracked, replace the tubing. For further supplies of tub­ing consult your hearing care professional.

27

Caring for your hearing aid

With proper care, your hearing aid will give you years
of reliable service. Here are some things you can do to
prolong the life of your hearing aid:

• Switch your hearing aid off when it is not in use.
Should you not use it for several days, take out the
battery to avoid battery leakage.

• Treat your hearing aid as the valuable object it is:
with care. When your hearing aid is not in use, keep
it in its case in a cool, dry location where it cannot
be reached by children or pets.

• When not in use, do not expose your hearing aid to
extreme temperatures or high humidity.

• In environments with high humidity, a Widex dry­ing kit may be used daily to reduce the amount of
moisture inside the hearing aid. See the instruc­tions enclosed with the Widex drying kit.

28

• Do not wear your hearing aid in the shower or
swimming, or when using a hair dryer, hair spray, or
other sprays.

• Never try to open or repair the hearing aid yourself.

• Do not wear your hearing aid during x-ray, MR
scans, CT scans, short-wave diathermy, or similar
radiation treatments and never place your hearing
aid in a microwave oven. These are some of the
types of radiation that can damage your hearing
aid. Radiation from, for example, room surveillance
equipment, burglar alarms and cellular telephones
is weaker and will not damage your hearing aid.

• Widex hearing aids are not certified for use in
mines or other areas with explosive gases.

29

Good advice

• The use of hearing aids increases the risk of accu­mulation of earwax. Contact your physician/ENT
doctor if you suspect that a plug of earwax has ac­cumulated in your ear. Earwax may not only reduce
your own hearing but also the effect of the hearing
aid considerably. It is a good idea to ask your physi­cian to clean your ears a couple of times a year.

• Please be sure to keep your hearing aid and its ac­cessories out of the reach of children, who might
place them in their mouths. Also keep batteries out
of children’s reach and discard used batteries care­fully. Do not change batteries in front of children
and do not let them see where you keep your sup­ply.

• Never put a battery in your mouth for any reason
as you may risk swallowing it. In case of ingestion,
contact your physician immediately.

30

• The hearing aid is made of modern non-allergenic
materials. Still, in rare cases skin irritation can occur.
If you notice skin irritation in or around your ear or
ear canal, contact your hearing care professional.

• Please be aware that the use of any type of hearing
aid/earmould may involve a slightly increased risk
of infection in the ear canal. An infection can arise
as a result of inadequate ventilation of the ear.
Therefore, we recommend that you take out your
hearing aid/earmould at night to allow the ear ca­nal to be ventilated. Make sure that you clean and
inspect your hearing aid/earmould as required. If
an infection occurs, you should disinfect your hear­ing aid/earmould and seek medical advice. Con­tact your hearing care professional for further ad­vice on methods of disinfection. Do not under any
circumstances use alcohol, chlorine or similar sub­stances to clean your hearing aid/earmould.

31

Accessories

Audio input

Your Flash hearing aid can be furnished with an audio
shoe. This allows direct connection to different kinds of
accessories (FM and CROS/Bi-CROS systems), as well as
external audio equipment (radio, TV, etc.). In this way
the sound from, for example, a radio or a speaker pro­vided with an FM microphone can be sent directly into
your hearing aid.

32

With an audio shoe connected to the hearing aid, one
or more of your standard listening programs are re­placed by dedicated audio programs.

In the form on the next page, your hearing care profes­sional can make a note of the audio programs you have
access to and where they are located. When you attach
the audio shoe, the hearing aid automatically switches
to an audio program (see page 33). If you then wish to
switch to one of the other programs, you must use the
program button on the hearing aid. As soon as you re­move the audio shoe, the usual program order is re-es­tablished (see page 20).

33

Program Program order with audio shoe

1.

2.

3.

4.

34

Important: If your hearing aid is connected to equip­ment which is connected to the electrical mains, this
equipment must meet the safety requirements stated
in the international standard IEC 60065.

Do not connect the hearing aid to sockets that are la­belled with one or more of the following symbols:

For more information on the use of audio input consult
your hearing care professional.

35

FM systems

An FM system is an assistive listening device that can
be used as an accessory for Flash. The FM system makes
it easier to understand speech in difficult listening situ­ations. The FM system from Widex is called SCOLA.

The FM system consists of a small radio transmitter
with a microphone placed near the speaker and a small
radio receiver clicked onto Flash via an FM shoe. The
operating range is approx. 15 metres depending on
the surroundings. As the SCOLA system is wireless,
both the listener and the speaker have full freedom of
movement within the specified range.

For help to determine whether you could benefit from
an FM system, please consult your hearing care profes­sional.

36

In case of malfunction

Before contacting your hearing care professional, please
follow the advice below:

If the hearing aid is dead, it could be because:

• The instrument is not turned on. Make sure the bat­tery drawer, which functions as the on/off switch, is
pushed all the way upwards and that the word
“OFF” is not visible on the switch.

• The battery is dead or does not work. Insert a new
battery. Make sure the battery is inserted correctly
and that the battery drawer is closed correctly.

• The sound outlet of the earmould is blocked. Blockage
of the sound outlet of an earmould is often caused
by earwax. Clean the blocked sound outlet.

If the hearing aid volume is not powerful enough, it
could be because:

• The battery is nearly exhausted. Insert a new battery.
Make sure the battery is inserted correctly and that
the battery drawer is closed correctly.

• The sound outlet of the earmould is blocked. Blockage
of the sound outlet of an earmould is often caused
by earwax. Clean the blocked sound outlet.

• Your ear is blocked by earwax. Contact your ENT
doctor/physician.

37

• Your hearing may have changed. Contact your hear-
ing care professional.

If the hearing aid whistles continuously, it could be
because:

• Your ear is blocked by earwax. Contact your ENT
doctor/physician.

• The tubing is broken. Replace the tubing.

• The tubing is yellow and stiff. Replace the tubing.

• The tubing often comes off the earmould or hearing
aid hook. Replace the tubing.

• The hook or elbow is cracked. Contact your hearing
care professional.

• The earmould is not correctly placed in your ear canal.
Take the earmould out and reinsert it. It is impor­tant that the earmould is placed correctly in your
ear canal.

• The earmould fit is too loose. Contact your hearing
care professional.

If the hearing aid performs intermittently, it could
be because:

• The on/off switch is dirty. Push the switch back and
forth a couple of times.

38

Listening program form

Program Chosen

programs:

Application:

1.

2.

3.

4.

39

Listening program form

Program Chosen

programs:

Application:

1.

2.

3.

4.

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