# Combo expiry date



## Radders (Apr 12, 2018)

Does anyone know if there’s a way of finding out how much time is left on an AccuChek Combo pump? I can’t seem to find anything in the menus. 
My previous Spirit pump had a countdown feature giving the number of days remaining. 
I know my Combo is coming up to its end but can’t recall which month I got it, and given the trouble I am having getting an appointment with my clinic, I don’t want to end up being forced to take an appointment in the middle of the exam season (I am an exams officer).


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## everydayupsanddowns (Apr 12, 2018)

I’m afraid I don’t know Radders. Is this something that the Roche helpline could help you with? I would imagine the helpline team might be able to tell you when you switched?

Alternatively I know @trophywench used a combo for years so might know whether it’s buried in the menus somewhere. There are a few other Combo or ex-Combo users too. @SB2015 and @Phil65 I think?


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## Radders (Apr 12, 2018)

everydayupsanddowns said:


> I’m afraid I don’t know Radders. Is this something that the Roche helpline could help you with? I would imagine the helpline team might be able to tell you when you switched?
> 
> Alternatively I know @trophywench used a combo for years so might know whether it’s buried in the menus somewhere. There are a few other Combo or ex-Combo users too. @SB2015 and @Phil65 I think?


Thanks, I hadn’t thought of asking Roche. 
I have just logged in and discovered that I first started with the Spirit in July 2008 and I remember it lasted 6 years. I know that my Spirit still had a few weeks to run when I got the Combo, so I had better get onto the clinic quick!


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## SB2015 (Apr 12, 2018)

I am using a Combo.  I have my old one as my spare.  The four years limit is the time under which it remains under guarantee by Roche.  

When I had a month left I contacted DSN and as I wanted another Combo I was just given one.  I had to agree new targets etc, sign the bit of paper and that was it.  

Roche have records of which pump your clinic have and should be able to tell you when their guarantee ends, or at least when it was registered.  The guarantee lasts four years.

Are you sticking with the same?


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## Peter Jones (Apr 12, 2018)

Hello, I really find all of you on this site amazing people, me, I have been learning new skills such as the PC one the last couple of years. I have plenty of questions which I shall have to get organised, then again there will be answers in some of the post already made. First question is what are these combos? you speak of SB2015, I use Levemir and Nova rapid this has been for the last 16 months.
T2 on insulin for 2 years.


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## Sally71 (Apr 12, 2018)

The countdown timer in Combos is only for loan pumps and is usually disabled.  The normal warranty period is four years from first use, the pump won't tell you how long is left, you'll just get an alarm when the warranty is expired.  The pump will still work after that but presumably Roche won't replace it if it fails so best to get a new one as soon as your warranty has finished!

@Peter Jones - we are talking about insulin pumps, they are little computers which deliver your insulin instead of you having injections all the time.  Unfortunately in the UK if you are type 2 you are very unlikely to get one because they are so expensive, not all type 1s can get them either, it's a bit of a lottery sadly


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## everydayupsanddowns (Apr 12, 2018)

Peter Jones said:


> Hello, I really find all of you on this site amazing people, me, I have been learning new skills such as the PC one the last couple of years. I have plenty of questions which I shall have to get organised, then again there will be answers in some of the post already made. First question is what are these combos? you speak of SB2015, I use Levemir and Nova rapid this has been for the last 16 months.
> T2 on insulin for 2 years.



Hello Peter

Welcome to the forum. 

A ‘combo’ is a type of insulin pump. Insulin pumps offer an alternative way of delivering insulin to injections. They continually infuse insulin through a cannula (Small tube) which sits under the skin. Meals and ‘background’ insulin needs are both dosed with rapid acting insulin either by basal pattern, or by pressing buttons to calculate the dose for a meal.

Unfortunately insulin pumps are not currently offered to people with T2, unless in exceptional circumstances.


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## Radders (Apr 12, 2018)

Sally71 said:


> The countdown timer in Combos is only for loan pumps and is usually disabled.  The normal warranty period is four years from first use, the pump won't tell you how long is left, you'll just get an alarm when the warranty is expired.  The pump will still work after that but presumably Roche won't replace it if it fails so best to get a new one as soon as your warranty has finished!


Thanks Sally, I didn’t know it would still keep working, that’s a relief. Having dug a bit deeper I noticed that I have two different dates on my profile on the Roche site so presumably I wasn’t even sure when I got my pump at the time! 
I am fairly sure that my pump trainer told me that my Spirit would stop working when the countdown reached zero so I had assumed it would be the same with the Combo. 

I am hoping to get another Combo. As far as I know, my clinic don’t deal with any other manufacturers, and they don’t do the Apidra cartridges for the Insight. In the run up to my last new pump 4 years ago I was hoping to get an Insight but they apparently had problems with the gadget for filling cartridges with other insulins and it was never released. I always feel slightly irritated when the DSN suggests changing to Novorapid, as if it’s exactly the same as Apidra. She suggests it every single time even though I have explained repeatedly why NR doesn’t suit me! 
Now having read adverse reviews of the Insight from those who’ve used both I am very glad not to have switched.


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## Sally71 (Apr 12, 2018)

The countdown timer does make the pump stop, in the instructions it says it's only used for loans, presumably it stops to make sure you give it back!  But this timer is not activated normally, and the end of warranty won't make it stop.

Actually I think one of the things it does during its self-check routine is check the warranty, so I think you won't necessarily get the alarm on the exact day, it will be the next time you replace the battery or cartridge, that's what happened with ours!

Good luck getting your new one!


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## Radders (Apr 12, 2018)

Sally71 said:


> The countdown timer does make the pump stop, in the instructions it says it's only used for loans, presumably it stops to make sure you give it back!  But this timer is not activated normally, and the end of warranty won't make it stop.
> 
> Actually I think one of the things it does during its self-check routine is check the warranty, so I think you won't necessarily get the alarm on the exact day, it will be the next time you replace the battery or cartridge, that's what happened with ours!
> 
> Good luck getting your new one!


Thanks Sally. It looks as if I’ll get an appointment at half term so should be plenty of time to arrange the replacement.


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