On my post, First Week Review – #tslim, my good friend, Bennet stated his curiosity about the battery life of the pump. So as of that morning’s charge, I decided to try it out. (READ:: If you have a t:slim, please follow the instructions in the manual and charge as requently as possible and do not make it a habit to drain the battery. This was strictly for curiosity… not to be repeated…. in other words, don’t try this at home.) That post was on December 11th… and it’s now December 20th, and my battery is just hitting 15%.

Since I have a desk job, I can easily just plug my t:slim into the power outlet at my feet and let it charge. Others who maybe work on their feet or have to move around a lot probably would benefit more to charge it while they’re in the shower and getting dressed or something similar. That way you’re not “tethered” to the wall too. Or, you can charge while surfing the net, reading blogs (eh-hem…) or if you’re close enough to one at the dinner table, go for it. If you drive a lot, keep the car charger in the car and just top off on your commute. There are so many options for charging this pump. Yes, it’s another thing to think about, but it’s also like having a cell phone – you know you have to charge it, so it ends up not being that big of a deal. As with all things diabetes, you have to learn how to adjust it into your life so that it’s just another step you know you do but don’t really think about.

As for the time it takes to recharge it: Tandem says that it takes 1 minute per 1% of charge. So, in all likelihood, I’m gonna be here a while… about 85 minutes (which I would be anyway)… waiting for it to charge to 100%.  The time is ticking. I started the charge at 10:08am (EST) and am waiting…..

10:28am and I’m at 45%…..

10:46am… 70%…..

Okay… so here we are at 10:07am… and we are at 100%!

And, if I go into the history screen, you can see when I plugged it in, and when I disconnected. That’s one hour, people! One hour to completely charge from 15% to 100%.

So, there ya have it folks. While you don’t have to charge every day, it is recommended. And, if you do go a while – MAYBE 2-3 days, you should be okay too. Just be sure to keep a way to charge it with you just in case. 

If you guys have any other questions about the t:Slim, please leave it in a comment for me.