I have a littmann cardiology 3 I bought in 2010 and the diaphragms wore out in 2019. By that time, they stopped selling official kits for the 3, so I repaired it with an off brand kit and was given a 4 for Christmas. The off brand diaphragm lasted only a couple years. My colleague has had the rubber tubing wear out. They say if you wear a collared shirt it lasts forever hanging on your neck but if it sits on your skin it wears out, and she always wears scrubs.
replyI still use one I got in 1994. Replaced the earpieces and diaphragm a few times, but the chestpiece and tubing are original
replyThat's like a little over $3/yr. Can't complain
> How long do they last? Looks like pretty solid piece of equipment, but are they damaged easily or simply clap out after few years?
replyThey last forever. Why would they break? This is like asking how long floor speakers last.
Speakers sometimes die while sitting unused in their original shipping carton in a dry, climate-controlled room.
replyThe adhesives can age. Foam surrounds can disintegrate. (Ask a Bose 901 owner about foam rot.)
They also can also die from use, and abuse. And finger-poking. And environmental conditions like moisture and UV light.
I know enough enough about old speakers to know that lasting forever isn't one of their usual traits.
Are stethoscopes really as bad as that?
My first stephoscope lasted about 10 years until the tubing became brittle and started cracking. It's the oil on your skin that does it apparently. It went through a couple diaphragms and I lost an ear piece but used a replacement one.
replyAs other commenters pointed out, rubber/plastics fail.
replyLittmann sells repair kits.
Fair enough. My medical classmates regularly used stethoscopes that were purchased by their parents for the parents' own studies but I understand there may be differences in build quality.
replyStereotypical image of the doctor is that they carry them over their neck 24/7, so that alone would destroy them pretty quickly.
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