Hi guys, great discussion! Feel free to keep it going
Small update, now day 2
The fluid has gone normal, but the reading problem remains. So, discarding any relation to the excess fluid.
I would say that the fluid has appeared as I kept pressing the implant with my phone trying to get a read when the problem happened.
Just FYI, I’m talking to Amal via email
Goody, best thing you can do. He’ll have you sorted out.
both here and at @Ottomagne’s thread I’ve seen a lot of talk about stress damage… but what if that’s not the case?
What if the tendons, bones and natural curvatures of the body are just forcing the antenna into a weavy-bendy shape that does not couple well with flat square fields anymore?
That would also explain @Mariarangok example. by pushing it flat she is basically adjusting the antenna for a better coupling.
My doNExT is permanently bent into a Pringles chip shape and it couples like a champ. This implant has so much range to begin with that whatever suboptimal shape you force it into just doesn’t matter. Better: because its edges aren’t in the center plane, it actually couples at a 90 degree angle with my most powerful readers.
Anyway, whatever performances it has, they shouldn’t suddenly change or disappear, which is what has happened to Ottomagne and Mattsudo.
Yeah yeah rub it in… 
yours is also the only one without another chip in the middle… and once the antenna is no longer fully flat, stuff in the middle might impact it.
Also, your arm is larger than @Mariarangok’s, which should cause less deformation on yours, which could cause more issues for her case…
Besides, my main point was for application on the hands, where the antenna has many tubes and thingies pushing it constantly in many directions, hence the “wavy” shape I mentioned.
Unfortunately your Next is far too modified and optimally placed to be a good reference for those guy’s issues…
Okay…
Just for clarity mine has no issues reading at all, it’s just that a combination of my dumb door setting, and my smaller radius bone the chip gets turned away from the reader when I present it to the door, and since the door runs on AA batteries it’s not super powerful. So I can either do the weird arm twist thing or tap my arm to get the implant facing the door (which was my preferred method but now I worry all the moving might cause issues), with my arm flat on the table, I get a perfect read from a significant distance with the reader.
The other thing to remember is that Maria has a flexMT which has a construction much more like a standard flex i.e. copper antenna soldered to chip it isn’t a foil antenna that may well be a bigger factor than a hole being cut out.
Although the hole and the subsequent tissue connection may indeed help stabilise the antenna and reduce any fatigue.
I’m trying to be economic with words. Right hand on a splint.
@Mariarangok was an example about the bending.
the issues I mentioned were @Ottomagne’s and @mattsudo’s
I also wasn’t lashing at you, @anon3825968
I think perhaps you missed that bit:
Yeah I got you, but I wanted to state it clearly cause I’ve learned in here it’s best to add all the disclaimers.
that would be true to stress damage. if you break a connection, it might become irregular for a while but will ultimately fail.
What I said about the antenna shape would potentially change or disappear. because the shape might change, the inflamed tendon/water buildup/etc… would change. then the issue could go back to normal.
I agree.
Silly me to think I could be economic with words. 
Nah. The shape of the antenna matters, but it’s not that sensitive - especially with big-ass implants like those
Also, I don’t know if you’ve felt a flexNExT, but it’s not exactly paper-flexible. Even my doNExT without the center LF implant is roughly comparable to a piece of stiff printer cardboard. It’s not gonna acquire any waviness with tendons underneath it. It’ll conform to large features like the overall shape of a hand or wrist, but it won’t get “imprinted” by things that are significantly smaller than itself.
Any failures of the standard flex wedges attributed to similar fatigue failure?
I would expect it to flex more on top of the hand, but it also has the thicker copper antenna, along with presumably a better chip weld
Copper has a much higher fatigue strength than aluminum. I’d expect copper wire antennae to be more resilient. Although in fairness, it depends entirely on the thickness of the wire and the exact copper alloy used. A bad copper wire antenna design will not outperform a good aluminum foil one. But a copper antenna designed without taking fatigue into account will probably be a lot more forgiving in that respect.
As for soldered connections, they’re not necessarily stronger than crimped connections. In fact, one of the most resilient and failure-proof method of connection is the good ole wire wrap, still used in applications where very high reliability is needed, and/or connections are subjected to extreme vibrations or accelerations, like military and aerospace.
I’m glad to hear this, as my implant date comes closer and closer and seeing the issues has been a bit scary, I was gonna go ahead with it anyway of course, but knowing mine being a custom Mt type reassures me a bit.
Need to add myself in here.
FlexNExT installed a month ago. Scanned fined to a few friends phones, all LEDs statyed on consistently - this morning, nothing, nada. No lights, and my KBR1 doesn’t scan, my phone with NFC tools can’t read. I’m mildly panicking. Last known working 3 days ago.
There’s some “fluid” above it, but it’s more like small bruising? It was there when it worked a few days ago too though, and doesn’t seem any more noticeable.