Uwatec Smart COM question - microbubbles and deco

[Dibblerr]

I think I might try the L1 setting now, but want some more information on it. I wouldn't mind a little more safety added to the dive, although all my dives have safety in mind anyway!

The only real way to see what happens is to do the same dive. Once with L0 then again on L1, attempting to maintain the same profile. You will notice reduced NDL's and then in L1 a 'Level Stop' will appear.

You will see this better on the PC once you download the dives as well. Repeat for L2-L5 to see the difference.

The problem with diving this manner is unless your buddy has the same computer set the same, the likely hood of you both having the same deco status info is minimal so you will dive to the most conservative computer anyway kind of negating your conservatism (if that makes any sense)

 

[BigBill]

Thanks for the information. I was thinking along those lines as well. I will attempt this when in Florida next month.

 

[mdmbike to scuba]

Your right you shouldnt dive after drinking, but people still do. Not good Not at all. I was told that you need to do a self exam and set the levels to how you feel. Now I have no Idea if thats right just how that was told to me.....

 

[mdmbike to scuba]

Now I have a ? for you should you add a level after every dive. Basically start the dive with L0 then move it to L1 and so on? Like I told Bigbill that I was told The microbubble makes the ndl more concervative as you move up the levels. Now I was told to leave it on L0. I have 15 dives on that level. IF I'm not setting mine right I need to fix that. As I reread my computer book I looks like I should add a level after each dive. What do you think? Thanks Mark

 

[BigBill]

Your right you shouldnt dive after drinking, but people still do. Not good Not at all. I was told that you need to do a self exam and set the levels to how you feel. Now I have no Idea if thats right just how that was told to me.....

This is completely another thread, but what you are saying is that you condone drinking and diving, just moderately and that you should assess your body before doing so if you have been drinking. NO!

From DAN http://diversalertnetwork.org/medical/articles/article.asp?articleid=14

Be well — Make sure you’re rested, healthy, well hydrated and well-nourished prior to your diving activities. Avoid alcohol before and between dives.

I don't think ScubaPro designed their computer so that someone who was intoxicated or not well enough for a dive could dive reasonably well.

I am surprised that any instructor, much less someone you might dive with, would tell you this nonsense!

 

[Dibblerr]

Now I have a ? for you should you add a level after every dive. Basically start the dive with L0 then move it to L1 and so on? Like I told Bigbill that I was told The microbubble makes the ndl more concervative as you move up the levels. Now I was told to leave it on L0. I have 15 dives on that level. IF I'm not setting mine right I need to fix that. As I reread my computer book I looks like I should add a level after each dive. What do you think? Thanks Mark

I assume this was aimed at me, if so, I personally wouldn't bother, I just came back from holiday where I put in 18 dives over 12 days all on L0, I didnt really give much thought to doing anything else. On L0 your computer will track your Nitrogen loading and adjust Standard NDL's for you.

On these dives the DM gave a plan Max Depth for a Time now here I could have chosen to follow either the plan or the computer. We 'mostly' followed the plan making the L0-5 features of the computer pointless, as we were well within NDL's. It depends whether you 'plan' a dive or 'ride' the computer and whether your buddy has the same computer & settings & dive profile as you.

Everyone has their own idea of the amount of conservatism they think they need, Ultimately it is a trade off between dive time & safety. If your doing <30ft/10M dives its not going to make a noticible difference in dive time (NDL's are already so large) but in the 18M-30M range it will impact on your dive time L5 extremely so.

If you choose a particular L value stick with it for all your diving in that series would be my opinion, If you're just doing a couple of dives in a day and thats it, I wouldn't even worry about it L0 should be fine. Personally i think good Hydration will do more for you than any of the L0-L5 stuff

Its your (& your buddies) call, if in doubt be more conservative.

 

[BigBill]

Now I have a ? for you should you add a level after every dive. Basically start the dive with L0 then move it to L1 and so on? Like I told Bigbill that I was told The microbubble makes the ndl more concervative as you move up the levels. Now I was told to leave it on L0. I have 15 dives on that level. IF I'm not setting mine right I need to fix that. As I reread my computer book I looks like I should add a level after each dive. What do you think? Thanks Mark

Each level is an increased level of conservatism in the dive profile. What he was telling me was to see what effect an increase from L1 to L2 to L3 to L4 to L5 had on each subsequent dive, attempting the same dive profile.

From what I have learned, and of course reading the manual (RTFM), the L0 level is certainly acceptable, especially with a No Stop dive. The only reason I am concerned is to have more "data" of my dive, ie. stop time, stop depths, etc. Either way, you have to use common sense along with the dive computer for any dive.

 

[BigBill]

Personally i think good Hydration will do more for you than any of the L0-L5 stuff

I was in the Bahamas a few weeks ago and the divemaster and boat captain (liveaboard) told us that someone a few weeks prior to us, got bent, due in part to being dehydrated. Hence we always had a jug of water and a jug of gatorade.

 

[HowardE]

Ok... Here's a few things.

When you're on L0 - and your computer goes into deco. Those are mandatory deco stops. It won't say "level stop" it will say "deco stop" - the dive time remaining during your dive on the display that says "no stop time" is counting down to deco. It will start you with 1 minute of Deco at 10' - this means you're having to do mandatory safety stops, since the UWATEC only goes from no stop diving to - diving with stops.

When you're in L1 - L5... your "no stop time" is counting down to your first level stop. At 10'... When you're in L1, you will have more "NDL" (although it's not really NDL, it's a level stop, not a deco stop - and your not really diving to the NDL on any table) time than in L5. There is a chart in the instruction manual illustrating this, and you can download the manual from UWATEC.

If you're in L1 - 5 the level stops are OPTIONAL. Meaning, if you blow off a level stop, the computer will ONLY penalize you by moving you to the next lower L group. Like if you're in L5 (most conservative mode) and it gives you 2 minutes at 20' and then 3 minutes at 10', and you blow the 20' stop, and go right to 10'... the computer will move you from L5 to L4.

If you're in L1-5 and the computer says "DECO STOP" or at any time the display says "DECO STOP" this is a mandatory deco stop, and if you blow that off, it will lock you out for a while, and you probably shouldn't dive for the rest of the day.

I dive a few times a week, like more than 100 dives in 2006... I leave my SmartCom computer on L1. Even L0 is fairly conservative, with respect to the tables, since remember - the computer is counting NO STOP DIVING, so that is the area on the tables before "mandatory safety stop" (the part in grey on the PADI table) is in play

It is always advisable to do a safety stop, and count your 3 minute safety stop on a watch, or just count off 3 minutes on your UWATEC computer.

If you're only diving a few days out of a week on a vacation, and only doing 2 - 4 dives a day, I would tell you that setting your computer to L3 is a little extreme, and would limit your diving to a rediculously conservative amount of time. You can easily check the dive planner mode on the computer to see what kind of time it's going to give you at a certain depth, and compare that to the dive tables.

I hope this makes sense...

 

[mdmbike to scuba]

Howard thanks alot this does help. I have a dive in the Bvi's in Oct,and we are planning about 20-25 dives down there. I just needed more info so we can be safe. I do love this computer just trying to better understand it. Thanks again for all your help. Mark