:blinking:Here's a near final and very happy outcome of my odyssey with the Beuchat.
I found that the battery was readily available at Batteries Plus and only cost $12.00. That was good news. After I removed the old battery and inspected the red (+) and blue (neg) leads, the red one broke off at the junction of the battery compartment to interior circuit wall. That was bad news! Not wanting to give up just yet, I now had to figure out how to access the inside of the unit. I found that the center portion of the back (curved to fit against your wrist if the unit was mounted that way) simply pops off with the tip of a small screwdriver. Hoping I had not let the magic out into the atmosphere (lame humor), I probed the semi-clear, jelly-like potting compoiund.
I pulled back the very thick, gooey potting compound surrounding the circuitry and saw where the wire was going out through the case wall. I managed to put the remainder out and got the hope going that I would be able to solder a splice and get a new wire out into the battery compartment. I drilled a hole and got a piece of 18 gauge out through the hole and out the end of the battery compartment.
I had wisely pre-tinned the inside end of the wire and, while it required three hands and two from my wife as well, made a connection. I had no problem soldering the negative lead on the bottom of the battery, but found that the increased size aof the new red wire made slipping it in very, very difficult. I got it in far enough to solder the red wire on the + terminal and then crammed it in the rest of the way.
Contrary to what has been seen earlier in the thread, this unit doesn't do anything (no display nor beep) unti you short across two of the three bump terminals on the face with a wetted fingertip. Then (insert drum roll here) three dashes for depth and 0 for dive time showed on the formerly lifeless display (This was apparently HUGELY GOOD NEWS!).
I got a similar "LOG" display when I shorted the other two (horizontally arranged) bumps. It looks like I might have a working computer again!
I've heard that these were a simple and very rugged design. That is apprently true.
I couldn't find anyplace that could sell me some equally nasty, sticky, conformal jelly so I opened up a new tube of silicone RTV, filled the cavity, ran a line around the outside of the case recess and re-installed the back.
It was very hard to put the unit back into the console. This was made harder by the fact that the end had a split in it. After installing it, I ran a couple of bands or black tie-wraps around the top and bottom areas of the case and tied them together in the back.
I have not dived with it yet, but am full of hope! More later.
