Anybody heard of any problems with the new Uwatec Smart tec

[Sean326]

Anyone else heard of any problems like this?


About 2 months ago I bought a new Uwatec Smart tec, thats the new multi gas computer from scubapro. I put about a dozen dive on it and it worked fine until last Wednesday

I was about 10 min into the dive at about 135' and it totally crashed, all it showed was SOS in the upper left corner, No deco info, no time, no air pressure... nothing just SOS.

no violations had occurred, I had not started an ascent, my dive profile was flat, I had not changed gasses.

I've already done this exact dive 2 times with the new smart tec, and 6 times with it's predecessors the air x and air z without any issues

I had it programmed for 21% travel and bottom, 50% and then 100% as deco gasses.

fortunately I had with me 3 items that saved me from a helicopter ride home

1, A citizen hyper aqualand watch attached to my BC

2, A backup analog SPG attached to my left post

3, On the last page of my wrist slate I had written out a deco plan for 150' and 200' on air, just in case.

So using the wristwatch as a timer and depth gage, my faded handwritten deco plan and my analog spg I managed to do a fairly conservative deco.
Once I got over 70' I switched to my 50% bottle yet my table was cut for air so i was being very conservative.

So almost an hour later I climbed over the stern cursing my computer but not fizzing.

so remember... always have a plan B, C, D etc..... and a cheap watch on your BC..


I sent a note to Uwatec and got this response:

Hello Sean,

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I can tell you that we have never seen anything like this before, nor have we heard of any computer going into SOS mode while still under water.

I would like to send you a NEXT Day UPS label and box to get that unit back from you.

1. I want to download it to look at profiles and

2. Get it to Switzerland for evaluation. They will provide a report as to what might be the cause.

We will replace the unit with a new one, and still provide details of the findings on the first unit.

Please provide an address for the UPS info and the Serial number off the wrist unit.

Best regards,


SCUBAPRO/UWATEC

 

[Gillty]

I have about 50 dives on my smart tec with no problems and I have two friends that use them also with no problems. Please let us know what they tell you.

Thanks

Gillty

 

[jbb]

Yes, my Smart Tec totally shut down on me as well. Fortunately I was in between dives noting some dive information. On the next dive it just wouldn't activate and wouldn't turn on even after drying.

I was on vacation and was glad I had brought my old computer with as backup. I only had about 20 dives on the unit. I got back home and gave it to my LDS that I bought it from to send to Uwatec. They said there were software issues with early models that may have caused it to shut down. They reprogramed the computer and sent it back to me about 3 weeks later.

Jason

 

[Sean326]

I got this note back from uwatec, they don't have my computer yet but they have photos that I e-mailed them showing the screen.

uwatec rep:

I forwarded your earlier email to us to Switzerland, and they have replied to me that based on the “-99” on the screen- it tells them that you had a pressure sensor failure, first they have seen.

 

[Wijbrandus]

Sounds like Uwatec got right on top of it. Always good to hear.

 

[Sean326]

Sounds like Uwatec got right on top of it. Always good to hear.

sounds like more than 1 problem,

JBB was software, my pressure sensor sounds like hardware

 

[Wijbrandus]

Ah, I missed that part. Thx.

 

[jbb]

Well,

Responding to myself. My Smart Tech just crapped out on my again after 10 dives after being reprogramed by Uwatec. Has that wrench symbol on it. This is the last straw. Shame on me for buying a new model of anything. I'm getting my money back and buying a Suunto Vytec.

Jason

 

[Wijbrandus]

Ugh. You are giving me very little faith in my wife's computer.

I sure hope it holds up for a week's worth of diving.

Although this does make me happy I dive tables. She's trying to talk me into using a rental computer for the week, and I'm really not liking that idea.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I've already done this exact dive 2 times with the new smart tec, and 6 times with it's predecessors the air x and air z without any issues

I had it programmed for 21% travel and bottom, 50% and then 100% as deco gasses.

fortunately I had with me 3 items that saved me from a helicopter ride home

1, A citizen hyper aqualand watch attached to my BC

2, A backup analog SPG attached to my left post

3, On the last page of my wrist slate I had written out a deco plan for 150' and 200' on air, just in case.

So using the wristwatch as a timer and depth gage, my faded handwritten deco plan and my analog spg I managed to do a fairly conservative deco.
Once I got over 70' I switched to my 50% bottle yet my table was cut for air so i was being very conservative.

So almost an hour later I climbed over the stern cursing my computer but not fizzing.

so remember... always have a plan B, C, D etc..... and a cheap watch on your BC.

My first thought is that if you have already done the exact same profile twice with the smart tec and a half dozen times with an Air Z and Air Z, you probably had a pretty good idea of the deco stops required, at least with air deco, so that experience itself would have kept you out of a decompression chamber.

But extra conservatism is seldom a bad idea and your point needs to be well taken that any time you are doing a deco dive wth a computer, you need a redundant means to determine depth, a means to track dive time and stop time as well as a backup deco plan.

This could be in the form of a backup computer, although the smart money would be on a bottom timer or a redundant depth gauge and watch combined with a backup plan on a slate.

When deco diving I actually do it in reverse and use a wrist mounted bottom timer and slate with the primary and contingency deco plans as the primary means of conducting the dive. The computer is then used as a more efficient way to end a dive due to an abort etc, where the full deco schedule does not need to be used due to much shorter than planned bottom time.

I get nervous when people use the computer as the primary means for determining deco as it creates the potential and the temptation to short cut the planning process there by failing to ensure adequate gas planning, adequate gas reserves and adequate contingency planning in the event that the computer fails, one or all deco gases are lost, etc.

Plus writing the plan on the slate each dive, over time, results in you essentially memorizing various deco schedules and curves which creates yet another level of redundancy.