Anyone know what Galileo Sol "Service Mode Error 32" is?

[Abdullah]

I was diving my Galileo tonight in about 5 meters of seawater. The dive started normally and the computer checked out before we entered. It was synched with the transmitter and displayed the correct pressure. I have water contacts turned off. Before descending I turned on the computer and it functioned normally. The first 15 minutes of the dive was shallow (2 to 3 meters).

About 30 minutes into the dive I tried to turn on the light nothing happened. I put my dive light on it and it had exited back to the start up screen. All depth and time functions were gone. After we returned to shore it displayed "Service Mode Error 32". I rinsed it off in fresh water and tried to turn it on and got the same error message. Does anyone know what that means? And, can I clear that myself or do I need to send it back to Uwatec?

The computer has about 30 dives on it and the battery was reading full at the start of the dive. There were no symptoms prior to the failure.

 

[Abdullah]

An update. This error requires the computer to go back to SCUBAPRO Tech support for repair, which apparently is a 6 week exercise.

If I were to review the device, I would honestly tell people to avoid it. It costs over $1000 and failed without warning after only 30 dives. It's marketed as a solution for deep dives, but clearly has a significant reliability problem. I use an SPG, but this is marketed with a pressure transmitter. This system could be a risky bit of kit to a diver who is relying on it for both pressure and a deco schedule.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Why this was my choice in the end - Predator OC Standalone ? Shearwater Research

 

[CPH]

Three years and over 200 dives with mine. Guess you just got a bad one to have just one fault which could be rectified.
They are a reliabe computer. To say you should not buy one because it will need to be repaired for one problem is a little silly in my mind.
ANY computer can fail like that. Suuntos used to suffer with depth sensor failures but people still bought them and made them a very common computer.
Glad you found a computer that is reliable though.

 

[flots am]

I was diving my Galileo tonight in about 5 meters of seawater. The dive started normally and the computer checked out before we entered. It was synched with the transmitter and displayed the correct pressure. I have water contacts turned off. Before descending I turned on the computer and it functioned normally. The first 15 minutes of the dive was shallow (2 to 3 meters).

About 30 minutes into the dive I tried to turn on the light nothing happened. I put my dive light on it and it had exited back to the start up screen. All depth and time functions were gone. After we returned to shore it displayed "Service Mode Error 32". I rinsed it off in fresh water and tried to turn it on and got the same error message. Does anyone know what that means? And, can I clear that myself or do I need to send it back to Uwatec?

The computer has about 30 dives on it and the battery was reading full at the start of the dive. There were no symptoms prior to the failure.

All hardware can fail. I have over 400 dives on my Galileo and it's still working fine. The next computer I get might break on the first dive. Or not. There's no way to know.

This has nothing to do with the brand and is simply a fact of life for anything built by humans.


---------- Post added January 12th, 2013 at 01:43 PM ----------

This system could be a risky bit of kit to a diver who is relying on it for both pressure and a deco schedule.

Everything can fail.

If an single item's failure would cause you a problem, you need a better dive plan.

flots.

 

[Abdullah]

All hardware can fail. I have over 400 dives on my Galileo and it's still working fine. The next computer I get might break on the first dive. Or not. There's no way to know.

This has nothing to do with the brand and is simply a fact of life for anything built by humans.


That's fine philosophy if you're buying a toaster, but dive kit should be more reliable, just as aviation kit has to be more reliable. The LDS said this is the second Sol in the past few months to have this failure during a dive, which would indicate a reliability issue with the computer.

---------- Post added January 12th, 2013 at 01:43 PM ----------



Everything can fail.

If an single item's failure would cause you a problem, you need a better dive plan.

flots.

You can't plan for all possible contingencies. The value of a computer over a second bottom timer is the option to have an emergent backup deco plan that is current to actual conditions rather than the pre-planned worst case bailout table. If a device will fail after 30 dives, it can be expected to fail again in the future, which negates it's value as a backup altogether.

 

[Hatul]

I agree that a single failure of a device does not say much. So as a result someone is recommending a Sherwater product which is not even air integrated. Are you sure not a single Sherwater computer has ever had a failure?

---------- Post added January 13th, 2013 at 09:47 AM ----------

An update. This error requires the computer to go back to SCUBAPRO Tech support for repair, which apparently is a 6 week exercise.

If I were to review the device, I would honestly tell people to avoid it. It costs over $1000 and failed without warning after only 30 dives. It's marketed as a solution for deep dives, but clearly has a significant reliability problem. I use an SPG, but this is marketed with a pressure transmitter. This system could be a risky bit of kit to a diver who is relying on it for both pressure and a deco schedule.

I'm not sure if you got this error during diving, but a better lesson to be taken, is that computers can fail, and if you're doing any kind of deep or repetitive diving it's a good idea to have two dive computers-- one as a backup. I also have a small analogue SPG to backup my Galileo Sol.

 

[fat pirate]

Computers will fail eventually. While convenient, I wouldn't rely only on them. If you haven't seen one go, just keep diving longer.

That said, I've had two Galileos in 8 months which have both failed with "error 32". Being a sensible diver, I had back up spg, depth gauge and deco tables so there wasn't any drama. But for the money, it really should be more robust.

I'd quite like to know what error 32 is? Is it a physical problem (e.g. blown pressure sensor) or a software glitch?

 

[Abdullah]

An update. UWATEC has had the computer for over two months and hasn't provided the LDS with a return date or any information about the cause of the failure. The LDS has had 3 Galileo failures to return to UWATEC in the last 3 months, all new computers. Can't be just a coincidence.

 

[clownfishsydney]

Since Scubapro bought out Uwatec, their quality and service has gone downhill.