Atomic Aquatics Cobalt Dive Computer

[Zeagle Eagle]

Did they send you a Cobalt 2?

Sorry it took so long to answer. I must have missed your post. I am not sure what model it is. I will have to check. I think so.

 

[Nuribromanski]

We have a tentative explanation for Rick’s issue above, which I will post here for others who might be concerned. We’re awaiting confirmation through receipt of the dive log file. It brings up an issue for divers who come right up to the boat as they surface.


The Cobalt stays “in the dive” for two minutes after reaching the surface. During that time the Cobalt will not allow the user to back up to another screen. If you descend again during that window, the Cobalt will record a continuation of the same dive.


What it seems may have happened is that the dive guide, wanting to record information from the user’s post dive screen and unable to navigate to that screen, assumed the Cobalt was frozen, and reset it. That reset would have prevented the Cobalt from properly storing the end of dive information and closing the dive. So that dive shows with just dashes in the log, and no more information is available. Subsequent dives have been fine.


If the Cobalt is still showing dive time, max depth, etc., it has not ended the dive yet. It closes the dive two minutes after reaching a depth of 3’ or less. But it will stay in the dive screen (showing zeros for dive time or max depth) for another three minutes- this was requested for those who might be surface swimming and want to keep a compass bearing. At this point it is possible to navigate to other screens- it is no longer in a dive. After five minutes it will automatically switch to the post dive screen and display summary information.

-Ron

"End Dive" menu option would b good.

 

[serratedauto]

Has anyone had problems with the Cobalt 2 not recording the dive?

I went diving with it on Saturday and everything seemed fine setting it up....showed 3200PSI on the tank and the computer was responding fine, so I put it to sleep to save battery. Got in the water, computer turned itself on (as expected), and dropped in. Got down to 124' before I noticed that the computer wasn't showing deco time (it showed "--" instead of a numeric value). It also completely ignored the safety stop at 15 ft. Normally it comes up and tells you the countdown, but at 15 ft it didn't do anything. It was reporting depth just fine, but it seemed like it didn't detect it was on a dive. In fact, the screen kept going to sleep and I kept having to "wake" it up to see my depth and pressure. After the dive, I got home and tried doing a hard reset (held the back and select button for 11 seconds). After that, I reconnected it to the tank and threw it in the pool, but it was still showing the same symptoms, again as if it wasn't detecting that it was on a dive. It showed 5 ft, but no deco time and eventually went to sleep.

I only have 7 dives on this computer. I've had intermittent issues with the back button, but this is by far the biggest issue. I'm not sure how to resolve it because even a hard reset didn't fix it. I am running the latest firmware.

Thanks!

 

[RonR]

Sorry you had this problem. There have been a very few instances like this with Cobalt 2's, most of those have traced back to the Cobalt not seeing the wet contacts. I’m going to PM you with some suggestions and a link to a new firmware version to try. Since yours seems to be displaying this issue consistently (others have been intermittent) we should be able to diagnose it and see if it needs to be sent back to Atomic for some internal contact cleaning.

-Ron

 

[RonR]

Updated firmware versions for both Cobalt 1 (version 1.62) and Cobalt 2 (2.42) have been posted to the Atomic website, and all users are strongly encouraged to update. These versions have an interface change to the countdown timers that appear for safety, deep, or deco stops- they zoom out the timer numbers, making them a lot easier to see. The Cobalt 2 update fixes a compatibility issue with some dive log downloads on the Mac, and is required for dive log download compatibility with the newest Mac OS X version, El Capitan. It also fixes a (very) rare bug where a deco schedule could be created when the diver is still in a no-deco profile. As usual with these firmware updates, there are many fixes to minor problems and performance improvements, both of these updates are ones we strongly encourage all users to install.

I notice that as of Nov. 13th, the text on the first page you come to hasn't been update to reflect the new version numbers. However if you follow the links to get firmware, the new versions are there.

 

[Johnnye]

I purchased three Colbalt computers. Two used and one new. My wife insisted that she have a "new out of the box" as she wanted to have confidence the product was defect free. Unfortunately of the three, hers is the only one that has had problems. The other two work great and we very much like the product. All three are Cobalt I's.

We travel often and on two occasions (months apart) her computer would not go on after pushing the select/wake button. Both times it broke the first day of a weeks diving trip and her only option was to use the backup puck and a rented computer. Both times the unit was sent back to Atomic and it was "fixed". This last time when it came back the unit would not 'wake". The dive shop said the unit is probably dead (battery) and I should charge it when I got home. Well when I got home I plugged it in and it "woke up" with 96% battery life. My wife looked at me and said "I want a new computer, I wont dive with this one again"

My wife's confidence is gone with this unit and she is now looking for a "better" option. Frankly I don't blame her as it is disappointing, and a little embarrassing to be on a boat with "the best" only to dive with a puck.

Does anyone have experience with an alternative such as the Aeris 300?

 

[RonR]

I purchased three Colbalt computers. Two used and one new. My wife insisted that she have a "new out of the box" as she wanted to have confidence the product was defect free. Unfortunately of the three, hers is the only one that has had problems. The other two work great and we very much like the product. All three are Cobalt I's... <snip>

You can certainly find threads on the Aeris here on ScubaBoard, a big one here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/aeris/478917-a300cs-oled-dive-computer.html


But I&#8217;m very concerned that your wife&#8217;s Cobalt was apparently never really fixed. I&#8217;d like to help correct that. From what you say this sounds as if the Select button was not working, or not working well enough- that should be a very simple diagnosis. Connecting to the charger is the same as dunking it in water, it will cause the Cobalt to wake. If the Select button isn&#8217;t working that is in fact the only way to wake the Cobalt.

When it did wake, was the Select button hard to activate?


From what you say this sounds like the same issue repeatedly- not multiple problems but the same problem not ever getting addressed. I&#8217;m thinking something is not getting communicated. I&#8217;d like to help you get this resolved, as it really shouldn&#8217;t be that hard to have this be as reliable as your other Cobalts. If it does turn out to have been something deeper than the Select button underlying the problem it probably should have been/ be replaced.


When you were on your dive trips, would the Cobalt wake if you put it in the water, submerging the wet contacts? That is, would it- as it should- auto-start a dive without being turned on first? Is this failure to wake an intermittent issue, as in it works normally most of the time but sometimes doesn&#8217;t?


I am one of the original designers of the electronics, firmware, and user interface in the Cobalt, and while I don't work for Atomic, I work closely with them. If you can PM me with specifics like serial # I can find out what was done.


-Ron

 

[Johnnye]

Thank you Ron.

When it happened the first time I just tried to push, wiggle, move the wake button to no avail. The second time (another trip after having it "fixed") I tried the aforementioned as well as taking it along on my dive to activate the contacts. Nothing...

When it did wake, was the Select button hard to activate? Well when to broke it never woke up so I don't have feedback on what it would have done however when I got it to wake by plugging it in, the wake/select button does not feel any different than my other Cobalts.




When you were on your dive trips, would the Cobalt wake if you put it in the water, submerging the wet contacts? No. That is, would it- as it should- auto-start a dive without being turned on first? No Is this failure to wake an intermittent issue, yes as in it works normally most of the time but sometimes doesn&#8217;t? correct however the two times it was DOA and did not come back until after it went to the manufacture.


I am one of the original designers of the electronics, firmware, and user interface in the Cobalt, and while I don't work for Atomic, I work closely with them. If you can PM me with specifics like serial # I can find out what was done. Serial #1711-2673 Dive OS V1.42/1

Thank you very much

 

[RonR]

Well, if it didn&#8217;t wake with water contact it is not the Select button causing the issue. An intermittently failing component could be sending the Cobalt into boot mode, the state where it waits for a firmware update. Once in boot mode it won&#8217;t respond to a button press or wet contacts, only to a firmware update. If it were in that state now we could check by actually doing a firmware update, but since you were able to restart that&#8217;s not a possibility. The Cobalt 2 has an internal reset function activated by holding down the Select and Back buttons, but the Cobalt 1 can only be power reset by removing and replacing the battery.


It&#8217;s still sounding to me like you have had just one basic problem that Atomic never detected- since the Cobalt uses quite a bit of power in boot mode, it probably got to them with a dead battery, and resetting with power would restart the program- after which it likely worked fine as long as they had it. That&#8217;s probably why it has not been addressed, they might not have seen the actual problem. Without a very complete Q & A about what exactly you experienced it could be difficult to figure out where to look. And I'm just speculating without actually seeing the Cobalt.


I will check with Atomic and see what they show having done. If it is a board level hardware failure, which seems likely, then the solution is to replace the electronics. Can you say when you first sent it in for this issue?

Two other questions- when you removed the charger from this just received unit, did it still show the same power level? And when it woke when you plugged it in, what screen was it in?


Sorry for this frustration. I hope we can restore confidence.


-Ron

 

[buddhasummer]

I would steer well clear of the Aeris, check out the thread Ron linked to, seems to be plagued with issues.