Hey Ron, thank you for the reply, I removed the cover and tried each of the magnets from the other buttons on the up button and it still doesn't work. The magnet in the up arrow is red, the one in the down arrow is black, the back arrow is red, and the enter arrow is black. Does this sound like a magnet issue of maybe something else?My suggestion would be to pop off the lid to expose the keypad and try it, or one of the other magnets in the keypad. If it's never been used it's very unlikely the magnets have become corroded. Sometimes the keypads can become stuck down, this might be the case if it's been sitting for a long time. Sometimes just getting things wet unsticks the keypad.
Here are instructions for removing the cover- this won't compromise the watertightness of the Cobalt:
Let me know the color of the magnets in that position- you can try using one of the other position magnets and see if that works. It may be that just the act of removing the keypad and resetting it frees up things.
Ron
Atomic Cobalt 2 - buttons, magnets, reed switches
- Thread starter ronhenry
- Start date
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RonR
Contributor
I seriously doubt any problems with the magnets, based on this being an unused unit and that using the other magnets doesn't change anything. The red magnets are slightly less strong than the black magnets. But if none work... It's possible that the reed switch is stuck. That is an easy fix, but it requires getting the Cobalt here and opening the case to solder in a replacement switch.
But before we resort to surgery, try resetting, or better yet updating the firmware, just on the off chance that long storage has left firmware in some kind of glitched state where the button press is not being seen. Instructions are here:
Cobalt Firmware Downloads - Atomic Aquatics
www.atomicaquatics.com
One other thing to try would be stacking the magnets, or using a much stronger magnet, to see if the switch has become stuck by sitting so long, and maybe a stronger magnetic field could break it loose. That's just a guess, but maybe worth a try. Let me know what you find. If none of these steps help I think the reed switch may need to be changed.
Out of curiosity, what is the serial # of this Cobalt? That lets me know when it was manufactured.
Ron
Hey Ron, I updated the software to version 2.500/4 then tried stacking the magnets but the up button still isn’t working. The serial # is 15 16-0632.I seriously doubt any problems with the magnets, based on this being an unused unit and that using the other magnets doesn't change anything. The red magnets are slightly less strong than the black magnets. But if none work... It's possible that the reed switch is stuck. That is an easy fix, but it requires getting the Cobalt here and opening the case to solder in a replacement switch.
But before we resort to surgery, try resetting, or better yet updating the firmware, just on the off chance that long storage has left firmware in some kind of glitched state where the button press is not being seen. Instructions are here:
Cobalt Firmware Downloads - Atomic Aquatics
One other thing to try would be stacking the magnets, or using a much stronger magnet, to see if the switch has become stuck by sitting so long, and maybe a stronger magnetic field could break it loose. That's just a guess, but maybe worth a try. Let me know what you find. If none of these steps help I think the reed switch may need to be changed.
Out of curiosity, what is the serial # of this Cobalt? That lets me know when it was manufactured.
Ron
RonR
Contributor
It's sure sounding as if the UP reed switch is not working. Most divers can live without that switch- the only thing it does during a dive is to manually initiate a gas switch. But you have to use the Down button a lot more to scroll through menus and options. Or we can fix it. I will send you a message here on ScubaBoard with options.
Ron
smbeatty1
New
Ron -
Thanks for your willingness to help us with our Cobalt computers. I have a Cobalt 2; the down and right switches don't work. After reading this thread, I ordered the magnet kit. Could you point me to some directions on how to replace the magnets, in hopes of restoring the button functionality? I really love my Cobalt 2, and am hoping to get it operable again. Thanks!
Thanks for your willingness to help us with our Cobalt computers. I have a Cobalt 2; the down and right switches don't work. After reading this thread, I ordered the magnet kit. Could you point me to some directions on how to replace the magnets, in hopes of restoring the button functionality? I really love my Cobalt 2, and am hoping to get it operable again. Thanks!
RonR
Contributor
Here is a link to instructions on removing the cover. Hopefully replacing magnets will fix the problem.
If newer, stronger magnets don't fix the issue, it may be the reed switches on the main PCB, in which case they need to be replaced. We can do this fairly simple task, if needed.
Just let me know how it goes.
Ron
smbeatty1
New
It worked! I'm delighted - the two failing buttons had magnets that were corroded and falling apart. After I cleaned things up and installed two new red magnets, the computer works as well as it did previously. Thanks again for your help and support, Ron!
RonR
Contributor
Good to hear. Some of the early Cobalts had a sealing mechanism on the magnets that was less than ideal. Sounds like you had some of those. The later production had magnets that are fully encapsulated and don't seem to have any problems at all. It's good that your reed switches are still working well. They are very reliable, but we have seen a few units here recently where they need to be replaced.
Ron
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