Atomic COBALT : WORST DIVE COMPUTER EVER !

[LStewart]

OK i just want to add my troubles in to this thread to show my problems and see where it goes. I have read nearly all the previous comments. I understand AA is a good company and will work to resolve this for me. My problem is, it shouldn't need to. There is obviously a manufacturing issue that doesn't seem to have been resolved. It appears they are only handling it on a case by case basis. How many others are out there that aren't posting to a forum or even returning the DC? I'd really like to know how many of these have been manufactured and how many are failing. I'll be returning mine through my LDS (who are awesome, BTW). They told me they have 3 others to send back as well. I have a cheap Suunto Watch and a SPG if my next Cobalt 2 fails. Yeah, I'm going back with them, ONE LAST TIME. We'll see how it goes.

Anyway, here's the details of my failing Cobalt 2

Atomic Aquatics Cobalt 2
Serial # - 1516-0224
Version - 2.430/4

1st dive - 11/11/16

1st failure - 5/27/17
Dive #22
Type of failure - Not showing depth or dive time. did show tank pressure
Failed in Spring water after selecting "ready to dive" actual entry was delayed for about 10-15 min.
started working again next day. All readings were normal.

2nd failure - 9/2/17
Dive #26
Type of failure - total screen blackout
Failed in Spring water after selecting "ready to dive" and actual entry was delayed for about 10-15 min. Started working the next day after holding left and right buttons for around 1 minute. Screen came up to "set time and Date" which was reading time and date of last dive - 2 months earlier. Also, settings I had entered prior to dive (O2% and tank size were erased.) battery status was at 32% even though I had charged it before diving the day before.

On both occasions I tried every combination of button pushes I could imagine for lengthy amounts of time and nothing worked until the next day.

It should be noted - after it reset on 9/3, I used it to make 2 dives that day and it worked fine.

Thanks for your time.

LarryS

 

[Sevenrider860]

OK i just want to add my troubles in to this thread to show my problems and see where it goes. I have read nearly all the previous comments. I understand AA is a good company and will work to resolve this for me. My problem is, it shouldn't need to. There is obviously a manufacturing issue that doesn't seem to have been resolved. It appears they are only handling it on a case by case basis. How many others are out there that aren't posting to a forum or even returning the DC? I'd really like to know how many of these have been manufactured and how many are failing. I'll be returning mine through my LDS (who are awesome, BTW). They told me they have 3 others to send back as well. I have a cheap Suunto Watch and a SPG if my next Cobalt 2 fails. Yeah, I'm going back with them, ONE LAST TIME. We'll see how it goes.

Anyway, here's the details of my failing Cobalt 2

Atomic Aquatics Cobalt 2
Serial # - 1516-0224
Version - 2.430/4

1st dive - 11/11/16

1st failure - 5/27/17
Dive #22
Type of failure - Not showing depth or dive time. did show tank pressure
Failed in Spring water after selecting "ready to dive" actual entry was delayed for about 10-15 min.
started working again next day. All readings were normal.

2nd failure - 9/2/17
Dive #26
Type of failure - total screen blackout
Failed in Spring water after selecting "ready to dive" and actual entry was delayed for about 10-15 min. Started working the next day after holding left and right buttons for around 1 minute. Screen came up to "set time and Date" which was reading time and date of last dive - 2 months earlier. Also, settings I had entered prior to dive (O2% and tank size were erased.) battery status was at 32% even though I had charged it before diving the day before.

On both occasions I tried every combination of button pushes I could imagine for lengthy amounts of time and nothing worked until the next day.

It should be noted - after it reset on 9/3, I used it to make 2 dives that day and it worked fine.

Thanks for your time.

LarryS

I feel your pain. I went through 2 Cobalt 1 series and then a Cobalt 2 replacement was provided. I am on the second Cobalt 2.

This is my son’s computer and he dives 2 or 3 times a year. 2 of the 3 times the computer has failed. Simply put, neither of us are confident that the computer will operate when used. This is a shame because when it works, the computer is excellent.

 

[Stoo]

So what do we do next ... I have three weeks before my trip.

Get the replacement, sell it, buy a Shearwater.

I just shook my head reading this thread. Clearly this unit has some serious issues and at the risk of stating the obvious, this is practically life support equipment. Sure it's a great idea to take a backup and tables and all that, but a $1200 PDC should work properly, reliably and consistently.

Shearwater has established itself as a superiour dive computer. All of my diving friends use then and without exception, we love them. This is not to say that they have been faultless, but when there has been an issue, Shearwater has provided exceptional support.

Honestly, I don't know why anyone would purchase any other kind of dive computer.

 

[RonR]

OK i just want to add my troubles in to this thread to show my problems and see where it goes. I have read nearly all the previous comments. I understand AA is a good company and will work to resolve this for me. My problem is, it shouldn't need to. There is obviously a manufacturing issue that doesn't seem to have been resolved. It appears they are only handling it on a case by case basis. How many others are out there that aren't posting to a forum or even returning the DC? I'd really like to know how many of these have been manufactured and how many are failing. I'll be returning mine through my LDS (who are awesome, BTW). They told me they have 3 others to send back as well. I have a cheap Suunto Watch and a SPG if my next Cobalt 2 fails. Yeah, I'm going back with them, ONE LAST TIME. We'll see how it goes.

Anyway, here's the details of my failing Cobalt 2

Atomic Aquatics Cobalt 2
Serial # - 1516-0224
Version - 2.430/4

1st dive - 11/11/16

1st failure - 5/27/17
Dive #22
Type of failure - Not showing depth or dive time. did show tank pressure
Failed in Spring water after selecting "ready to dive" actual entry was delayed for about 10-15 min.
started working again next day. All readings were normal.

2nd failure - 9/2/17
Dive #26
Type of failure - total screen blackout
Failed in Spring water after selecting "ready to dive" and actual entry was delayed for about 10-15 min. Started working the next day after holding left and right buttons for around 1 minute. Screen came up to "set time and Date" which was reading time and date of last dive - 2 months earlier. Also, settings I had entered prior to dive (O2% and tank size were erased.) battery status was at 32% even though I had charged it before diving the day before.

On both occasions I tried every combination of button pushes I could imagine for lengthy amounts of time and nothing worked until the next day.

It should be noted - after it reset on 9/3, I used it to make 2 dives that day and it worked fine.

Thanks for your time.

LarryS

Larry,

I’m sorry for the problems. I will try to offer some insight. Please understand that while we are the original designers or the Cobalt’s electronics, user interface, and firmware, I don’t work for Atomic directly.

re. Dive #22: If the Cobalt does not sense depth, it won’t start a dive, so you won’t see dive time. This is due to either a failure of the depth sensor, or of the communications between the depth sensor and the processor. Without looking at the PCB we can’t say why. But any time the sensor doesn’t work, even intermittently, the PCB needs to be replaced.

re. Dive # 26: A dark screen that is corrected with a reset (or putting to sleep and waking) could be a backlight controller. We have seen a small number (10-15) of cases in Cobalt 2's where this chip failed intermittently. That chip was replaced about 2 years ago with one that has not had these issues. Or it could be a bad display or connector, or even a battery problem. I can’t diagnose without having your Cobalt here. However your loss of battery power makes me wonder if there is some internal failure or leak that may be behind both problems.

Pressing and holding Back and Select for 11 seconds or more creates a manual reset. That will take you to the time-date screen. For safety reasons the time will always default to the time of the exit from the last dive in the log. Settings- such as your tank size and O2%- will also revert to those as of the end of the last dive. These settings are stored in non-volatile memory at the end of every dive, but the settings you just entered are in RAM. What you saw here is working as designed for a manual reset.

The intermittent nature of these problems and the fact that you had two issues is unusual, and I’d really like to follow up with this computer when Atomic receives it. If possible could you message me here with the RA # from Atomic and when it was shipped to them? Examining things like this is a key way we have improved reliability.

I have just competed a comprehensive returns analysis of all Cobalt production, seven years now, and 10’s of thousands of Cobalts. While all electronic devices will have some failures, the rate for the last couple of years production of Cobalts is quite low. A lot of earlier production is out in the field, though, so reports on boards like this don’t give an accurate picture of current manufacturing. I’ve been involved with dive equipment for nearly 40 years, including a number of dive computers, and every product has had initial problems. Atomic had it worse that most because of getting bad depth sensors from the manufacturer, ones that didn’t fail until they had been in use a while. That was a huge hit on the Cobalt’s reputation. I believe Cobalt now has a failure rate no more than other high end computers with comparable features, like air integration, and probably less due to the very extensive dive cycle testing Atomic conducts on every computer that goes out.

I can tell you that a great deal of effort has been put into making Cobalts reliable. Even though the product looks the same on the outside as it did seven years ago, there have been many changes to the case and electronics to address any failure points that have turned up in use. Atomic will definitely work to fix this for you.

-Ron

 

[mdb]

Larry,

I’m sorry for the problems. I will try to offer some insight. Please understand that while we are the original designers or the Cobalt’s electronics, user interface, and firmware, I don’t work for Atomic directly.

re. Dive #22: If the Cobalt does not sense depth, it won’t start a dive, so you won’t see dive time. This is due to either a failure of the depth sensor, or of the communications between the depth sensor and the processor. Without looking at the PCB we can’t say why. But any time the sensor doesn’t work, even intermittently, the PCB needs to be replaced.

re. Dive # 26: A dark screen that is corrected with a reset (or putting to sleep and waking) could be a backlight controller. We have seen a small number (10-15) of cases in Cobalt 2's where this chip failed intermittently. That chip was replaced about 2 years ago with one that has not had these issues. Or it could be a bad display or connector, or even a battery problem. I can’t diagnose without having your Cobalt here. However your loss of battery power makes me wonder if there is some internal failure or leak that may be behind both problems.

Pressing and holding Back and Select for 11 seconds or more creates a manual reset. That will take you to the time-date screen. For safety reasons the time will always default to the time of the exit from the last dive in the log. Settings- such as your tank size and O2%- will also revert to those as of the end of the last dive. These settings are stored in non-volatile memory at the end of every dive, but the settings you just entered are in RAM. What you saw here is working as designed for a manual reset.

The intermittent nature of these problems and the fact that you had two issues is unusual, and I’d really like to follow up with this computer when Atomic receives it. If possible could you message me here with the RA # from Atomic and when it was shipped to them? Examining things like this is a key way we have improved reliability.

I have just competed a comprehensive returns analysis of all Cobalt production, seven years now, and 10’s of thousands of Cobalts. While all electronic devices will have some failures, the rate for the last couple of years production of Cobalts is quite low. A lot of earlier production is out in the field, though, so reports on boards like this don’t give an accurate picture of current manufacturing. I’ve been involved with dive equipment for nearly 40 years, including a number of dive computers, and every product has had initial problems. Atomic had it worse that most because of getting bad depth sensors from the manufacturer, ones that didn’t fail until they had been in use a while. That was a huge hit on the Cobalt’s reputation. I believe Cobalt now has a failure rate no more than other high end computers with comparable features, like air integration, and probably less due to the very extensive dive cycle testing Atomic conducts on every computer that goes out.

I can tell you that a great deal of effort has been put into making Cobalts reliable. Even though the product looks the same on the outside as it did seven years ago, there have been many changes to the case and electronics to address any failure points that have turned up in use. Atomic will definitely work to fix this for you.

-Ron

Good support does certainly help.

 

[BoltSnap]

seven years now, and 10’s of thousands of Cobalts.

"10's of thousands of Cobalts"??? Really? You sold that many in seven years? I didn't think that the entire dive industry produced and sold "10's of thousands" of dive computers let alone one mfg. with one model.

 

[mdb]

Atomic is great at hype and huge markups.

I agree "10's of thousands" is a real stretch.

 

[RonR]

"10's of thousands of Cobalts"??? Really? You sold that many in seven years? I didn't think that the entire dive industry produced and sold "10's of thousands" of dive computers let alone one mfg. with one model.

Cobalt has been pretty successful for a single model. To be fair, it's low 10's. But when looking at boards like this, particularly when Atomic has been very open about problems, it's important to keep in mind relative sales.
DEMA reports worldwide computer unit sales between 85,265- 67,950 per year 2012 to 2015 (declining). Of course the vast majority of those are low end computers. And that still makes dive computers an incredibly tiny market for electronics.

Ron

 

[mdb]

DEMA numbers are always way off, have been for years, just as the attendance figures at recent
shows are spiked.

Fewer dive stores, fewer divers, fewer sales.

 

[RonR]

DEMA numbers are always way off, have been for years, just as the attendance figures at recent
shows are spiked.

Fewer dive stores, fewer divers, fewer sales.

DEMA numbers are a compilation of what listed manufacturers report, so yeah, maybe not spot on. And not all manufacturers report sales to DEMA. So they could be over or under reality, I don't know. But from my experience of working with multiple manufacturers and knowing internal sales figures I don't think they are wildly off- unlike show attendance. And the decline is long standing, for many active sports, not just diving.
I'm quite confident of our Cobalt numbers, since we had to make sure they all got built.

Ron