Battery problem (?) -- Suunto Cobra 3

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dive_turkey

Contributor
Messages
460
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Location
Utah
# of dives
25 - 49
So, I'm hoping that I'm not another dying Cobra 3 statistic. Really, I suspect it is just time for a new battery, but want to confirm that this is a typical event leading up to battery failure.

Prior to leaving the house I checked all my gear and the battery indicator in my computer gave me the thumbs up "Battery OK" message. We departed for the lake the following morning. I assymbled my gear, suited up, turned my tank on and confirmed my air pressure on both my analogue SPG and then on the computer. Computer fired up, entered dive mode, and gave me a reading of 206 bar, which matched my SPG. I finished my reg checks, gave everything a once more and then started to walk towards the water.

Before splashing I always turn my computer on again and reset it to dive mode since it will typically exit dive mode after not sensing water/depth for a period of time. This time, when I selected Dive Mode the screen went completely blank and then after about 10 seconds reverted back to Time Mode. This happened several more times before I finally started receiving the "Replace Battery" message. At one point the device could not be turned on for about 3-4 minutes.

Has anyone else experienced this issue? Did the battery replacement solve all your problems? Also, I'm a little frustrated that the computer will tell me the battery is "OK" all the way up until I'm about to splash, and then fail at the last possible moment. That sucked! Fortunately, neither my buddy nor I had been diving in a couple of weeks, so he let me borrow his Cobra 1 for the afternoon and I was able to complete my coursework.
 
I would bet it's just the battery. Easy to find out for sure, just pick up a 2450 battery and change it.

lithium batteries run almost full power until they are dead so the battery indicators often say battery ok then the screen blanks out unexpectedly. I change mine at least once a year or every 100 dives whichever comes first. Cold will also drain them faster.
 
As mentioned above, it is probably just the battery. Changing the battery on that computer is about a 5 minute job, and everyone who has one should carry a spare battery. I do not trust battery life indicators. On our Vyper, Gekko, Zoop, computers when the indicator drops one bar (usually at least 400 dives) I change the battery.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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