Info Experience report: Scubapro Aladin Sport Matrix – a great computer, but…

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

afieldofblue

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
Messages
363
Reaction score
146
Location
Indonesia
# of dives
2500 - 4999
Hello all
My (not so) faithful, yet favorite dive computer, a Scubapro Aladin Sport Matrix, has finally died out on me last July.
It was 4 years old.

A somewhat silly death in my opinion – one of the two frontal buttons coming loose (?!?!?) and the computer flooding from there during a dive, in instants...

Well, it’s been quite a ride with this computer, which I thought I’d share it with whoever's interested, for the sake of sharing an experience report and maybe as a way of mourning a piece of gear that I’ll now do without...

First, I want to say that I really like Scubapro products, nice design, no frills, and – very important for someone working in diving like me – usually rather sturdy, long lasting, and decently priced.

But my Scubapro Aladin Sport Matrix has really not lived up to these expectations, and played tricks on me till the end.

February 2018, one happy camper with a brand new Aladin Sport Matrix

Looking at the invoice I still have, I bought the computer in February 2018, during a break from work as in instructor in Asia, from a well-known French retailer in Paris, great LDS.

I was attracted to its simple design, readability and some of the more advanced functions this DC offered, along with a simple user-changeable battery, and a rugged appearance, which seemed to reflect Scubapro's reputation for building sturdy equipment capable of withstanding the rigours of regular diving.

The Aladin Sport Matrix was wrist-mount model, and became my primary computer at the time (I always dive with two).

And diving it went, 2 to 4 dives a day, depending on whether I was working on land or liveaboard on the Andaman Sea in Thailand.

All was well in my world, happy with the computer, until the first small hiccup…

March 2019, the straps + mount started rotting away

The computer had been thoroughly rinsed in fresh water after each day of diving, and taken care of (protected from harm and heat, not placed in a case, but air dried with love, since we were in the moist South-East Asian tropics, on the Andaman Sea...)

And yet, alas, the “white rot” settled in. This is something I had only seen on Mares bungee fin straps once, a kind of white rot or fungus breaking down the material like a contamination, very odd, but ruthless.

Same went for my wife’s Aladin Matrix, which she had also bought a few months later in Thailand – after a few months, the straps looked like this (you can actually see this rot spreading to the mount if you look closely) :


IMG_20190302_091527.jpg
IMG_20190302_091423.jpg
IMG_20190302_091436.jpg
IMG_20190302_091447.jpg
IMG_20190302_091501.jpg
IMG_20190302_091516.jpg


The straps then crumbled away into oblivion...

The straps gone, they were replaced with bungee, which worked well – however the boot (mount, holder) material soon began to break down in the same way, a slower process, but which finally led us to replace it with a custom 3D printed rigid plastic mount, which worked fine (see here for more details).


Unlucky? User error? Well, it happened on both Aladin computers, while I've never had this with other computers I've owned and used in the exact same conditions.
And I have also heard similar stories from people using Aladin Ones as rentals in their dive center, also in the tropics, and had to switch to NATO straps, then bungee straps as well, so there might be something more to the story....

Anyway I signaled this issue afflicting our Scubapro Aladin Matrix computers, with pictures, to Scubapro, but there was not much to be done, unfortunately.

No biggies, computer still worked fine, straps or not.

Until....


April 2019 - software error E6


Yep this time it was more serious - the Scubapro Aladin Sport Matrix started beeping and an E6 ERROR.

I contacted customer service again and was told that

The E6 error is indicating the issue with the PCB, the computer has 2 years of warranty, please return it to the place you purchase the computer, thanks.

Computer unusable in high season – luckily enough, it was still under warranty - Ok, I'm working full time in Asia, diving every day, and it was bought in France, not an ideal situation.

Luckily enough, the stars aligned, and I managed to send it back to where I had bought it in Europe with someone making the trip, where it was taken in and swiftly fixed by the French LDS, as still under warranty.

And in May 2019, my Aladin Sport Matrix was fixed and finally brought it back to Asia by someone making the return trip – saved!



What followed was relatively uneventful, other than a minor problem.


Enter the Bluetooth connection issues...


Ah, yes, minor and gadgetty, but the computer's Bluetooth LE connection was having issues connecting to the infamous Logtrak app, especially on Android, and I helped out a very passionate engineer in testing possible solutions, trying different fixes to get it to connect after the day’s diving.

44 email exchanges and many procedure tests later, it finally worked (kudos to Jules Garnier and Patrick from the Switzerland Scubapro R&D team, awesome job and dedication to making it work for everyone!!!)

Issue was fixed - sure Bluetooth still often took a little bit of fiddling around to connect, but it worked now.

So did my serviced computer with its replacement bungee mount, happy days.



November 2021 - E37 error!


Fast forward to November 2021 – after 6+ months with very little diving due to the 2020 pandemic, I am now working in the Maldives. Fresh batteries, 3D printed bungee mount and diving 2 to 3 dives a day.

All good until the second software error came up : E37 …. computer out of control, in what looked like a pressure sensor error – getting in touch Scubapro again, doesn’t sound good, computer no longer covered by warranty, in the Maldives…


Just to make sure, we try a hard reset, battery removed for 48 hours +, as indicated.

Miraculously, it worked!
A little scary, but hey, it is what it is, right?

After multiple tests comparing depth readings, the computer is accurate, and stayed so until its tragic end.
The end, which came abruptly in July 2022, now working in Palau, Micronesia.


July 2022 - button loose (?!), computer floods, game over...


My Aladin Sport Matrix finally left this world, after flooding at the beginning of a dive, due to the left frontal buttons becoming loose.


Water apparently came in through the button seen in the picture below, which killed the computer (the battery compartment is dry / intact). Ouch...

IMG_20220728_182511.jpg
IMG_20220728_182502.jpg
IMG_20220728_182601.jpg


The button was loose but still in place - it had stayed on during the dive, but popped out fully after the dive, probably due to water accumulating inside the unit.



Finding the circumstances a little dubious, even for a computer almost 4 years old, I again flagged the issue with Scubapro customer service.

Sure, the computer was 4 years old and had seen a lot of diving, but it had been really well cared for, like all my other computers which never had issues like this.

It was protected from shocks and vibration, heat, sunlight, and rinsed in fresh water every day after diving, and dried.

First directed to European customer service (it was bought in Europe after all), the German branch was very understanding told me to send it in so a Scubapro Workshop could look into it.
Appreciated, even if the computer was clearly fried, at least they wanted to look into what happened.

Alas, being in Micronesia, the return procedure was transferred to the North-American branch, who explained to the local Scubapro dealer that there was nothing they could do since it was flooded, as per policy...

Fair enough – it was indeed flooded, and no longer under warranty - not really the most customer supportive customer support given the circumstances which point to something else than user error, but hey, such is life, right?

So goodbye Scubapro Aladin Sport Matrix - we've had a good, if bumpy, run together...


THE END, RIP ALADIN SPORT MATRIX

So that’s my story with this Scubapro Aladin Sport Matrix, which I thought I’d share, as an experience report.

Maybe I was just unlucky and got a jinxed model, or maybe there is something a little off in the end-product design, you decide.

Well cared for a few thousand dives over nearly 4 years, but with quite a few serious issues, ranging from hardware to software.

In retrospect, I do have my doubts - looking back on this timeline, it does make it to be one of the most problematic computers I’ve ever had, and I've had a few.
We'll see how the wife's holds up...


Deep down we all want the best, but after thinking of replacing this once beloved piece of kit, I think it might be time to move on from Scubapro dive computers, or at least this specific product line.
Risk seems a little high, and it doesn't live up to expectations in terms of reliability.


Anyway, thanks for your time reading this - I hope this experience report helps others, especially people diving a lot and looking for rugged equipment, in making informed choices.
Things like this can and do happen, caveat emptor...


May you be luckier than I am with your Scubapro Aladin dive computers, and may the force be with you!

Cheers,

ben
 
Might I interest you in an Apple?
 
Could be worse. My Aqualung was faulty before I ever dived it (wouldn’t charge) and 3 months later Aqualung HQ haven’t responded to the local distributor. And I’m not the only one, according to them.
 
Hello All,
I have issues with my Aladin Sport Matrix. Computer was bought 2018 as brand new, I used every year around 10 dives. Last year he did not respond to function buttons and died. I sent him to Scubapro service they concluded battery run out as well as leak... After drying and batery replacement it returned to me. I thought great, but unfortunately it isn't the end of the story. Computer is living by himself. He changes the menus and does not respond to buttons. Once it is warms up a bit is more stable but still out of control.
Maybe somebody has an idea what could be done? Computer does not signal any error
 
July 2022 - button loose (?!), computer floods, game over...

My Aladin Sport Matrix finally left this world, after flooding at the beginning of a dive, due to the left frontal buttons becoming loose.

This happened to mine after just 12 dives. $pro replaced it with a new one, but trust is gone.
 
This happened to mine after just 12 dives. $pro replaced it with a new one, but trust is gone.

Wow! That sucks. You're lucky Scubapro did replace it.

The Scubapro people I was in touch with in Europe (where I had bought the unit) were helpful, seemed actually interested in taking a look and potentially helping out, given the nature of the issue.

But alas, I was working in Palau at the time, so redirected to US customer service, through their local distributor (Overdrive).
Final answer I got was:

Hello, Ben. We contacted to ScubaPro then they answered like this. There isn’t much we can do with that computer or about it. He was in contact with the EU offices, but for the US offices, once one of those units flood we can’t do anything with it. And the supply of puck style computers are limited at this time due to the microchip shortages. So you don't need to take your computer here for investigation. Thank you.

Fantastic stuff for what seems to be a design issue.
Caveat emptor....

Yep, as you say, trust is gone.

I got a Suunto Zoop to replace it - not the same thing of course, but as a working dive professional I don't want to face similar issues with Scubapro products and deal with these kind of issues and "support"....
 
Have any of you contacted the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)? This is a life support instrument, and a button falling off is something that needs attention outside of the manufacturer.

SeaRat
 
Have any of you contacted the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)? This is a life support instrument, and a button falling off is something that needs attention outside of the manufacturer.

SeaRat

hi and thanks. I hadn't thought of that.
I think Scubapro is a US company (under Johnson Outdoors?), but I'm not sure if this would be applicable for their products bought outside the US (Europe, even though the issue seems to concern other users, as shown above)...
 
hi and thanks. I hadn't thought of that.
I think Scubapro is a US company (under Johnson Outdoors?), but I'm not sure if this would be applicable for their products bought outside the US (Europe, even though the issue seems to concern other users, as shown above)...
It applies; here is a link to the CPSC, and a search I made for dive computer recalls. There have been several:

SeaRat
 

Back
Top Bottom