Feature request — monitor mode for DiveCAN controllers

[jale]

Behold the dual Petrel Triton.

View attachment 808048


Yes you literally just remove the entire Monox and the HUD as the HUD will not work with you the Monox (it gets its signal from the Monox)

You will have to do it yourself. No way M3S would support this, plus im sure it voids the CE rating as it is no longer a ”factory unit“ The French think that Monox is so great... Also Patrice from M3S is horrible to deal with…

It is just a stock Petrel hardwired directly in where the Monox use to be via a gland, nothing special. The head is not potted so it’s literally just the 3 cell cables coming in to the splitter and Molex cell clips. But I’m sure if you wanted you could go 4 pin. I kind of wish I did this then I could at lease share that computer between 2 units. I have another Unit that is an AK 4 pin so it would have saved me from buying another Petrel if I could have just used this one.

Now the ultimate upgrade that I am toying around with the idea of is to cut off the Molex clips and put on SMB connectors and pour potting into the head. Basically the same thing Fathom has done with there SW head.

Hi
I didn't see your mod before.
I wanted to do the same as you did but I could not remove the potting material.
Instead, I asked Martin to make a new pod (you can get it on his website now ) and plugged two short ak-4pin cables.
After a few dives. I removed one monitor as I think, on monitor is enough (before the Triton, all my unit had only one monitor).
May I ask, how did you managed to remove this %$#^ hard blue resin?
And yes, the guys in M3S have not really get the PR side of doing business and no the French don't think the Monox is great; they despise it too
Thanks

 

[wayne miller]

Hi
I didn't see your mod before.
I wanted to do the same as you did but I could not remove the potting material.
Instead, I asked Martin to make a new pod (you can get it on his website now ) and plugged two short ak-4pin cables.
After a few dives. I removed one monitor as I think, on monitor is enough (before the Triton, all my unit had only one monitor).
May I ask, how did you managed to remove this %$#^ hard blue resin?
And yes, the guys in M3S have not really get the PR side of doing business and no the French don't think the Monox is great; they despise it too
Thanks

Hi Jale, I am having to do this myself. I have asked if Martin can make the cell holder with two o-rings for redundancy as I don't like relying on a single o-ring. Weirdly I get water in the exhale CL after every dive and I cannot figure out the leak as it passes + and - tests. Can I ask, when you did yours, is there some way of protecting the electronics inside the cell holder or is it all exposed under the plate that you attach the cells to? Did you simply connect the AK4 wires directly to the sensors? Did you just split them or use some kind of isolator? I am trying to decide what way to go here with mine as I dumbly flooded my Monox.

 

[GF99/99]

Hi
I didn't see your mod before.
I wanted to do the same as you did but I could not remove the potting material.
Instead, I asked Martin to make a new pod (you can get it on his website now ) and plugged two short ak-4pin cables.
After a few dives. I removed one monitor as I think, on monitor is enough (before the Triton, all my unit had only one monitor).
May I ask, how did you managed to remove this %$#^ hard blue resin?
And yes, the guys in M3S have not really get the PR side of doing business and no the French don't think the Monox is great; they despise it too
Thanks

I had an older head that did not have potting so it was super easy. The wires were just glanded straight into the head (like a KISS SW head) but I believe they had issues with corrosion going up the petrel cables so they started to pot them.

But to answer you question the only way I know of to remove potting is very caveman style. Just a hammer and flat head screwdriver as a chisel. This is exactly how JJ does it with there heads, I will see if I can find a picture of this from the JJ factory and post it.

Hi Jale, I am having to do this myself. I have asked if Martin can make the cell holder with two o-rings for redundancy as I don't like relying on a single o-ring. Weirdly I get water in the exhale CL after every dive and I cannot figure out the leak as it passes + and - tests. Can I ask, when you did yours, is there some way of protecting the electronics inside the cell holder or is it all exposed under the plate that you attach the cells to? Did you simply connect the AK4 wires directly to the sensors? Did you just split them or use some kind of isolator? I am trying to decide what way to go here with mine as I dumbly flooded my Monox.

The only thing you can do for protection is pot the head so that corrosions can not travel up the petrel cable but as far as protecting the cells of molex connections there is not much you can do.

Honestly if I was to do it all over again I would have Martin machine up a head with 2 gland ports, wire in 2 AK 4pin connections (dont have to use both but at least you have the option to plug in a secondary). Inside the head I would have a splitter board that goes to SMB connections that are fully potted in and run JJ style cells. Basically the exact same thing that is in the Fathom Gemini head.

These Molex connections are horrible I have had and seen friends have soooooo many issues with them. I have actually thought about doing the exact thing above but for now my Trition runs fine but once my Molex connections go to complete $#!t I might do it.

As for the the water in your exhale CL are you sure its just not condensation/saliva/drool. I know me personally I produce alot of condensation/drool After a long 6hr dive on the loop it is pretty amazing what I can dump out of my exhale CL and what is pooled up in the loop hose. If you unit is passing the +/- then the only was liquid is getting inside your unit is via you lip seal around the mouth piece or as gross as it sounds its just contested saliva/drool.

 

[wayne miller]

I had an older head that did not have potting so it was super easy. The wires were just glanded straight into the head (like a KISS SW head) but I believe they had issues with corrosion going up the petrel cables so they started to pot them.

But to answer you question the only way I know of to remove potting is very caveman style. Just a hammer and flat head screwdriver as a chisel. This is exactly how JJ does it with there heads, I will see if I can find a picture of this from the JJ factory and post it.



The only thing you can do for protection is pot the head so that corrosions can not travel up the petrel cable but as far as protecting the cells of molex connections there is not much you can do.

Honestly if I was to do it all over again I would have Martin machine up a head with 2 gland ports, wire in 2 AK 4pin connections (dont have to use both but at least you have the option to plug in a secondary). Inside the head I would have a splitter board that goes to SMB connections that are fully potted in and run JJ style cells. Basically the exact same thing that is in the Fathom Gemini head.

These Molex connections are horrible I have had and seen friends have soooooo many issues with them. I have actually thought about doing the exact thing above but for now my Trition runs fine but once my Molex connections go to complete $#!t I might do it.

As for the the water in your exhale CL are you sure its just not condensation/saliva/drool. I know me personally I produce alot of condensation/drool After a long 6hr dive on the loop it is pretty amazing what I can dump out of my exhale CL and what is pooled up in the loop hose. If you unit is passing the +/- then the only was liquid is getting inside your unit is via you lip seal around the mouth piece or as gross as it sounds its just contested saliva/drool.

Ha ha yeah.. for sure I wondered if it was drool/saliva/moist reaction to being on a CCR whilst giggling at those poor OC divers and all that hefty gear lol. So to one up the gross factor.. I started to take note of the amount of liquid in the exhale lung and in some cases after a simple tropical one hour dive it would be as much as 15 to 30 ml. I would take a surgical syringe (no needle lol) and insert it into the CL and suck up all the liquid and log it after each dive like a demented scientist. I even dared to taste it and it did not have the thicker consistency of lung butter and was very fluid like. I noted that there was always droplets on the inside of the corrugated hose and furthermore I got so puzzled that I connected up my Draeger Panorama FFM with a Golem BOV and had the same problem so that kind of eradicated my same thought about loose lips sinking ships and Tritons lol. My larger concern here is that the cell holder is perfectly positioned directly in the path of the outlet from the loop hose so that any liquid will inconveniently drip right into the path of the cells. I pointed this out to M3S and I barely got an acknowledgement. See the pretty drawing I even sent them

Any chance you can point me in the direction of a link for the splitter board? I know I can buy the AK4 connectors from Narked@90 but I don't know about the splitter board (I think that would also have the isolator right?). I am guessing that wiring is pretty straightforward with one pin to each cell for positive and then the fourth pin to negative on all three cells? I am guessing I won't hurt my unit if I crocodile clip a sensor + and - to the petrel pins to find out the correct pin outs? Or are you able to share that intel?

I have approached John at Narked@90 as well to do the work but I have not pulled the pin on that either. Honestly I would rather do the work myself as it would be a good learning experience so I fix the POS next time it breaks. Finally.. as for SMB connections I am kind of married to the Molex because I also own a ISC Meg15 so I am able to swap the sensors out depending on which unit I am using.

 

[jale]

Hi Wayne.
-Regarding the double o-ring on the cell holder, I think it is not needed and any way this second o-ring won't seal on the thin plastic female holder support. As GF99/99 said the water inside the CL may be due to condensation, lips' sealing or also maybe from the flow-stop of the ADV. I have been diving the Triton for years and haven't get that much water except in "stupid-me" flooding.
-For the wiring, the Tecme pod is empty and you just screw the Fisher or 4-pin cables. As to have two monitors, you indeed need splitters. I don't pot the wiring because it so much easy to change a cable if needed when you have problem. You just dry and clean correctly after the dive. As I said before, I only use a single monitor so everything is easier.
-About the comments you sent to M3S, nothing surprising. I did the same, a lot of people did that too but they are engineers and the unit is their baby. Furthermore, they got the CE with this set-up and any changes would implies another certification I think.

 

[wayne miller]

Hi Wayne.
-Regarding the double o-ring on the cell holder, I think it is not needed and any way this second o-ring won't seal on the thin plastic female holder support. As GF99/99 said the water inside the CL may be due to condensation, lips' sealing or also maybe from the flow-stop of the ADV. I have been diving the Triton for years and haven't get that much water except in "stupid-me" flooding.
-For the wiring, the Tecme pod is empty and you just screw the Fisher or 4-pin cables. As to have two monitors, you indeed need splitters. I don't pot the wiring because it so much easy to change a cable if needed when you have problem. You just dry and clean correctly after the dive. As I said before, I only use a single monitor so everything is easier.
-About the comments you sent to M3S, nothing surprising. I did the same, a lot of people did that too but they are engineers and the unit is their baby. Furthermore, they got the CE with this set-up and any changes would implies another certification I think.

thanks so much I think this is the part that I should order for mine 4Pin AK- 3 Cell MOLEX Cable Assembly so that I can re-use my existing ak4 connector that I use for my Nerd2 and add this for a Petrel2. (I like to have two methods of monitoring cells). This assembly includes isolation and molex splitters. Is this wiring assembly what you used or something else?

 

[GF99/99]

thanks so much I think this is the part that I should order for mine 4Pin AK- 3 Cell MOLEX Cable Assembly so that I can re-use my existing ak4 connector that I use for my Nerd2 and add this for a Petrel2. (I like to have two methods of monitoring cells). This assembly includes isolation and molex splitters. Is this wiring assembly what you used or something else? View attachment 856910

Yes this is the one. I think Revo sells them as well (don't know about to the general public). Also have you checked with Martin? He might get you a better price, Narked@90 is always very proud of there stuff.

Just a tip, if you going through all this effort and spending all that money look into SMB coax connections. Personally I think the molex is connection is like the Fisher, yea it works and is seems like a good idea but in reality it just creates headaches. SMB coax is like the AK 4pin, just a much better overall headache free connection.

As I mentioned earlier personally if I was building a Triton head I would make it with fully potted male SMB ends and just use JJ style cells. Would look very similar to the Fathom Gemini head.

 

[wayne miller]

Yes this is the one. I think Revo sells them as well (don't know about to the general public). Also have you checked with Martin? He might get you a better price, Narked@90 is always very proud of there stuff.

Just a tip, if you going through all this effort and spending all that money look into SMB coax connections. Personally I think the molex is connection is like the Fisher, yea it works and is seems like a good idea but in reality it just creates headaches. SMB coax is like the AK 4pin, just a much better overall headache free connection.

As I mentioned earlier personally if I was building a Triton head I would make it with fully potted male SMB ends and just use JJ style cells. Would look very similar to the Fathom Gemini head.

I like your way of thinking At the moment I still have a bunch of molex cells so that would be an added expense if I just dumped them. Especilly the fresh ones plus for me I would have to start maintaining two sets of cells (molex for the Meg15 and SMB Coax (a superior connection for sure) for the rebuilt triton). I almost scrubbed the idea of molex and going to SMB based on your very smart wise words of wisdom lol.. but then I remembered I have a bulletproof beast that I just dragged all the way over to Asia because my Triton has bee a naughty boy and gone all surrender monkey on me again. So having the ability to easily switch between the two units is good for me. Switching out the Meg for SMB Coax superiority is not an option as the head of the meg including the connectors is one molded lump of loveliness. As for the ping to martin.. yes I will reach out to him and sk. Thanks so much for the wonderful advice. I really appreciate it.