How many of you have had a dive computer fail?

[PfcAJ]

My first Shearwater Predator (stand alone for open circuit) had the right button fail which made it impossible to do a gas switch on a dive. I ended up just doing my deco on back gas (thankfully it wasn't much of a dive) and then sent it in for repairs.

seriously...

 

[Omisson]

In recreational diving I used an Oceanic Pro plus 2.1 - it never failed. In sidemount I've used a Mares Icon and have had no issues, even with the AI. In Tec diving my Nitek Q has never failed- but my Hollis DG05 has had battery drain too quickly once.


Dan-O

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 2

 

[Lionfish51]

Two failures, different brands. One had an internal HP failure and flooded. The second just went permanently blank.

Just got back from Cozumel my icon transmitter would not send information
figured battery was doa
So I used it as a depth and assent device. I carry a pressure gauge in my bc pocket
rick

 

[mathauck0814]

seriously...

Sorry, I should have clarified (and anticipated that I would have needed to do so). I performed the gas switch to my rich mix, but the computer continued to calculate as though I were on back gas through the end of the dive.

 

[PfcAJ]

you had me worried!

 

[drbill]

Years ago I used an Aladdin Pro. The manual said even if the battery indicator registered 0% there was still enough for a few dives. Mine died while on an extended deco dive at 38% remaining battery life. I did a lot of "one thousands" to countdown my deco obligation on that dive. As many of you know, the battery in those units was not user replaceable, making this error a serious one IMHO.

Now I always dive with two computers, generally a Uwatec 2G and a Nitek Duo. It is rather unlikely that the user replaceable batteries in both units will fail at the same time. I did buy a Nitek Trio a few tears ago and it failed. The replacement Dive Rite sent me also failed so I picked up a used Nitek Duo that has been fine.

 

[Subcooled]

I can report three failures that my buddies / people attending the same event have had.

1) We did an ordinary dive, only 28m depth, overhead, +2C water. Just like dozens of dives before. My dive buddy had his Petrel just die, without warning, with full battery. It just went black.

2) A rec diver showed his Petrel. The last (apparently) dive was done to 300+ meters (that would be about a thousand feet). Or so it says on the screen... On a single tank of air, of course.

3) My friend had a suunto Vyper. It displayed "surface" when he was doing deco at 6mts (18ft).

 

[pisoiu]

Years ago I used an Aladdin Pro. The manual said even if the battery indicator registered 0% there was still enough for a few dives. Mine died while on an extended deco dive at 38% remaining battery life. I did a lot of "one thousands" to countdown my deco obligation on that dive. As many of you know, the battery in those units was not user replaceable, making this error a serious one IMHO.

For that particular model, the remaining battery indicator is not based on actual measurements of battery voltage. It is just a counter which measure how much time the unit was on since the battery was new. If for some reason the battery is giving less energy than expected by that counter (usage in low temperatures, manufacturing defect, etc) then bang...it will fail before reaching 0%. A simple rule of thumb for it: when it reaches 50%, change the battery. And it can be changed by user, if you have some basic electronics skills and if you don't mind getting messy with silicone oil... Done it, not so bad.

 

[_Slacker_]

I had a UWatec BT switch from Imperial to Metric during a dive. I thought the pressure transducer had failed until I figured out that the depths were reading about right in meters and then had my suspicions confirmed by seeing the temperature reported in degrees C.

 

[tridacna]

I had a Galileo Sol lock up on me after 10 minutes on a NJ dive. Screwed up my day. Captain examined computer after I opened my mouth, saw the lockout and locked me out for the day. I had a backup computer on the dive showing clear but he wasn't interested. Bought a Cobalt. Zero problems in 3 years.