How many of you have had a dive computer fail?

[griffon]

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.

I managed to flip that setting on my lynx myself trying to get the compass on at the surface. More user fail there, but it game a real bad moment looking at bar at 90 feet .


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[divin'dog]

1 failure at 80 dives. Sherwood Wisdom 2. Was at the back end of a dive, probably doing about 60-70 min dive. At around 25', computer displays unreadable hieroglyphics as I'm heading in. Computer went back to manufacturer and was declared a loss.

 

[JimKeel]

I'm not sure about the nature of your question, with the qualifications you gave limiting types of failure...

Two things:

1. I was trained to ALWAYS plan dives using the appropriate tables, and ALWAYS keep a running log to know my residual at any point in the expedition. If you're computer takes a dump at any time, for any reason, everything reverts to paper... if your paper is blank, there are big problems in the moment AND your diving is over until you are totally washed out (24-48 hours at least). This doesn't go away while carrying two, or even three, computers. "Plan your dive, dive your plan."

2. I bought a second hand computer from a good friend, a few years back. Without going into detail, he is qualified to service gear I've never even heard of, he is one of the few people I would fully trust with my life. The battery had been replaced, by him, with the factory service kit, a few months prior... and dove many times since the service. We were working in a shallow area (less than 40ft), doing tank drills and adjusting our gear as a dive plan, when the computer cut out. I did not have a mechanical depth gauge on the equipment at that time, and did not have a backup computer on at that moment either. We were diving in an extremely controlled environment, with a hard 40ft bottom, and were working on specific aspects of our gear setup and tank configurations... but the simple failure of an o-ring would've contributed to an extremely dangerous situation if it had happened at depth.

My last resort after TWO simultaneous computer failures: A good table, a good dive plan, lift bag and finger spool (with tiny knots every 10 ft as my last resort depth gauge)... hopefully the watch isn't broken too.

 

[jeremyNZ]

i have a second hand antique uwatech nitrox2. No problems for 5 years after replacing sender. You guys are making me nervous. surely having spare air for a hose failure is more of an issue?

 

[WillHartNZ]

Personally I've never had a failure however I know of buddies that have had 3 failures this year. First was a d6 that said it was at 90m while my buddy was eating breakfast. Second buddy has had two d4's fail but never during a dive. All of them got replaced by suunto pretty promptly though. I've been thinking of getting a backup for my d4. Can I get a tech computer and still use it for recreational diving?

 

[drbill]

Just had a new battery put in one of my two computers (the Uwatec 2G). The old one died two days ago. On my first dive today, the computer gave me an E6 error code (low battery) and didn't display. Another good reason I always dive with redundant computers.

 

[Tortuga68]

Apart from dead batteries, I only had an X1 that refused to switch gases on ascent despite beating it like a redheaded step child (aka tap interface). Followed cut table on wetnotes, no problem. Oh and a Vyper that had wrong depth readings, later cured by soaking in fresh water (salt crystals in depth sensor) was a rec dive so no big deal as it was obviously wrong.

 

[Locus]

Can I get a tech computer and still use it for recreational diving?

Liquivision has some models aimed at the rec market, and Shearwater recently put out a free firmware update that added rec features to their Petrels, so yes. Of the two brands, Shearwater is more popular on SB.

Depending on the diving you're doing, though, an $850 computer might not be necessary. If I had the money to spend and a real need for it, I would get a Petrel. Though I'll probably get one eventually, I can't justify paying that premium yet.

 

[victorzamora]

This got off-topic. I'm PM'ing WillHartNZ

 

[Locus]

My bad.