How reliable is the Suunto Transmitter?

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I had issues getting mine to sync up until someone taught me the "trick" (skin to skin contact). Once synced, I have never had a failure in about 300 dives. I have also never changed the transmitter battery in that time.

Can someone enlighten me to the 'skin to skin' contact trick? I am typically very careful with the syncing procedure after I realized how sensitive the Vyper Air is. The last couple dives the transmitter has failed each time for a few minutes at a time. On the last dive it failed after 30-40 min and never re-connected. I haven't changed the code since initial set up, but always get within a short distance of the transmitter, turn the computer to Dive mode and turn on the air - initial air pressure reading and go.

I think I am going to replace the batteries just to be safe, but dealing with the transmitter failure is annoying.
 
Can someone enlighten me to the 'skin to skin' contact trick? I am typically very careful with the syncing procedure after I realized how sensitive the Vyper Air is. The last couple dives the transmitter has failed each time for a few minutes at a time. On the last dive it failed after 30-40 min and never re-connected. I haven't changed the code since initial set up, but always get within a short distance of the transmitter, turn the computer to Dive mode and turn on the air - initial air pressure reading and go.

I think I am going to replace the batteries just to be safe, but dealing with the transmitter failure is annoying.

You switch the dive computer in dive mode, press the face of the dive computer up against the shell of the transmitter, and then turn the tank on. "Skin to skin" is a euphemism for physical contact between the devices. It is not like an electrical contact so much as reducing the gap betwen the two devices as much as is humanly possible.
 
Earl Grey,

The computer does not need to touch the transmitter to link. They just need to be within a few inches of each other. How long have you had your Vyper Air and transmitter? Also, how many dives have you logged on the computer since purchase?

Best Regards,
Chris from Suunto
 
Hi Chris,

I have a Suunto Vyper Air (2yrs old) and a transmitter (9 months old). My unit will sync normally at start of dive then a few minutes in I get the fail at depth, then magically it turns on again, then off again, then on again till the end of the dive...does not matter the depth etc.. I have all the dives logged. Both items have new batteries - I did not need to do the transmitter but I wanted both of the units to be on the same maintenance schedule - every two years...I dive about 35-50 dives per year. I have resorted to putting my console back on but this is not what I signed up for...I would have just bought a cobra 2 / air. btw - I have had intermittent readings of 4500psi (bogus) out of the blue as the other user on the thread has had.

Please advise.

Dean

vales1,

The Suunto transmitters are very reliable. With all electronics especially ones built for underwater use there will always be some that come up with issues. There is no such thing as a flawless electronic device. Like you have said as well as common diver safety knowledge, if you have an issue and the transmitter did malfunction you would notify your dive buddy. End the dive and safely proceed to the surface. There are hundreds of people that only dive with a transmitter and being able to have one less hose hanging by your side is always nice. Don't get me wrong though having a back up spg is by no means a bad thing, but by following the rules of safety you should not need one for recreational diving.

Best Regards,
Chris from Suunto
 
Dean,

The best thing to do would be to send your computer and transmitter to an authorized service center for evaluation. They will be able to diagnose the problem. Please locate the nearest service center to you from the link provided. Suunto Dealer Locator

Best Regards,
Chris from Suunto
 
Hi,
I know this is an old thread but thought I'd share that in the past 2 weeks on a liveaboard I had the Transmitter fail 4 times pre-dive and once mid dive. I will replace the battery (even though it is not telling me to) and see if that helps, and after each failure it went back to working great. In any case I'm adding an SPG to my setup as I lost confidence in the transmitter.

Best,
Gil
 
I have been using Suunto computers for at least 20 years now. They are some of the most reliable dive computers out there (logbook software is a different story). I use a D9 and a Cobra computer for backup. Few months ago my cobra started to give erroneous pressure readings and the computer was replaced (at a substantial price unfortunately). I haven't had any issues with the D9 so far but I will always dive with 2 dive computers no matter how reliable they are.
 
I've had a suunto D9 with transmitter for 5 years now and I've noticed that the air information is always above the spg's indication. Once I decided to see which one was wrong by consuming all the air in the tank and I saw that when the tank is completely empty the computer still indicates 15 bar left, which is very annoying. Is there anything I can do to fix it or should I take it to a repair center?
 
I've had a suunto D9 with transmitter for 5 years now and I've noticed that the air information is always above the spg's indication. Once I decided to see which one was wrong by consuming all the air in the tank and I saw that when the tank is completely empty the computer still indicates 15 bar left, which is very annoying. Is there anything I can do to fix it or should I take it to a repair center?

When you turn off the tank valve and depressurize the regulator, what is the pressure reading in the D9?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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