just discovering the problem with suunto transmitters

[shirtz]

hi guys. i bought a suunto dive computer and paired it with one of their transmitters. im away from any dive shops as im in tonga. sending anytinh back to australi for "service"would take about a month. i was told the transmitter would be good for 100 dives or 2 years. well its done about 40 dives, prehaps closeish to two years. the battery is dead and it seems no dive shop will sell me the battery kit becase suunto will disown them. anyone else have issues with suunto like this? its 4 screws. one with red paint so they can tell if you have done it yourself. Kits on ebay are about 70au. also taking a month to get here. a mate has a scuba pro transmitter and got a kit for 37au.

anyone else have a less diyphobic company i should buy gear from? whats the best for diy kits? the transmitter battery is also a rare cr 1/2 battery that no one stocks.

 

[BoltSnap]

hi guys. i bought a suunto dive computer and paired it with one of their transmitters. im away from any dive shops as im in tonga. sending anytinh back to australi for "service"would take about a month. i was told the transmitter would be good for 100 dives or 2 years. well its done about 40 dives, prehaps closeish to two years. the battery is dead and it seems no dive shop will sell me the battery kit becase suunto will disown them. anyone else have issues with suunto like this? its 4 screws. one with red paint so they can tell if you have done it yourself. Kits on ebay are about 70au. also taking a month to get here. a mate has a scuba pro transmitter and got a kit for 37au.

anyone else have a less diyphobic company i should buy gear from? whats the best for diy kits? the transmitter battery is also a rare cr 1/2 battery that no one stocks.

Get in touch with this guy and emphasize to him that you need it urgently:

Smartinterface Your online shop for dive related accessories

Smartinterfaces offers self-developed, smart and high-quality interface alternatives to the original Suunto and Mares interfaces for a decent price. The shop also has further devices such as battery kits and openers for dive computers, which are also self-manufactured. The product range is...

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[Marie13]

You asked about what other transmitters you could get? Shearwater transmitters take a user replaceable CR2 lithium photo battery. Their computers that have AI are the Perdix 2 or the Teric. Canadian company. The Perdix takes a AA battery and the Teric has a rechargeable battery.

 

[El Diablo]

hi guys. i bought a suunto dive computer and paired it with one of their transmitters. im away from any dive shops as im in tonga. sending anytinh back to australi for "service"would take about a month. i was told the transmitter would be good for 100 dives or 2 years. well its done about 40 dives, prehaps closeish to two years. the battery is dead and it seems no dive shop will sell me the battery kit becase suunto will disown them. anyone else have issues with suunto like this? its 4 screws. one with red paint so they can tell if you have done it yourself. Kits on ebay are about 70au. also taking a month to get here. a mate has a scuba pro transmitter and got a kit for 37au.

anyone else have a less diyphobic company i should buy gear from? whats the best for diy kits? the transmitter battery is also a rare cr 1/2 battery that no one stocks.

Suunto doesn't want unexperienced customers to be playing with their transmitters because their lives depend on it. For the record, I am a customer that is not 100% happy, I own a D5 and D9 and had some ****** experience with my D9 pressure sensor corroding and not covered under "good will" in EU while in the USA there was a class lawsuit an a recall...

However, I understand why this is not a subject for experimentation as someone could get hurt or dead.

If you insist on doing it yourself (nothing too difficult, Simply Scuba has a video demonstrating this), just order 2 kits instead so you can have a spare if travelling to remote locations.

 

[GreggS]

You don't say which Suunto transmitter you have as they make 2 models-the basic for the lower end computers such as the Vyper Novo and the Pod for the upper end computers. I used the basic model for several years before switching to Oceanic which uses the same transmitter that Marie mentioned above for the Shearwaters.

All that being said, I bought a new Suunto with transmitter in 2015 and the battery lasted for almost 150 dives over a period of more than 4 years. My wife used the same model transmitter for 2 or 3 years and we have never changed the battery in it. I don't know what happened to yours but that seems to be quite out of the ordinary. You also don't say whether you bought it new or used. Is it still under warranty? If so, you would probably need to either send it in for repair and/or battery change or have one of those dive shops you mentioned, Yeah, it's inconvenient but it doesn't sound like you have much choice. If it isn't under warranty, order a battery kit and change it. I've done it myself and it isn't difficult. The only thing you have to do is be very careful removing the screws and reinserting them. There is a danger of cracking the plastic cover but if you go slowly you shouldn't have any problem. Be sure to inspect the o-ring and if it looks okay, just use a little lithium grease on it and when replacing the screws, go slow and don't over tighten them. You do not want to strip the threads in the cover.

As I said, unless you want to buy another computer with transmitter, it looks like you have no other choice than to go the route of send it in or change it yourself. If you do buy another one, then I agree with Marie...get one that uses the Pelagic transmitter. Shearwater, Oceanic, Sherwood, and Aqualung are current brands that use this transmitter.

Good luck.

 

[El Diablo]

You don't say which Suunto transmitter you have as they make 2 models-the basic for the lower end computers such as the Vyper Novo and the Pod for the upper end computers. I used the basic model for several years before switching to Oceanic which uses the same transmitter that Marie mentioned above for the Shearwaters.

All that being said, I bought a new Suunto with transmitter in 2015 and the battery lasted for almost 150 dives over a period of more than 4 years. My wife used the same model transmitter for 2 or 3 years and we have never changed the battery in it. I don't know what happened to yours but that seems to be quite out of the ordinary. You also don't say whether you bought it new or used. Is it still under warranty? If so, you would probably need to either send it in for repair and/or battery change or have one of those dive shops you mentioned, Yeah, it's inconvenient but it doesn't sound like you have much choice. If it isn't under warranty, order a battery kit and change it. I've done it myself and it isn't difficult. The only thing you have to do is be very careful removing the screws and reinserting them. There is a danger of cracking the plastic cover but if you go slowly you shouldn't have any problem. Be sure to inspect the o-ring and if it looks okay, just use a little lithium grease on it and when replacing the screws, go slow and don't over tighten them. You do not want to strip the threads in the cover.

As I said, unless you want to buy another computer with transmitter, it looks like you have no other choice than to go the route of send it in or change it yourself. If you do buy another one, then I agree with Marie...get one that uses the Pelagic transmitter. Shearwater, Oceanic, Sherwood, and Aqualung are current brands that use this transmitter.

Good luck.

Well said.

I believe the kit comes with a new cover as well.

 

[GreggS]

Well said.

I believe the kit comes with a new cover as well.

Some do, some don't. Most I've seen are just the battery and o-ring. But then, I've never really had to look for one before. I happened to run across a cover in a dive shop once in a bin with other miscellaneous parts and bought it for practically nothing. When I did have to change the battery, I got the old one off without a problem so just reused it.

 

[El Diablo]

Some do, some don't. Most I've seen are just the battery and o-ring. But then, I've never really had to look for one before. I happened to run across a cover in a dive shop once in a bin with other miscellaneous parts and bought it for practically nothing. When I did have to change the battery, I got the old one off without a problem so just reused it.

I see. Well since 2015 I've seen them with a replacement cover. Can't say about older models although I don't think it is the case with the OP.

 

[GreggS]

That also could be the difference between Europe and the US. I just did a quick google search and the only kit that came up with the cover included was from a European source. All from the US only had the battery, o-ring, and grease packet.

 

[Belzelbub]

hi guys. i bought a suunto dive computer and paired it with one of their transmitters. im away from any dive shops as im in tonga. sending anytinh back to australi for "service"would take about a month. i was told the transmitter would be good for 100 dives or 2 years. well its done about 40 dives, prehaps closeish to two years. the battery is dead and it seems no dive shop will sell me the battery kit becase suunto will disown them. anyone else have issues with suunto like this? its 4 screws. one with red paint so they can tell if you have done it yourself. Kits on ebay are about 70au. also taking a month to get here. a mate has a scuba pro transmitter and got a kit for 37au.

Seriously? Suunto doesn't allow the user to change the battery in the transmitter? That's absolutely archaic.

anyone else have a less diyphobic company i should buy gear from? whats the best for diy kits? the transmitter battery is also a rare cr 1/2 battery that no one stocks.

Many. I'm assuming this means you want to get rid of the computer and transmitter and go for something else. If keeping the computer, you are stuck with the Suunto transmitter as it won't work with anything else. The PPS transmitter (Shearwater, Oceanic, Aqualung...) is common, reliable and will allow you to change the battery yourself. The Shearwater computer I bought comes with a tool that works for the Perdix as well as the transmitter. The computer even came with a couple extra o-rings (for the computer), so I take it that Shearwater is completely fine with the user taking care of basic maintenance like battery and o-ring changes.

I don't own any Suunto gear (maybe a compass or spare gauge at most). And the more I read from Suunto owners, the more I'm glad I don't.