Life expectancy of dive computers?

[BoltSnap]

I've had my trusty Suunto Stinger since 2006 and the only trouble I have ever had was last week when it decided to lock out on me after I mistakenly set it to Freedive mode after a Nitrox dive instead of setting it back to Air mode!

What it meant was that I dived on air to 30m for 43 minutes in Freedive mode and the Stinger must have thought I was dead so locked me out. (I wondered why it didn't offer me a safety stop on teh way up!)

Now the manual doesn't mention the computer going into lockdown mode at all, so after a couple of days of ‘No Fly’ and being unable to set the EAN / AIR profile I was just about to go to the dive shop - and no doubt be charged an arm and a leg.

Lo and behold! As the 48 hr period after my dive, the Stinger finally forgave me and reset itself.

So back to normal, but teh real point of this post is that why has no-one else had this issue before and posted about it? And why doesn't Suunto tell you about lockdown in its manual?

Suunto stinger doesn't allow you to get into dive mode, air or nitrox, after a freedive for 48 hours (not sure if it is 48 or 24 hours) by default. I think that it doesn't allow you to switch to freedive mode after a scuba for the same time period too. It is mentioned in the manual somewhere.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I've been diving Oceanic's for years. Very happy with them. However, 2 have suffered from operator error and had to be replaced.

 

[W W Meixner]

I had a Suunto Cobra that died the first time with less than 50 dives - still under warranty so I got it replaced. It died it's final death with less than 100 dives. My husband's also has died once and he no longer trusts it even as a backup. I have a Datamask that has a little under 200 dives and the transmitter died (got it replaced for $120 and I'm back in business). So I'm wondering just how many dives (approx. 50 minutes each) or how much dive time should we expect to get out of a dive computer and/or transmitter? For reference if we were told that our laptops would only be good for 200 hours of use I don't think we'd be willing to spend much money on them. But maybe this is an unfair comparison because our laptops don't have to function under a couple of atmospheres of pressure - maybe that pressure wears out the components much more quickly? So I'm wondering what is "reasonable" for life expectancy?

K...

My first computer was a Suunto Gecko...I used it for ten years...replaced the battery once...when I passed it on...it was still working perfectly...I purchased it new in 2008...always properly cleaned and dried post dive...lots of salt water use...never an issue...

W.W...

 

[jaseUK666]

I've still.got one of the old, green Cochran Commanders. Used it as a backup in Scapa back in October. Must have got it in about 1995. Programming it is a pain.

 

[Perryed]

I have a Suunto SMEML that I`ve had for 27 years and still works fine, my Cobra is 20 or so with 6-7 hundred dives and still works fine. Like has been said, it`s just the luck of the draw. I got my first Cobra from E-bay and last year bought 2 more and had to return both of them as neither worked.

 

[dmaziuk]

Suunto stinger doesn't allow you to get into dive mode, air or nitrox, after a freedive for 48 hours (not sure if it is 48 or 24 hours) by default. I think that it doesn't allow you to switch to freedive mode after a scuba for the same time period too. It is mentioned in the manual somewhere.

It's pretty typical, they won't let you switch between "freedive" or "gauge" and "dive" without a 24 to 48-hour period to "reset your tissues". A few vendors even tried to introduce a separate "backup" mode specifically so you can switch to "dive" without the wait. Of course it isn't clear a) what they're gonna do if you switch and it decides you've been bent 3 dives ago, and b) why not just run your backup computer in "dive" mode to begin with, so... the "backup" mode did not become very common.

 

[scubadada]

My primary computer is an Oceanic VT3 that I started diving in July 2010. It now has 1452 dives and 1529 hours on it. I would think that this is pretty good longevity, so far.

 

[ofg-1]

Don't worry, they will last until your 70' gas switch, then lock up and start flashing at you.

 

[scubadada]

Don't worry, they will last until your 70' gas switch, then lock up and start flashing at you.

Luckily, that will never happen. I guess that could happen with any computer, bad timing

 

[Bigbella]

I still have a couple of Suunto Solutions which date from 1992-3; and they're still functional; still used for backup . . .