Oceanic Geo malfunctioning? reset with no low battery warning?

[cali.grrl]

I only have 59 dives logged on this computer yet it seems to be plagued with issues. After replacing the battery last June, I received a low battery warning just a few months later, even though I had not done more than a hand full of dives.

I am now on a 3 month vacation and my watch has malfuctioned 3 times while diving. I put a fresh new battery in just before my departure May 1st 2011.

1. Before 1st dive several weeks ago, I changed clock settings so dives would be loved with local time and about 10 mins later I heard a beep an the clock had reset to 1/1/2006 12:00. This had happened to me before, but I thought it was because I changed the battery. This time I was positive there was no low battery signal since I had JuST adjusted the time and all seemed normal.

The next 2 malfunctions occurred this we while diving in Fiji.

2. On 2nd day of diving, I entered water on 1st dive of the day and noticed immediately that my computer was in "guage mode"....I surfaced, but was unable to change the setting, so I had 3 dives without full use of my computer. Not a comfortable situation since the dive op I was diving with did not have any computers, but thankfully my dive buddy did. If this diver had not been there, I would not have dove.

When I got back to my room, I checked my manual. It said if there had been a violation on prior dives the computer would be stuck in guage mode for 24 hours. However, I never received any violations or warnings on the prior 3 dives. It also said if you start a dive in guage mode it will stay in that mode for 24 hours, yet I had not changed any settings since my last dive the day before, so i fear this is a dangerous malfunction on the Geo. I Google "Oceanic Geo + guage mode" and saw a few other posts about folks having this same issue.

3. After my 1st dive, and just before entry on my 2nd dive, I heard the beep of doom and once again my computer reset to 1/1/2006 12:00....The nitrogen loading info from my 1st dive was not lost, but was not included with my next 2 dives. My second dive of the day was showing up as "dive 1" versus "dive 2" in the sequence. I was again but in a potentially dangerous situation since I was unaware of my true nitrogen levels and forced to dive conservatively for a 2nd day.

Considering the cost of the vacation, I am feeling incredibly disappointed that 2 out of 3 dive days were affected by this apparent malfunction. It certainly doesn't give me much confidence to dive with a computer that only seems to work a third of the time.

Can you please let me know if you have encountered these issues before and what options I have to alleviate them? I still have one more dive destination planned and I can't say I trust my computer enough to dive comfortably and may just have to revert to dive tables.

Please advise.

Thank out in advance!

Charlotte

Oceanic Geo 05704725
CD-004726 05/0

 

[NCadiver]

The only thing you can do is send it back to the factory. They do have a fix for it. It best if your call, email don't get answered that often.

 

[cali.grrl]

NCdiver: So you have heard of this happening before? Larry at Scubatoys has sent me the number so will call 1st thing tomorrow (its already Monday here).

Really sucks that this has to happen on my big dive vacation, but Murphy's Law always has a way of making an appearance!

Thanks again for the tip...

Charlotte

 

[Mike]

The gauge mode thing could also simply be user error. If you press the upper left button to set to "norm" for dive mode on your first use on your first dive and it is blinking and not solid, you haven't engaged it into dive mode yet and guage mode is where it will end up. When you set it to norm and it's still blinking you must hold the upper left button in for a few seconds to lock it into norm or dive mode, ( the 'norm' will stop blinking and be solid) then you're all set and ready to go. This is a common user error that happens with this dive computer.

 

[cali.grrl]

The gauge mode thing could also simply be user error. If you press the upper left button to set to "norm" for dive mode on your first use on your first dive and it is blinking and not solid, you haven't engaged it into dive mode yet and guage mode is where it will end up. When you set it to norm and it's still blinking you must hold the upper left button in for a few seconds to lock it into norm or dive mode, ( the 'norm' will stop blinking and be solid) then you're all set and ready to go. This is a common user error that happens with this dive computer.

User error is always a possible cause. However, I know without a doubt that at no point had I changed any settings from the time I ended my dives to the roughly 24 hour period when I started diving again. I didn't even log the dives I had done the day prior, so my watch was essentially "untouched" after dives were completed on the first day.

So in most instances, I might even question whether I had inadvertently changed the settings. However, in this case, I am positive I did not.

The first time this happened, I couldn't be sure that was the case, but given the repetitive dives and the error occurring during a sequence of dives, I am quite sure there is "something" wrong.

I am finally back in Auckland, but alas, it's the the weekend, so I will try to call Oceanic on Tuesday my time to see if I can get the ball rolling on some sort of resolution. Likely it will have to wait until I am back in the States in August.

Thanks again for all the feedback!

Charlotte

 

[fdog]

There's a reason I dive a D4 for a wristwatch computer now.

...The 4 Mantas (Aeris version of the Geo) I went through, that all had pressure & battery problems, had a lot to do with it...


All the best, James