Oceanic ProPlus-4 PDC

[marcus213]

I bought a brand new Oceanic PP-4 in April 2020 @ my local dive shop and have had nothing but problems/glitches with them. I've sent back 3 units to b replaced and Huish Outdoors have been good to me with the warranty side of this night mare @ no cost ! I just want a PDC that's bullet proof and not give me problems all the time! I'm very knowledgeable about this PDC. But each dive season a problem shows up w/ it. "I can help any one with a question or 2" except for the DECO & VIOLATION side of unit, don't plan on needing that side, I always dive to the tee w/ the NO DECO side. It will tell u what to do if u get into a bad situation on the DECO side. The folks @ Huish Outdoors say they don't have hardly any problems with theses PDC's ! Surely i can't b the only one in the world that gets a lemon 3 times in a row ! I love the dang thang because i'm 59/w readers in my mask, and the all in one console w/ big BOLD numbers is prefect for us old guys. One more glitch on this 4th replacement and i'm going to ask for a refund! And get something else. Can anyone else give me some feedback on their Oceanic ProPlus 4 ?

 

[Robert Schlamowitz]

I'm with you. Just bought one myself this January 2022 but it took six weeks to come. Ordered one with QD but it came without the QD. Dove it three times at sea level but it is reading EL 2, EL 3 and as such, reducing my NDC significantly. I dive it with a Geo 2 backup and they don't agree at all the way my PP3 does on my other regulator rig. Complained to Huish and they said my Geo was wrong as it was older...but now I know for sure it is the new PP4. Waiting to hear back from Huish now as to the next step. I love the computer otherwise for same reasons...I'm 69 and like the large digits. Fun to download the dives on the app for my smartphone. Had some difficulty getting it to accept a new Nitrox mix between first and second dives yesterday and had to do it manually. Hmmm...is there more than one problem with this computer?

 

[marcus213]

I'm with you. Just bought one myself this January 2022 but it took six weeks to come. Ordered one with QD but it came without the QD. Dove it three times at sea level but it is reading EL 2, EL 3 and as such, reducing my NDC significantly. I dive it with a Geo 2 backup and they don't agree at all the way my PP3 does on my other regulator rig. Complained to Huish and they said my Geo was wrong as it was older...but now I know for sure it is the new PP4. Waiting to hear back from Huish now as to the next step. I love the computer otherwise for same reasons...I'm 69 and like the large digits. Fun to download the dives on the app for my smartphone. Had some difficulty getting it to accept a new Nitrox mix between first and second dives yesterday and had to do it manually. Hmmm...is there more than one problem with this computer?

Yep, Thks Robert for feedback. My 1st one, the alarm beeps & speaker were off and on. You would hear one time the next time u would have to put right up to your mask to hear beeps. Also all of them have been ultra sens to accent rate. I don't even pay that any attention anymore, i know i'm coming up right. I think it flips out after u do safety stop and come on up to the boat ladder, so do that slow also!!. 2nd problem is I'm from NC and we have a lot of famous deep wrecks. But the NC coast has some FUNKY weather/sea conditions. Most folks from out of town hate it here!!! Its a crap shoot, about 60/40 if you get to dive or get blown out. The 60% is on the no go side!!! Couldn't get off shore Friday to deep wrecks so dive boat stayed inshore to do wrecks in the 70' range. I take next day off and Sunday we got calm seas and were heading off shore 28 miles. Me and dive buddy get PDC's set up on the way out and sure enough it throws me into an ELV-2 killing my bottom time, I'm like WTF, so luckly the capt & dive crew knew i had a whole day to off gas and dive crew let me use his Shearwater PDC. Just about got benched to dive that day/ but still would have had to pay! You c the boat Captains & Dive crew are super STRICT here in NC diving. Got lucky that they knew my profile for the weekend and let me get down. 3 replacement PP-4 just arrives. I put it on my tank & press it up , and put in a 5 gal bucket of water to light it up, and the dang thang says i've made 1 dive @ 1 ft for 5 minutes. play w/ it a few days and again on 4th or 5th dunk in bucket it shows i've made my 2nd dive @ 3ft for 5 minutes! OMG i'm upset now bro. Send it back. Now my 4th one is acting right, but i can tell its been used, by some scuffs on the side. Any way, headed to Key Largo again this May 7th 2022, I have a brand new Veo 4.0 for back up. One more glitch and I'm DONE !!!!! Gonna ask for my $700 back !!! If not i'm gonna lick my wounds and go w/ a diff console PDC, like the Scuba Pro G2. I dont like the AI systems, I like it hardwired, all in one console in my hand and one glance tells me all ! Sorry if i got long winded. Marcus out.

 

[marcus213]

I'm with you. Just bought one myself this January 2022 but it took six weeks to come. Ordered one with QD but it came without the QD. Dove it three times at sea level but it is reading EL 2, EL 3 and as such, reducing my NDC significantly. I dive it with a Geo 2 backup and they don't agree at all the way my PP3 does on my other regulator rig. Complained to Huish and they said my Geo was wrong as it was older...but now I know for sure it is the new PP4. Waiting to hear back from Huish now as to the next step. I love the computer otherwise for same reasons...I'm 69 and like the large digits. Fun to download the dives on the app for my smartphone. Had some difficulty getting it to accept a new Nitrox mix between first and second dives yesterday and had to do it manually. Hmmm...is there more than one problem with this computer?

One more glitch with this PDC and im DONE!!!! My dive shop talked like i may get some credit on a new rig. Im going w/ the Scuba Pro G2 console. Oceanic/ Huish better get their stuff together on this matter of these PP-4 messing folks dives up!!!!!! My 1st one wouldnt even keep the right time. One would think that if you pay $700 that the stinking clock would work. It gained 3-4 minutes a month. I got a Timex Ironman watch that keeps perfect time & only paid $30 for it! And the girl @ huish acted like im the only one thats had a problem. I thought to myself "yeah right"!! Well any way headed from NC to Key Largo FL in the morning to dive for a week.

 

[lexvil]

There is a brand of computer on SB that is very popular, for good reason.

im 67 and I dive a Teric, crisp and great contrast out do big.

 

[scrane]

Erroneous elevation reference is a common problem with Oceanic computers. I've had two Oceanic computers that developed this problem. You can verify by going to the NDL charts published in the back of the owner's manual for your location's elevation and comparing to the times generated by the computer's dive planner.
I ended up with a Perdix AI which is also very easy to read and has been flawless.

 

[Robert Schlamowitz]

Erroneous elevation reference is a common problem with Oceanic computers. I've had two Oceanic computers that developed this problem. You can verify by going to the NDL charts published in the back of the owner's manual for your location's elevation and comparing to the times generated by the computer's dive planner.
I ended up with a Perdix AI which is also very easy to read and has been flawless.

Well, it happened again with my replacement PP4. NDL times were all shorter than my Geo 2 despite diving in Jupiter Fl. Waiting again for Huish but they were very responsive to my first failed PP4, replacing it without question. Wondering if it is worth 'upgrading' to PPX? Otherwise...new brand.

 

[Cthippo]

Well, that's disappointing because I was looking strongly at the PP line. Does Shearwater make a console type computer?

 

[Belzelbub]

Well, that's disappointing because I was looking strongly at the PP line. Does Shearwater make a console type computer?

No. At least not really. There is a boot that is offered that will hold a Peregrine and an SPG, but the Peregrine isn't AI.

When I got my first computer (Oceanic PP2) I was real hesitant on the hoseless AI computers. I had heard stories of divers losing connectivity during a dive, so went with a console. Used it for many years until it flooded. I traded it in for a discount on a new Oceanic VT4.1 with transmitter. That worked great. I really liked having everything on my wrist. I seem to recall a couple instances where I temporarily had no comms, but I believe that was on a few dives where I had my transmitter on my left post, and the computer on my right wrist. When I dive with them on the same side no issues.

Usually, the problems you hear about transmitters involve the Suunto transmitter. Suunto, Garmin, Scubapro, Ratio use proprietary transmitters. Some put the transmitter to sleep in certain situations to save battery, Garmin uses two different communication protocols. The PPS transmitters are comparatively simple. They turn on with pressure, and turn off if pressure drops below 50 psi. In most cases I've heard of where the PPS transmitter stops working, it's due to the battery. I change my transmitter batteries annually whether they need it or not.

I could not see myself going back to a console mount computer.

 

[marcus213]

Well, it happened again with my replacement PP4. NDL times were all shorter than my Geo 2 despite diving in Jupiter Fl. Waiting again for Huish but they were very responsive to my first failed PP4, replacing it without question. Wondering if it is worth 'upgrading' to PPX? Otherwise...new brand.

OK Robert i just seen ur post. I think i may have a plan here for us. I stopped n @ rainbow reef dive center while diving n Key Largo w/ Amoray dive resort"AWESOME DIVE RESORT" ! My 2nd year n a row! Stopped by Rainbow reef dive center & they said the PPX was great! Now my 4th PP-4 did good on the USS Speigel Grove deep dive May 13th 2022. And it mirrored perfect w/ my new backup Veo 4.0 all week long "5 days of diving". But u know diving shallow reefs (15 - 30 ft) u don't really need a PDC other than dive history, temp, depth, etc. You'll need SPG and compass. You will run out of time to be back on the boat before your air is low, as for me anyway. Now the plan is for me, and i knw this will be a bite n the ass w/ cost!!! But i'm going to get a wrist mounted Shearwater PDC W/OUT AI ! I like a hardwired "AIR" Pressure gauge! This will b my NDL soruce PDC. I use my compass on my PP-4 alot and i do better w/ it other than digital compasses. We got to have a air press gauge for sure. We run our PP4 on GAUGE MODE/we got the compass/AIR Press, all in the console. Got to have it anyway! No need to buy another console, yes thats a high price for Compass and SPG but were stuck with a PP-4 that does do the NDL job !!! Or just retool PDC all together. Just my thoughts.