Ongoing problems with OCi

[mrcavallo]

hello,

i purchased an OCi and transmitter late last year from mareshop.eu

when the computer arrived, i could not wake it from its deep sleep. mareshop's advice after contacting Oceanic was to replace the battery. i did this and the unit worked great for my next diving holiday. i returned and put the watch in a drawer.

just tonight, i noticed that the watch has gone completely blank and will not respond to any commands. the battery was replaced just 2 months ago. i am starting to lose my confidence in this watch.

i am assuming the battery should last longer? any suggestions as to what might have happened?

thank you.

 

[The Chairman]

Not all batteries are created equal. I changed to different batteries on my Oceanic PDCs, though I can't remember the name now. Fuji???

 

[mrcavallo]

thanks NetDoc - but 2 months?

i think they may have been Fuji. got a bad feeling there is an issue with the watch.

 

[mbs]

I have 3 veo's and had constant battery problems until I started using either the sony or panasonic batteries. 2 Months is crazy short life though...

 

[Madmanmike]

I have had the puter and transmitter for almost a year and have no operational problems, but yes, the battery goes fast. I teach and do about 300 dives a year and I am currently on my 4th battery. So about 3 months is all I can get out of the battery. The transmitter is still on the first battery, and the watch says the charge is still 'good' on that.

So, maybe this design is just a battery hog.

Michael

 

[Newdiv]

I learned that if I turned off the ai function, the computer wasn't spending energy looking for the transmitter. This was on a vtx though, chewed through batteries.

 

[MikadoWu]

hello,

i purchased an OCi and transmitter late last year from mareshop.eu

when the computer arrived, i could not wake it from its deep sleep. mareshop's advice after contacting Oceanic was to replace the battery. i did this and the unit worked great for my next diving holiday. i returned and put the watch in a drawer.

just tonight, i noticed that the watch has gone completely blank and will not respond to any commands. the battery was replaced just 2 months ago. i am starting to lose my confidence in this watch.

i am assuming the battery should last longer? any suggestions as to what might have happened?

thank you.

I purchased 2 OCI computers last summer for myself and daughter. I just sent 1 of my 2 OCi's in for service. Like you, I had the battery replaced in November. Used it in Jan and Feb, then 2 weeks later blank screen. Replaced the battery again the screen was still dim. Plugged the watch to the computer and was ABLE to pull all my dives off. (I would test this on yours) At this point I figured there had to be some else way wrong. Called up a local Oceanic Shop dropped it off for repairs, that was 3 weeks ago, I am still waiting Patiently on a reply. For note, my daughters OCi has had zero problems.

 

[tbh1974]

I purchased two Oceanic OCI computers in June of 2016. My wife's computer froze up during her third day of diving (dive number 6 on the computer). When she entered the dive plan it just froze. We sent it back to Oceanic and they said it was the screen and replaced it. We just got off a ten day live aboard in the Banda Sea and my OCI failed on the 5th day of diving (dive number 27 on the computer). My bottom time and surface intervals were inaccurate. Than my watch also froze when getting in to the plan mode. I was able to fix the problem by pulling the battery and clearing the watch.This the last thing you want to happen while doing 3 to 4 dives a day in the middle of no where.I would not recommend clearing the computer unless you are diving with a backup, which I was. We have always dove with Oceanic computers and have had very good success until diving with the OCI. I'm very disappointed with this computer and will be contacting Oceanic when we return from our trip. These computers can not be trusted. Many people on the live aboard said they would not purchase this computer after hearing our problems. Oceanic needs to address this problem and take care of there customers. These computers are not safe and we will not dive with them again unless they can prove the problem has been addressed.

 

[Madmanmike]

I really can't complain about mine. It has some issues, but overall it has been a great computer for me. My biggest issues are:

1. The downloading of dives is much more difficult than it should be. I have a MacBookPro, and I use MacDive for my log. Many times I have to plug/unplug/plug/unplug the OCi many times before reliable communication clicks in. This may be an issue with the USB driver, the MacDive app, the cable or the OCi itself. I always manage to eventually get it done, but it should be smoother.

2. The compass will suddenly lose its calibration, and of course, I don't notice it until I am under water, so calibration is impossible. It works fine for a few weeks, or maybe sometimes just a few days, I never know. But suddenly I will press for compass function and it is locked to a direction, maybe SW or whatever, and doesn't move. I have to wait until I surface, then go thru the calibration and all is well for a while, until next time it freezes.

But overall, I have over 300 dives on the watch and no real complaints that would make me give it up. Poor battery life, compass issues, USB communication problems, all minor things. The dive computer and wireless connection to the transmitter have been very reliable for me. The N2 algorithm is pretty lax, compared to the Suuntos, but I like the watch. Would buy again, no problem.

Michael

 

[tbh1974]

Update. Once again My OCI Computer has failed while being on an extended live aboard trip in the Socorro Islands. This time the computer went into Deco Only 10 mins into the dive at 40 feet. My wife and I both carry back up computers since having issue with the OCI's in the past. On this particular dive, out of the four computers we are using on every dive my main OCI was the one that failed again. The OCI computers are unreliable. Between the two OCI'S my wife and I own, They have failed a total of 5 times. We have sent them back to oceanic and they say the screen has failed and replace the screen. It seems to me there is a glitch in the computer and Oceanic should fess up before someone is severely injured. Luckily for us we dive with back up computers! We will be replacing these computers before our next dive trip. I have always been a fan of the oceanic computers, but not anymore. This not what you expect from a $1000 computer!