Question Pelagic Pressure Systems or Shearwater (the Swift) transmitter failures

[scubadada]

There have been discussions regarding failures of Pelagic Pressure Systems and Shearwater transmitters. For Shearwater, I mean only the Swift. Earlier Shearwater transmitters were manufactured by PPS and should be included in PPS voting in the poll. I would like to get an idea about how these transmitters have failed.

Multiple responses are allowed to cover ownership of multiple transmitters. Responses can be changed. Only 10 responses are allowed in polls, the design is not perfect. I have one PPS transmitter that failed due to a presumed hardware problem. That transmitter was replaced and eventually failed due to the OPV. That transmitter was replaced and works perfectly. I have two other PPS transmitter that have never failed. I will check 3 boxes in the poll:

No failure, own PPS
Yes, PPS presumed hardware failure
Yes, PPS presumed over pressure valve

So, my votes reflect that I have at least one PPS transmitter that has never failed, at least one with hardware failure, and at least one with OPV failure.

Thanks for your participation

 

[Belzelbub]

FYI, Typo in the poll. PPS Hardward should be Hardware.

I voted with 1 failure, and no failure.
The one that failed I had actually purchased used. During that purchase I got two transmitters, one worked fine, and continues to work. The other just didn't turn on. Double checked by changing the battery, pairing with another computer, and it was just dead. Both transmitters in that purchase looked to be about 10 years old based on the SNs and dive history of the computer that came with them.

I also have a 3rd transmitter that I purchased new in 2013. Still going great.
Refurbished transmitter works as well, but only has a handful of dives on it.

So in total, I've had 4. One failed at some point prior to me using it for the first time. OPV was intact, no sign of flooding, just did not transmit. The other 3 are working fine.

 

[-JD-]

WRT Shearwater Transmitters ... do you mean JUST the new Swift Transmitters or those AND the Shearwater branded PPS tranmitters?

Aren't the older (pre-Swift) Shearwater branded units the "same" as Aqualung, Oceanic, ... ? If so, they should probably be grouped together then.

 

[tursiops]

Aren't the older (pre-Swift) Shearwater branded units the "same" as Aqualung, Oceanic, ... ? If so, they should probably be grouped together then.

Yes, I agree.

 

[runsongas]

the one flaw I see in this poll is if a significant number of responders are like Belzebub, aka one failed transmitter but multiple that were good. then you end up with a skewed result that the proportion of failed transmitters looks higher than normal.

 

[scubadada]

FYI, Typo in the poll. PPS Hardward should be Hardware...

Thanks, fixed my error

Also, thanks for your post and voting in the poll

 

[scubadada]

WRT Shearwater Transmitters ... do you mean JUST the new Swift Transmitters or those AND the Shearwater branded PPS tranmitters?

Aren't the older (pre-Swift) Shearwater branded units the "same" as Aqualung, Oceanic, ... ? If so, they should probably be grouped together then.

Yes, I agree.

Yes, for Shearwater computers I mean only the Swift, manufactured by Shearwater.

The earlier Shearwater computers were manufactured by PPS, just as transmitters from Aeris, Aqua Lung, Hollis, Oceanic, Sherwood, and Tusa are/were. Are Pressure Transmitters compatible across brands?

I made several edits in the poll and post to clarify this. I always seem to make some errors when I post polls. Forturnately, early readers, like you, point them out to me

 

[scubadada]

the one flaw I see in this poll is if a significant number of responders are like Belzebub, aka one failed transmitter but multiple that were good. then you end up with a skewed result that the proportion of failed transmitters looks higher than normal.

Thanks for your comment. It's the best I could do to allow everyone to participate regardless of the number and manufacturer of their transmitter(s).

My example showed that I made 3 votes for all the PPS transmitters I have, several with no failures and 2 different failures.

@Belzelbub made 2 votes, one for no failure of several PPS transmitters and one hardware failure.

There are no denominators here, but I think the distribution of responses will be interesting. It's difficult completely covering a complex topic with a single poll

Edit: Interesting, I just took a look at the poll. There were 21 votes in the poll, but total at the bottom states 13. Maybe this represents 21 votes by 13 voters? I'll see if I can find out from other staff who know more about how SB works.

2nd edit: yes indeed, poll number are total responses, total voters is the number of respondents. Currently stands at 25 responses from 17 voters.

 

[Grantt]

October 2021, my SW swift over-pressure valve popped. Probably had around 6-7 dives on it. Happened around 20 minutes into the dive.

 

[scubadada]

PPS transmitters have been available since the mid-late 1990s under many brand names. I can't imagine how many of them are out there.

I would have expected more votes in the poll, 31 votes by 22 people.