Petrel 3 Failure

[sea_ledford]

• You can buy a Fisher-to-4-PIN converter and use older Fischer-based computers as monitors**.

Wait, what? Does someone make a converter that goes from fischer to wet 4-pin? I'd love to get a NERD from my SF2, but don't want to have to buy a fischer NERD.

Nevermind, found one here: Cables and more for rebreather

 

[InWay2Deep]

Is this an intermittent failure or a permanent one?

permanent, the wire powering the computer breaks.

 

[InWay2Deep]

Service bulletin now posted on Shearwater's webiste,

Petrel 3 Product Service Bulletin

Production and new sales are suspended until the improved procedures are tested and implemented. Existing Petrel 3 customers are encouraged to service their computer and the product improvement will be offered free of charge.

shearwater.com

 

[PEDiver]

Great news for Narked at 90, Jurgensen Marine, Divesoft, and other manufacturers that may provide alternatives. It is about the time.

I've been exploring Shearwater alternatives and here is what I found:

• If you want a cheap monitor (4-PIN) solution, get a HUD from Narked at 90 or Fathom.
• Divesoft Freedom is an option as a monitor*, but you'll have to get the cables from Narked at 90.
• Jurgensen Marine's TigerShark looks like a good alternative for either a monitor or a controller.
• You can buy a Fisher-to-4-PIN converter and use older Fischer-based computers as monitors**.
• You can get a NERD2 monitor or controller. But if you have a NERD 2 already, do you want to have two?

If you beat me to testing the TigerShark, please provide us all a review of the functionality and initial impressions. I plan to upgrade my Defender to the TigerShark in the near-ish future since I have had my fair share of issues with the SG-1 controller and Randy even said they won't be supporting the Defender electronics going forward since the unit has been discontinued in favor of the XCCR (they will still service the units, just no more updates or upgrades to the controller).

 

[mr_v]

If you beat me to testing the TigerShark, please provide us all a review of the functionality and initial impressions. I plan to upgrade my Defender to the TigerShark in the near-ish future since I have had my fair share of issues with the SG-1 controller and Randy even said they won't be supporting the Defender electronics going forward since the unit has been discontinued in favor of the XCCR (they will still service the units, just no more updates or upgrades to the controller).

Are you looking to test the controller or a monitor?

I am thinking of testing the monitor first due to the price.

 

[PEDiver]

Are you looking to test the controller or a monitor?

I am thinking of testing the monitor first due to the price.

I went back and forth on that with Kevin but ultimately I prefer an eCCR so I will upgrade to the controller with a secondary monitor and HUD.

 

[justinthedeeps]

permanent, the wire powering the computer breaks.

Can anyone say exactly where the failure occurs and what it looks like? Is it something we can inspect for in our currently working computers?

Couple of comparison pics in the thread here, showing the only semi-external/user-exposed difference I could find

 

[justinthedeeps]

I had this failure with my Petrel 3 Ext (fischer). It was rebooting randomly during dives. It still worked and retained memory of the dive progress. But unsettling. Shearwater sent me a new computer and wanted to study the failure mode in my unit. It looks like this is the resolution to the class of problem I had.

I was not doing a large number of battery changes at all. Maybe just 2-3 before this issue occurred. I had one of the first batch of Petrel3s and the problem showed up in the first year of use.

Were you able to notice anything different in the battery compartment?
I am confused because some people are saying permanent power loss.

I'm pretty sure I had my Petrel 2 reboot on me a couple of times in the past. The 3 hasn't done anything like that yet though
I wonder if this something that can be remotely diagnosed by users or serial numbers?

 

[davehicks]

Were you able to notice anything different in the battery compartment?
I am confused because some people are saying permanent power loss.

I'm pretty sure I had my Petrel 2 reboot on me a couple of times in the past. The 3 hasn't done anything like that yet though
I wonder if this something that can be remotely diagnosed by users or serial numbers?

Nothing was visible on my unit without disassembly. I was told there was internal corrosion causing issues. The symptom was random and frequent reboots. I would look at the computer and it would be at the tissues restored screen. Shearwater swapped out unit in May, and it's been good ever since. Probably 50+ dives on it since then.

From their service note, it seems to impact all Petrel3 units to date. It must be a design or manufacturing defect present from day one. I don't doubt that the problem could manifest as a loose connection or broken connection, which would be the difference in a reboot vs bricking.

 

[GF99/99]

Well this is a major bummer for those of us that have units that run the Petrel 3 and the crappy Shearwater HUD that if you look at it wrong will crack.

Really not ideal to have 2 unreliable po2 monitoring devices. Kind of defeats the purpose of redundancy.

Makes almost want to pick up a used Petrel 2 and plug that back into my unit.