Poseidon Releases Solid State Sensors

[688ClassRebreather]

Poseidon announced at DEMA that they are releasing their exclusivity on the Solid State Oxygen Sensors (SSOS) which allows any other CCR manufacturers to put SSOSs into their units. Hopefully this will quickly make them options on most CCRs.

 

[LFMarm]

Does anybody have experience with these sensors?

 

[688ClassRebreather]

Does anybody have experience with these sensors?

They work great. I have been using them for about 5 years without a single issue. The only drawbacks are the price and the limitation on which units can use them. Hopefully this will improve both of these areas.

 

[Big-swede]

Does anybody have experience with these sensors?

A friend of mine is on his 3rd year without trouble.
When I upgrade to a seven I'll get myself a pair.

 

[boriss]

Just in case someone is unfamiliar, here's the info about Poseidon sensor: Solid State Sensor | Poseidon

Here's a good read on these sensors, with lots of technical information: What Happened to Solid State Oxygen Sensors?

A few points of interest:
- Sensors are $1400 each
- It's recommended to run a single solid state unit along with traditional galvanic cells for sanity/confidence
- Requires factory calibration every 2-years
- Physical design is plug'n'play, but there would need to be electronics upgrades

Will be interesting to see how soon Shearwater supports them and manufacturers bring this to market. I also wonder if larger volume will reduce the price of the sensor in the long-term. To me the factory calibration every 2-years may negate a lot of the pros. Galvanic sensors are hit or miss, but some can work reliably for years. At $100 each the value prop isn't to save money on the sensors but rather improve the experience by not needing calibration.

Pretty exciting announcement!

 

[Whitrzac]

Since its poseidon, at exactly 2 years the sensor will stop working until you send it in to have to calibrated...

So you'll need 2 of them to swap between while one is always at the mfg getting calibrated

 

[rddvet]

I sure hope the price comes down and Poseidon's stupid tricks of making stuff not work at specific intervals goes away. I would think it would be hard for them to force recalibration on other units (such as an mCCR), but maybe not. Hopefully at a minimum we're seeing the start of a positive move away from galvanics. I think it'll be 5-10 years minimum to get to the point that they're commonplace and hopefully at a lower price point.

 

[RainPilot]

Just in case someone is unfamiliar, here's the info about Poseidon sensor: Solid State Sensor | Poseidon

Here's a good read on these sensors, with lots of technical information: What Happened to Solid State Oxygen Sensors?

A few points of interest:
- Sensors are $1400 each
- It's recommended to run a single solid state unit along with traditional galvanic cells for sanity/confidence
- Requires factory calibration every 2-years
- Physical design is plug'n'play, but there would need to be electronics upgrades

Will be interesting to see how soon Shearwater supports them and manufacturers bring this to market. I also wonder if larger volume will reduce the price of the sensor in the long-term. To me the factory calibration every 2-years may negate a lot of the pros. Galvanic sensors are hit or miss, but some can work reliably for years. At $100 each the value prop isn't to save money on the sensors but rather improve the experience by not needing calibration.

Pretty exciting announcement!

That 1400 USD tag is due to the North American distributor for Poseidon, if you buy on the webshop from any other country they are half the price (8500 Swedish Kroner is about 770 USD right now)

They are required to be factory calibrated every 10 years and the price is designed to be about the same as 10 galvanic sensors. That 10 years is from the manufacturer of the physical sensors (Poseidon developed the diving version of an existing commercial sensor, the factory licenses the diving application exclusively to them, which is what they just released). Poseidon is making a service unit to calibrate them which will be made available to service centres who want them, since they have a couple of years before even the prototype ones get to the 10 year mark they haven't been in a big rush to get that out there yet.

The main reason behind the recommendation of the "one galvanic, one solid state" was to install confidence in the new tech with divers, as well as reduce the sticker shock on buying 2 sensors at once. The Se7en head can use either or, in either of the two slots so also lets folks use up their existing stock of sensors before committing.

I have a couple hundred hours on the solid states, never seen a single whiff of inaccuracy or error. The best part for me, is knowing I can just take the unit out and go dive without having that "oh crap, are my sensors still good?" moment just after I agree to the dive.

 

[boriss]

That 1400 USD tag is due to the North American distributor for Poseidon, if you buy on the webshop from any other country they are half the price (8500 Swedish Kroner is about 770 USD right now)

View attachment 751852

Yup good point, same point was made on the InDepth article "Note: Poseidon sells the sensor for 6800SEK plus VAT from its website, which equates to 944 USD, some outlets in the states sell them for much higher"[1]

They are required to be factory calibrated every 10 years and the price is designed to be about the same as 10 galvanic sensors. That 10 years is from the manufacturer of the physical sensors (Poseidon developed the diving version of an existing commercial sensor, the factory licenses the diving application exclusively to them, which is what they just released). Poseidon is making a service unit to calibrate them which will be made available to service centres who want them, since they have a couple of years before even the prototype ones get to the 10 year mark they haven't been in a big rush to get that out there yet.

The main reason behind the recommendation of the "one galvanic, one solid state" was to install confidence in the new tech with divers, as well as reduce the sticker shock on buying 2 sensors at once. The Se7en head can use either or, in either of the two slots so also lets folks use up their existing stock of sensors before committing.

I have a couple hundred hours on the solid states, never seen a single whiff of inaccuracy or error. The best part for me, is knowing I can just take the unit out and go dive without having that "oh crap, are my sensors still good?" moment just after I agree to the dive.

Thanks for the insight. I've read that they have an expected life of ">5 years"[2] and the InDEPTH article states: "As for how long the sensors actually last, even the manufacturers don’t yet know. Poseidon has some from 2014, and they still work but have to be factory calibrated every two years. Galvanic sensors need to be replaced annually, while solid state sensors are expected to last much longer."[1]

Do you have different instructions/information? Can you please provide it? TIA!

Sources:
[1] What Happened to Solid State Oxygen Sensors?
[2] PyroScience GmbH

 

[688ClassRebreather]

Yup good point, same point was made on the InDepth article "Note: Poseidon sells the sensor for 6800SEK plus VAT from its website, which equates to 944 USD, some outlets in the states sell them for much higher"[1]



Thanks for the insight. I've read that they have an expected life of ">5 years"[2] and the InDEPTH article states: "As for how long the sensors actually last, even the manufacturers don’t yet know. Poseidon has some from 2014, and they still work but have to be factory calibrated every two years. Galvanic sensors need to be replaced annually, while solid state sensors are expected to last much longer."[1]

Do you have different instructions/information? Can you please provide it? TIA!

Sources:
[1] What Happened to Solid State Oxygen Sensors?
[2] PyroScience GmbH

I just stopped at the Poseidon booth and spoke with Peter Andersson. There is no requirement to have them calibrated. There is a plan to be prepared to calibrate them if needed, but that is just a contingency