I am looking for a Thermulation dive shirt, the batteries seem to work, the switch will no longer come on. If anyone has any suggestions on repair, please let me know.
Problem was it was turning off after a minute or 2, I messed with it and charged the batteries full, then plunged it all in the vest, it ran at medium heat for 1.5hrs. I assumed the batteries died so i charged them again, now the vest will not turn on at all, no lights on the switch,
Thanks
Jane
I've had switches die on 2 shirts -- hence my sudden search for a replacement.
In the first case, the switch was 'inconsistent' for a while -- it would turn on, sometimes flicker, sometimes not turn on, etc. and it degraded within about a week of diving to not working at all. Thermulation (Taiwan) replaced the shirt.
The replacement switch wasn't working when I tested it last month, after working fine during a trip last year. Maybe it was poor cleaning on my part, maybe it was poor storage on my part, but whatever the cause, this problem manifested as a switch that felt "sticky" as soon as I tried it in November, then it never worked.
I've got multiple sets of good batteries, so I'm certain those faults were in the switches.
Jane -- I agree that you should test the batteries. When charged, they should read about 8.4VDC.
I'm tempted to cut open the dead switch on my shirt and check whether it's a simple mechanical issue (ie., maybe the metal contact at the back of the physical slider corroded) or electrical, and see what it would take to fix it. Assuming that the switch itself can't be fixed,
I'd probably get a cheap diving light, with a plastic body and simple switch, cut the switch off the Thermulation shirt, drill a hole into the flashlight and wire the shirt into the flashlight switch, then fill the interior of the flashlight with electrical potting compound (epoxy) in place of the battery, sealing the hole.
