Suunto Mosquito played up - for the second time now

[Deefstes]

In my mind, determination of a fault-prone or buggy dive computer should be based on the percentage of units with the defect.

True. But if someone's D4 or Vyper developed this problem I'm sure we'd have heard of it but so far I've only heard of Mosquito's giving this problem. Also, the LDS owner where I returned the computers also said that they've processed a few Mosquitos with this problem but never any other Suunto. While all of these are anecdotal I do get the impression that it points to a higher percentage of Mosquitos being dud than other computers.

the only disadvantage was you dont have a gas switching option in-dive.

I've been wondering about the usefulness of this feature. I'm not a technical diver and I don't even have a Nitrox cert yet. I think I may go that route one day though as I find it quite interesting. My question is, how often would divers switch between gasses on a dive when the gasses are only different Nitroxes and air?

Those are the only gasses the D4 (and 95% of the computers out there) provide for and from what I understand gas switching is mostly done when using trimix as a back gas. Any typical scenarios that I don't know of?

 

[rab1412000]

I've been wondering about the usefulness of this feature. I'm not a technical diver and I don't even have a Nitrox cert yet. I think I may go that route one day though as I find it quite interesting. My question is, how often would divers switch between gasses on a dive when the gasses are only different Nitroxes and air?

Those are the only gasses the D4 (and 95% of the computers out there) provide for and from what I understand gas switching is mostly done when using trimix as a back gas. Any typical scenarios that I don't know of?

afaik gas switching becomes important for a lot of rec and wreck divers i know when they do deco on nitrox and the dive itslef on air.
doing deco on nitrox significantly reduces deco times.
again im not an expert but afaik its the most common use of gas switching for rec divers

 

[Deefstes]

afaik gas switching becomes important for a lot of rec and wreck divers i know when they do deco on nitrox and the dive itslef on air.
doing deco on nitrox significantly reduces deco times.
again im not an expert but afaik its the most common use of gas switching for rec divers

Aha, that makes perfect sense. Thanks.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

True. But if someone's D4 or Vyper developed this problem I'm sure we'd have heard of it but so far I've only heard of Mosquito's giving this problem. Also, the LDS owner where I returned the computers also said that they've processed a few Mosquitos with this problem but never any other Suunto. While all of these are anecdotal I do get the impression that it points to a higher percentage of Mosquitos being dud than other computers.

@Deefstes:
It really isn't fair to compare the performance history of the Mosquito with the D4. The Mosquito was officially discontinued at the beginning of 2008, whereas the D4 was just brought to market in 2008. It's entirely possible that the D4 may develop issues over time. As I recall from your original post in this thread, it took over a year before your Mosquito began to act up. Just something to think about.

Furthermore, lest you think that the Vyper has a perfect service record, check out this thread by some GUE divers. It's prudent to double-check depth and NDL readings every now with your buddy's dive computer.

As has been cautioned by others, no computer is foolproof. Divers should be using what's between their ears.

Have fun and dive safe...

 

[Deefstes]

It really isn't fair to compare the performance history of the Mosquito with the D4. The Mosquito was officially discontinued at the beginning of 2008, whereas the D4 was just brought to market in 2008. It's entirely possible that the D4 may develop issues over time.

Fair point.

And I have to be clear, I didn't want to come out here to diss the Mosquito, for as long is it wasn't giving problems we enjoyed our Mosquitos tremendously. I was more than a little concerned when my wife's computer started giving problems and very concerned when mine did so to. When I started hearing of so many others who've had the same problems as ours and they all had Mosquitos I started losing trust in Suunto computers.

What I wanted to convey here is that, I have been assured by users and shop owners that this particular problem is more specific to Mosquito than Suunto in general. They may be wrong but at least that does restore my faith in Suunto.

 

[ShakaZulu]

The early Mosquito's had issues, I also had one that read 20ft at the surface Sent it back, they returned it and then it did it again. I asked for a newer model, red on the screen, and have had no problems since.

Suunto - Suunto Mosquito Story - SUUNTO MOSQUITO - Diving Instruments

 

[Centexbear]

What the heck does played up mean?

MY wife and I both have Suunto Mosquitos. I like the computer as it is easy to understand and operate and I have been lead to believe that Suunto is a respectable manufacturer.

However, on a recent dive my wife's Mosquito developed a problem and this is the second time the same thing has happened. Somewhere halfway through the dive she came up to me, very distressed, as her computer was indicating that we were deeper than was our plan and she was getting very close to a deco obligation. I checked mine and saw nothing wrong. Comparing the two, her computer showed a dive time of 18min while mine was only showing 15min. We dropped off the boat at the same time.

Also, her computer was indicating a depth of 28m while mine (and our gauges) were showing 23m. Her computer then continuously showed a depth of 5m more than what we really were at. At the 5m safety stop her's showed 10m and on the surface her computer still indicated a depth of 5m. The previous time this happened the depth difference was 18m!

After the dive we removed the battery and re-inserted it and she did two more dives with the computer without any apparent problems but I am now seriously concerned with the quality of the Suunto Mosquito. If this could happen twice, what guarantee do I have that it won't happen again and next time when it has much more severe repercussions?

Imagine you have to do a deco stop at 5m and happily ascend only to break the surface thinking you're almost at 5m depth where you were going to do your stop.

Has anyone else experienced something similar with the Suunto Mosquito? Is there any sort of maintenance that I need to do to it to ensure this doesn't happen? The computer is not particularly old, only a year or so.

 

[Deefstes]

What the heck does played up mean?

Playing up (-verb):
1. Giving problems
2. Not acting in the manner expected
3. Attempting to get Deefstes or his wife to drown

Now what the heck does heck mean?