Suunto "Too Conservative" Issues

[curtissqd]

Hi,

I recently went to the Cobra and all was ok until I went to Cozumel where I was diving with various others using such computers as:
Sherwood Wisdom
Ocean Versa
Uwatec Aladin Pro Ultra Nitrox
Dacor Darwin
Oceanic Datamax Pro
and a host of other computers

My problem was that Suunto is so conservative that on the second dive my bottom time was almost 1/2 that of the others (even the new ones) to the point that I was having to go above 30' up to 20 minutes earlier than those who went deeper than me on the first dive (I always went shallower by at least 10 - 20').

Now this may not seem like a problem except that once above the reef at above 30' the current is 2x faster so I would lose everyone because no one else wants to surface with the guy that has that "bloody" Suunto - in fact another guy on the boat said he has one but threw it away for that reason.

Now I do know that it is meant to be conservative but I guess I am looking for suggestions since I no longer can just return the computer. I guess I can get a second one - but what to do with the Suunto?

Any and all recommendations are appreciated as I found this to really ruin some of my trips.

Curtis

 

[Genesis]

if you weren't already.

BTW, my runtimes on my Suunto agree pretty closely with others I dive with that have Genesis and Mares M1s - within a minute or two.

 

[Gilligan]

I have a Cobra and also find it more conservative than my previous Oceanic Data Max. My gf has an Oceanic Pro Plus and I always have less dive time than she does on our dives. Not by a lot, but definetley less. My verdict is still out on this Cobra. It crapped out on me after only 3 months. It showed depth readings of 15 feet less than true at all depths. LeisurePro quickly sent me a new one.

 

[norcaldiver]

Could you have had the personal setting set to the high conservative setting (did that make sense?)? Did you have a little diver with a + sign or 2 + signs?
The Cobra is conservative, but I dive with others that have Oceanic and Aeris computers and haven't been that far off, granted it depends on the dive.
Factory it's not that much more than the Oceanics/Aeris/etc, but if you set the personal adjustment up so that you have the Diver with 1 + sign, it's more conservative, it you have 2 + signs, it's ultra-super-conservative to the point where you can hit you deco limit in the bathtub.

 

[jamiei]

If you compare the NDL on the plan mode of your cobra, you'll see that they aren't that much more conservative than most tables. They are more conservative, but not by much and the difference is made up and then some since it calculates your multlevel dive profile.

 

[pasley]

The Cobra and the DataMax Pro represent opposite ends of the spectrum. The DataMax (my first computer) is liberal. It is, according to some, the most liberal on the market, but I am not in a possition to make that statement. The Cobra is conservative and can be adjusted to be even more so.

You have 2 possible problems causing your Cobra to be so much more conservative than your dive budies and they are:
1. You have it accidently set to alttitude mode
2. You have it set the settings to make it either P+ or P++ ultra conservative. In a normal mode the little scuba dude should not have any + marks behind him.

My own computer is set on Super Chicken plus 2. I have been bent before (DataMax Computer, no violations of anything, including speed of accent) and my bottom time is not significantly less than my dive duddies. IN fact most of my dives are called due to my dive buddies running out of air rather than my bottom time.

Re-read your owners manual carefully. It could be that you are misinterpeting what the computer is telling you too. Also remember the computer is displaying data based upon your personal dive information such as repetative dives, depth and rate of accent. The Cobra adds decompression stops if you assend too fast based on its RGBM model.

The owners manuel on page 60 shows that at a setting of P0/A0 you should have 7 minutes at 140 Ft for the first dive which is the same as the PADI dive planner.

One other factor, I assume you computer is new, if not when was it serviced last. Even new, sometimes thing don't work right. Have iit checked by an expert.

If you still don't want the Cobra, my daughter who is certified is would greatfully accept the donations of your computer to her dive budget.

 

[Genesis]

hose you and BADLY if you dive repetitively when the attention symbol is lit.

If that little triangle with an "!" in it is lit, and you get in the water, it will penalize the dive to a varying level of severity. In some cases it will do so quite severely, depending on how close to extinguishing the marker it is when you get it wet again.

This typically only bites you if you dive repetitively with more than about a one hour SI, but the actual SI it wants varies a bit depending on the depth and time of your previous dive and if you did anything "bad" on it (like trip a SLOW alarm) I've seen it clear in as little as 45 minutes, and as long as an hour and a quarter. You can determine how long it will take to clear by using SIMPLAN and adding additional surface interval; when it goes into SIMPLAN after specifying the additional SI if its still lit then you didn't add enough - back out and try a larger SI add-on until you find the point where the attention symbol disappears. That's how long you have to wait until it's happy with you.

Note also that the Suuntos will demand a MANDATORY stop and impose a ceiling on you if you ascend as little as 5' rapidly while at depth - I've had it do that to me a couple of times, usually while spearfishing when I shooting something and it drags me a bit before I can get control of the fish. 5' is not much - but its enough to piss off the computer and have it demand extra sanity. While I've had the STOP legend come on, I've never actually had to DO the stop; my usual ascent profile, with one or more deep stops, has always cleared it before I got to the 19-10' range (the Suuntos go into "safety stop countdown" at 19')

 

[Gilligan]

I did not have the settings on any of the more conservative modes. I hadn't dove in 3 days. My gf and I descended from our kayaks at the same time and when we got to the bottom her puter showed 90 feet and my Cobra showed 75 feet. It stayed 15 feet off the rest of the dive including the 3 minute stop at 20 feet which was really at 35 feet. I used her data for the dive cept for my air supply. I have no idea what happened to that Cobra and I don't care what the technical explanation for it's failure is. It was 3 months old and I had it in Cozumel a couple of weeks prior. I took it as carry-on with the rest of my reg setup so it was never mishandled. I keep the Suunto cover on it all the time. It gets real TLC. Perhaps it was just a defective one. I'll never know. If it was user error LeisurePro would not likely have sent me a brand new one. Time will tell.

 

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

Gilligan once bubbled...
when we got to the bottom her puter showed 90 feet and my Cobra showed 75 feet. It stayed 15 feet off the rest of the dive including the 3 minute stop at 20 feet which was really at 35 feet. I used her data for the dive cept for my air supply.

Just curious - did you check both computers out against a third computer? How do you know her computer wasn't wrong by 15 feet deeper?

Marc

 

[Charlie99]

FLL Diver once bubbled...
Just curious - did you check both computers out against a third computer? How do you know her computer wasn't wrong by 15 feet deeper?

It's pretty clear from his description that it was a constant 15' error. 20' indicated vs 35' actual is pretty obvious to an experienced diver.