Suunto Vyper kicked the bucket...

[Scott101]

Greetings,

On the last dive of a recent trip, my computer first went nuts then out all together. This was dive # 10 on Nitrox( a total of 60 on the computer), a replaced battery prior to the trip and all well within what would be considered normal conditions.

When I set the nitrox prior to the dive, all was well but the display did flicker once. Halfway thru the dive, all went blank. Back on dry land, I checked to make sure that the battery hadn't flooded and still got nothing.

Back home, I tried to turn it on (hoping it had decided to work again) and it went CRAZY! Said that I was at 450ft, a pO2 of 4 something and was taking me thru deco stops with ascent times and everything.

So, anyone ever experienced something like this? Does it sound like the computer is fried? Wonder if it is, would it cost more to fix it than to get another one?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[triton94949]

This is why I bring a backup bottom timer with me on all dives. The UWATEC bottom timer has its own strap, and the SUUNTO can be attached to that strap, so that you have two gauges on one strap, therefore it is no more difficulty in putting on and wearing the combined device than a single dive computer.

If your SUUNTO dies during a dive on a dive trip, you simply revert to the UWATEC and sum to some factor such as 115 for air diving or 120 for nitrox. It helps to bring plastic dive tables along as well, or an RDP, or whatever manual device you are used to, as a backup for dive planning, especially if you are diving air, or if you are pushing the NDL limits with nitrox.

Computers are not immortal. Although I have never heard of a SUUNTO failure before, nor have I ever experienced one myself with either of my own 2 SUUNTOs.

 

[Tanked Monkey]

You mentioned how many dives you have on it, but not how long you have had the computer. I would take it back to where you bought it, especially if it's still under warranty. (Suunto's warranty should be for 2 years) If it's not under warranty anymore, maybe they can give you a deal on another one.

Mike

 

[Scott101]

I think it is about 2 or 3 years old. I get about 25 dives year and this was # 62. I am going to call Suunto when I get off work and talk to them about it. Worst case, I will have until the fall before my next trip.

Triton did bring up a good point about backups though. I dive with just a pressure gauge and rely on the computer for time and depth. So there I was, no depth guage, no timer, no nothing. Luckily, I was on the second dive of the day, on a shallow reef (~40 ft), diving 32% with about 1300 psi left so I didn't really panic. I followed a couple that was a tad rougher on air during the ascent and counted to 360 for the ss at 15 (they had a line with a ilumistick from the night before). I think i will rethink my set up before the next trip.

Just wondering....now that I have seen the dark side of a computers mortality, I am wondering about how practical it is to use air intergration, depth and time in a computer console versus good old mechanical readings? I know that both can fail but seems like the chances of all the guages going out at ones is is slim and none.

Any comments?