Teric owners, have you required repair or replacement service?

[tdp92]

All that would resonate with me IF Terics were dying in such a way that they were causing people to have to end dives early. Or even to miss dives.

It's not like they don't work.

The problem that many of us have had is that the battery starts to run down faster than it should when it is stored. It's not the case - that I have read about or experienced - that people start a dive (or even a day) with a Teric that indicates it has adequate charge for the dive (or the day) and then it just unexpectedly dies on them during their dive (or even their day).

The whole and entire problem with Teric batteries is that people are needing to charge them while they are STORED more often than the manual says they should have to. Instead of needing to top up the charge every 5 or 6 months of storage, they (we) are having to do it once a month or so.

Shearwater does need to sort this out and fix the problem. No doubt about that. But, it's not like their failure to meet the manual specs of 6 months in storage before needing a charge means that is is a bad product.

Yes. This is true. It's a relatively minor issue (still unacceptable for the price they are charging in my humble opinion). It's just that I do not want to deal with non-mandatory maintenance. And from a personal point of view I do not want to spend that type of money on something I know it's faulty (albeit in a minor way). If after maintenance the rate of malfunction were zero (as it would be in the case of a bad batch of batteries) I would be very happy, but people reports 4-5 trips to Shearwater so the issue is intrinsic to the product.

 

[Diver-6873]

All that would resonate with me IF Terics were dying in such a way that they were causing people to have to end dives early. Or even to miss dives.

It's not like they don't work.

The problem that many of us have had is that the battery starts to run down faster than it should when it is stored. It's not the case - that I have read about or experienced - that people start a dive (or even a day) with a Teric that indicates it has adequate charge for the dive (or the day) and then it just unexpectedly dies on them during their dive (or even their day).

The whole and entire problem with Teric batteries is that people are needing to charge them while they are STORED more often than the manual says they should have to. Instead of needing to top up the charge every 5 or 6 months of storage, they (we) are having to do it once a month or so.

Shearwater does need to sort this out and fix the problem. No doubt about that. But, it's not like their failure to meet the manual specs of 6 months in storage before needing a charge means that is is a bad product.

Of my wife and my own five Teric replacements each .. a few have caused some impacts to current dives …. One that mid-dive had an AI antenna failure, one that had a motherboard complete meltdown, and several mid-dive compass calibration failures. Fortunately we dive together almost daily, know the reefs almost blindfolded, and were able to continue the dives but the issues continue to be frustrating.

 

[scubadada]

All that would resonate with me IF Terics were dying in such a way that they were causing people to have to end dives early. Or even to miss dives.

It's not like they don't work...

My first Teric had a black screen. That would have ended the dive if I didn't have a backup AI computer. It was repaired. The AI antenna went out. That would also have ended the dive without the backup. This was replaced.

My second Teric had a bad battery and was replaced. That was just a nuisance.

My third Teric had an antenna failure and was replaced. Again, would have ended the dive without backup.

My fourth Teric had a bad battery and was replaced, another nuisance.

My fifth Teric had a bad battery and was replaced, another nuisance

My sixth Teric flashed like the flashlight function before turning off. Neither Dive-Tronix nor Shearwater had seen this before and electively replaced it. I don't know if this would have affected performance I have not heard back from Shearwater yet regarding their diagnostics.

My seventh Teric just had an antenna failure and will be replaced when I return from a non-diving family vacation. This required a backup.

My eighth Teric will be perfect

So, at least 4 of 8 problems I have had required a backup not to have affected the dive.

Edit: Teric #7 was repaired rather than replaced, I'm still on seven.

 

[stuartv]

The problem that many of us have had is that the battery starts to run down faster than it should when it is stored.

My apologies if I gave the impression that no Teric ever had a problem that cost somebody all or part of a dive.

My point - which I *think* is valid - is that the real endemic problem to the Teric is the battery discharging too quickly when stored.

Yes, people have had other problems that did cause dives to be shortened or lost. But, that happens with every computer. I don't *think* the Teric is any worse than other computers in that regard (but I certainly could be wrong).

Where the Teric (regrettably) stands out is the stored battery discharge. And THAT problem does not generally cause people to shorten or miss dives.

 

[Diver-6873]

My apologies if I gave the impression that no Teric ever had a problem that cost somebody all or part of a dive.

My point - which I *think* is valid - is that the real endemic problem to the Teric is the battery discharging too quickly when stored.

Yes, people have had other problems that did cause dives to be shortened or lost. But, that happens with every computer. I don't *think* the Teric is any worse than other computers in that regard (but I certainly could be wrong).

Where the Teric (regrettably) stands out is the stored battery discharge. And THAT problem does not generally cause people to shorten or miss dives.

Sadly, the battery problem is not just unused/stored. It seems that once the battery hits ~6months old it begins to lose power quickly. Ours can lose as much as 10%-20% over 24 hours of surface time, if off the charger, even with the display powered off. it seems to be a known problem without a fix yet ….

 

[Dan]

I got 86% at 48h.

That was with all OFF, including AI & Compass.

I repeat fully charged it and set the AI & Compass to ON, then set Teric to OFF, 48h later the battery charge went down to 80%. So the Compass & AI do suck some battery juice, even though Teric is OFF.

 

[Dan]

Well, my tests were interesting. With AI and compass ON, I was at 94% after 48 hrs (same as last month). With AI and compass OFF, I was at 90% after 48 hrs. Weird to say the least. I'll probably check with things turned on again to confirm but it doesn't really impact me. I can dive for several days without charging, but I need to recharge lights every night anyway.

Something screwy there. I lose 6% more with Compass & AI ON after 48h.

 

[Dan]

I confirm that the battery drain is indeed larger when compass and AI are on.

Mine from 7%/day to 10%/day, 3%/day more when the AI & Compass are kept ON, based on 48h in storage.

 

[stuartv]

Someone that I know that is a Shearwater "insider" told me that the problem with the Teric batteries is charging them to 100%. Enough times charging it to 100% eventually damages them.

I was told to only leave it on the charger until the battery is up over 80% or so and then take it off the charger. If the battery is not already damaged, then charging it that way will avoid it getting damaged at all.

I need to send both of mine off for repair. I'm hoping to send one of them next week. I can't be without both at the same time. Then send the other as soon as the first one comes back. After the next round of repairs, I will manage the charge like I was told and see how it goes...

 

[Manatee Diver]

Someone that I know that is a Shearwater "insider" told me that the problem with the Teric batteries is charging them to 100%. Enough times charging it to 100% eventually damages them.

Still doesn't explain it.

Charging a battery to 100% imposes as much battery wear as charging from near zero to 80%. But unless you are a professional diver you aren't diving enough to put that much battery wear in six months to a year.

I typically charge my Teric once a month, so in a year you have maybe a little more than dozen charges from 50% to 100%.

Even the worst battery should be good for a couple of hundred wear cycles and still retain 90% battery capacity. The battery in my Suunto 7, which is probably very similar has been drained to 50% nearly every day for the past three years, and it still retains similar battery life as I got it three years ago.

Which is why I think the issue isn't the battery. Unless they are buying cheap reject batteries there is no way that they should be dying this quickly. Perhaps they need to adjust the maximum voltage that it charges to, maybe there is a memory or software issue that needs fixing. But it shouldn't be up to the consumer to figure this out.