The Teric's Battery Performance.

[Jay]

Nothing like spending $6000 on a liveaboard trip only to have tour battery choke on it halfway through day 3 of a week long trip. That's a thousand dollar day right there.....for want of a nail. Despite what SB would have you believe, the vast vast vast majority of people do not have a backup computer, and those that do, even less actually dive with them concurrently. Being able to swap a battery with one you can pick up in any jungle corner store without losing decompression data is probably the cheapest insurance you can get.

It would be good if you could apply a little context and reality to your posts please. Do you really think a NDL diver doesn't know how to handle a failed computer re subsequent dives? I'll give you a clue, it's not 'Z/ the rest of the trip is written off'.

By your logic I shouldn't need an extra source of PO2 monitoring with my rebreather, or need to carry backup lights when I'm cave or wreck diving. Sorry dude, I've got enough hours in the water in austere situations to never assume that my gear is infallible, even my Shearwaters.

A computer failing on a NDL dive is not an equivalent risk to additional PPO2 monitoring on CCR nor backup light(s). I know you love to be the keyboard warrior and smash out the aggressive posts with a bit of conflation and feigned logic, but do feel free to engage a little grey matter first; you don't always need to live up to your role model avatar!

Maybe I just actually use enough batteries to not make ridiculous assumptions that battery technology is infallible, especially in a piece of equipment designed to safely escort you through an environment where you are literally incapable of survival without life support equipment.

On this one time will tell. First let's get some accuracy. I didn't and am not saying it's infallible. But I'm would say that risk is so low, and low enough not to be of a concern for NDL divers. I am not saying it won't degrade over time and need replacing. I am saying that sudden death of the li-on battery is a remote possibility.

The Teric's been out for a year, and there's no sudden battery failures.

 

[Jay]

The Teric has a simple screw back case, one of these days we will know what battery it uses and then I would likely just change my own when it can’t perform any longer, it’s just to nice to do without, for me anyway.

That'll be interesting to see how viable is and who dares to go first.

When SW eventually come out with their new box, which I'd be willing to bet will have a rechargeable battery, I wonder if they'll do something funky like having dual batteries, and how user-replaceable to make it.

 

[Saniflush]

Being able to swap a battery with one you can pick up in any jungle corner store without losing decompression data is probably the cheapest insurance you can get.

Being a nerd I like the data, but that aside I understand where you are coming from @JohnnyC except for this last statement.
Replacing the battery in the Perdix clears all tissues on the unit.

 

[JohnnyC]

Being a nerd I like the data, but that aside I understand where you are coming from @JohnnyC except for this last statement.
Replacing the battery in the Perdix clears all tissues on the unit.

Negative Ghostrider. Straight from the Perdix manual, page 88:

Decompression tissue loading
The battery may be safely changed between repetitive dives.

Like the clock, the decompression tissue loading is saved every 16 seconds to permanent memory when on, and every 5 minutes when off.

When the battery is removed the tissues remain stored in the permanent memory and are restored once the battery is replaced, allowing for battery changes between repetitive dives. However, the Perdix does not know for how long the battery was removed, so no surface interval adjustment is applied for the time that the battery is removed.

If yours doesn't, update your firmware.

 

[Saniflush]

Negative Ghostrider. Straight from the Perdix manual, page 88:



If yours doesn't, update your firmware.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I no longer have mine (sold to sister to buy a Teric) but will definitely check the firmware on hers when I see it again. I know it used to flash up a message about the tissues being cleared when I would change the battery. Maybe it is the warning about the surface interval that I remember seeing.

 

[JohnnyC]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I no longer have mine (sold to sister to buy a Teric) but will definitely check the firmware on hers when I see it again. I know it used to flash up a message about the tissues being cleared when I would change the battery. Maybe it is the warning about the surface interval that I remember seeing.

I know at one point it was a change that was made in a firmware update. I specifically remember it being pointed out, so it's entirely possible that the last time you looked at it, tissues were cleared.

 

[stuartv]

Nothing wrong with it.
But as all batteries go, the battery will degrade with time and eventually may need to go back to manufacturer.
Maybe I'm not thinking correctly and perhaps the computer needs to go to Shearwater for servicing after x # of years anyway but the convenience of changing the battery myself is a positive attribute.

When I got my Predators serviced last Fall, I think I was told that Shearwater recommends having them serviced every 5 years. Though they don't have a rechargeable battery that needs to be replaced, they do have O-rings, including non-user-serviceable ones that ARE a good idea to replace every so often.

I don't have any issue with sending my Shearwaters off for service every 5 years, whether it's a Predator or a Teric.

My only real issue with rechargeable built-in batteries would be if they didn't have enough capacity. It needs to have enough capacity so that even after it degrades in performance some, it still has enough capacity to last over at least 2 full days of diving. That way, I can plan to charge it every night but if I forget one night, I will know that it's okay and I will still have enough charge to get me through the next day.

The Teric has way more than enough battery capacity to satisfy my needs.

I do wonder how many people that say they wouldn't have a Teric because of the battery would also refuse to have a NERD2 - which is also rechargeable-only, with a built-in battery. And it even requires a proprietary clip to be able to charge it. I just got a NERD2 for my CCR and so far I am loving it. It even came with a small USB power bank that is supposed to be able to charge the NERD 3 or 4 times before it needs to be recharged. And the NERD2 itself is supposed to give 18 hours of dive time on a charge. That is also more than enough battery capacity to satisfy my needs. I did 12 dives over 7 days (blown out 1 day in the middle) in NC last week. 10 hours and 1 minute of total dive time. I charged the NERD once, in the middle of the week, just because.

 

[Compressor]

Thank you @stuartv. As usual your posts are top notch and very informative.

 

[BoltSnap]

Ratio Computers has a USB recharge that operates with 2 standard AA batteries to recharge the iX3M computer 2 - 3 times IIRC. You can take few AA batteries with you on your dive trip and that will take care of recharging the dive computer with built-in batteries if there are no power outlets available in the hotel or boat. So the "concerns" some folks have above regarding built-in rechargeable batteries are not applicable here. There are also power banks with varying capacities with enough charge for a whole week's worth of charging (I think that the Ratio computer may need 1 maybe 2 recharges in a week long live-aboard type of scenario).

 

[scubadada]

Ratio Computers has a USB recharge that operate with 2 standard AA batteries that will recharge their iX3M computer 2 - 3 times IIRC. You can take few AA batteries on a trip and that would take care of recharging the dive computer with built-in batteries if there are no power outlets available in the hotel or boat. So the "concerns" some folks have above regarding built-in rechargeable batteries are not applicable here. There are also power banks with varying capacities with enough charge for a whole week's worth of charging (I think that the Ratio computer may need 1 maybe 2 recharges in a week long live-aboard type of scenario).

Hi Burhan,

Have you had any chance to compare the performance of Ratio's Buhlmann ZH-l16B to 16C? I have always wondered how they compare. Would think B would be a bit more liberal under some circumstances