User replaceable battery vs rechargeable?

[Lorenzoid]

I think those recommended services are a CYA move to get some extra money flowing it. Clean the sensor, replace seals and cash a check. If you have 10% of the customers do that on 100,000 units, it is keeping your service department busy and you making more money. Service them when they work fine is better than waiting for them to come in on a repair (which might even be warranty work) . I don't blame them, but I also have never bothered to send in a computer for factory service either.

As far as I know, there is only one service center for Shearwater in the US, Dive-Tronix, and it looks like they charge $150 for "general maintenance" service. I looked this up not so much for the price but for the turnaround time. I mean, I assume Dive-Tronix is not a huge operation. It turns out they guarantee a 5-day turnaround. Wow--I was expecting them to estimate something like 4-6 weeks. For the Petrel they include as part of general maintenance replacing the faceplate o-ring and depth sensor o-ring (hadn't occurred to me that there is one) as well as the battery cap, and pressure-testing the unit. I also noted on the page that Dive-Tronix says "We recommend your dive computer be serviced every 3-4 years." I'm sure they would defer to Shearwater's recommended interval of 2 years, but I would still give weight to Dive-Tronix's recommendation. So, okay okay, I can see myself sending my 10 year-old Petrels in for "general maintenance" at this point.

General Maintenance Service - Dive-Tronix

General Maintenance Service $150.00 Tips for Battery Performance User-changeable batteries: Do not leave an alkaline or lithium battery installed in your dive computer for more than four(4) weeks without use. Do not store your computer with a low battery reading. DIVE-Tronix and Shearwater...

www.divetronix.com

 

[brsnow]

As far as I know, there is only one service center for Shearwater in the US, Dive-Tronix, and it looks like they charge $150 for "general maintenance" service. I looked this up not so much for the price but for the turnaround time. I mean, I assume Dive-Tronix is not a huge operation. It turns out they guarantee a 5-day turnaround. Wow--I was expecting them to estimate something like 4-6 weeks. For the Petrel they include as part of general maintenance replacing the faceplate o-ring and depth sensor o-ring (hadn't occurred to me that there is one) as well as the battery cap, and pressure-testing the unit. I also noted on the page that Dive-Tronix says "We recommend your dive computer be serviced every 3-4 years." I'm sure they would defer to Shearwater's recommended interval of 2 years, but I would still give weight to Dive-Tronix's recommendation. So, okay okay, I can see myself sending my 10 year-old Petrels in for "general maintenance" at this point.

General Maintenance Service - Dive-Tronix

General Maintenance Service $150.00 Tips for Battery Performance User-changeable batteries: Do not leave an alkaline or lithium battery installed in your dive computer for more than four(4) weeks without use. Do not store your computer with a low battery reading. DIVE-Tronix and Shearwater...

www.divetronix.com

Dive-tronix is wonderful and if you have a teric you will get to know them well.

 

[stuartv]

I think those recommended services are a CYA move to get some extra money flowing it. Clean the sensor, replace seals and cash a check. If you have 10% of the customers do that on 100,000 units, it is keeping your service department busy and you making more money. Service them when they work fine is better than waiting for them to come in on a repair (which might even be warranty work) . I don't blame them, but I also have never bothered to send in a computer for factory service either.

I don't think Shearwater makes any money on the servicing. As @Lorenzoid pointed out, in the U.S., the servicing is done by Dive-Tronix, which is a completely separate business. Paying them to service a Shearwater is not sending any money to Shearwater themselves.

I think Shearwater's service centers in other countries are similar in structure.

And I promise you, they don't have that recommendation because Dive-Tronix is begging Shearwater to drive people to them. They are absolutely as busy as they want to be already.

And yes, their turnaround times really ARE that good. I sent them a Teric and a NERD2 to have the cable changed from Fischer to 4-pin. They recieved the package on 12/18 and I received it back with all work completed on 12/26. I've had a number of Teric batteries replaced and had a few other things serviced or repaired. The turnaround has been like that every time.

 

[scubaozy]

I have several dive computers older than 20 years and they never seen service and they do just fine. Dive computer should not need any service unless some component fails. Regarding the battery, clearly user replaceable are superior design wise. Most rechargeable devices have tiny LiIo packs in them, its not that hard to design the rechargeable devices user replaceable.
Every 300-500 charge cycle, anywhere 3-10 years, depending on use, these devices need service by design, so, should I spend few hundred bucks to just new battery or invest that into newest and the greatest model? Here the question is not making money from service but incentivize the buyer to upgrade.

 

[lexvil]

I have several dive computers older than 20 years and they never seen service and they do just fine. Dive computer should not need any service unless some component fails. Regarding the battery, clearly user replaceable are superior design wise. Most rechargeable devices have tiny LiIo packs in them, its not that hard to design the rechargeable devices user replaceable.
Every 300-500 charge cycle, anywhere 3-10 years, depending on use, these devices need service by design, so, should I spend few hundred bucks to just new battery or invest that into newest and the greatest model? Here the question is not making money from service but incentivize the buyer to upgrade.

Have you a cell phone?

 

[BoltSnap]

clearly user replaceable are superior design wise

"clearly"???? Who said? Did I miss the memo?

 

[scubaozy]

"clearly"???? Who said? Did I miss the memo?

You would choose the non replaceable, over replaceable, if everything else was the same? Does this require a memo?

 

[stuartv]

You would choose the non replaceable, over replaceable, if everything else was the same? Does this require a memo?

Can you please direct me to the dive computer that is equivalent to a Teric or Garmin Descent that has a user replaceable battery? If it exists, I will certainly consider buying it.

 

[lexvil]

Can you please direct me to the dive computer that is equivalent to a Teric or Garmin Descent that has a user replaceable battery? If it exists, I will certainly consider buying it.

You really can’t get the great screens and overall capability in shuch a small form factor without recharging.

 

[scubaozy]

Can you please direct me to the dive computer that is equivalent to a Teric or Garmin Descent that has a user replaceable battery? If it exists, I will certainly consider buying it.

There isn't.. that is what is bothering me. If consumers continue accepting that it is a norm to surrender their dc or mobile phones every x years to a service and pay $, I doubt anything will change as there is no incentive for the manufacturer.

Have you a cell phone?

I worked a decade an a half for a famous Finnish company in R&D. All batteries on phones we developed were user replaceable iirc. It was mostly North Americans brought non replaceable battery concept into the market, I guess you know which company I mean. I am hoping this trend will change back to earlier devices where you can actually swap the batteries.

You really can’t get the great screens and overall capability in shuch a small form factor without recharging.

Off course you can.