This has me quite curious as well. I use a Cobra. On a recent Keys trip, another diver (I don't know him) also had a Cobra, and he discovered while trying to set his nitrox %O2 for the first dive that it just displayed "Er" and wouldn't let him set anything. He asked the DM (Suunto-familiar) and captain (not so much) what it meant, but they didn't know. I remembered that it involved a blown stop but nothing very specific about details or how to clear it etc. My take on that part of the Cobra operation after the initial read of the manual was "don't get there" and I hadn't really tried to internalize the details, so I wasn't much help to him either. But in response to our limited descriptions, he insisted that he hadn't dived in a week before that morning.
[ BTW, he did both dives on that trip. I have no idea what he was using for managing his N2 load, if anything, and didn't try to find out. As drbill recently said in another thread, I just wanted to stay out of the way of natural selection. ]
So afterwards I decided I wasn't satisfied with the state of my understanding, and reread that part of the manual again. I now think I understand how you get a Suunto into Er mode. But how to get it out? The manual actually doesn't say, and in fact, it calls it "Permanent Error Mode". It does say you shouldn't dive for at least 48 hours, but it doesn't say how the Permanent Error Mode is exited. It didn't seem reasonable that the computer was actually trashed.
So I started googling around, and found nothing conclusive. Some reported removing the battery cleared it, and some said it cleared after 48 hours. Then I found a discussion at Suunto Regional Service Center of battery replacement. That site's not behaving for me right now, but I saved the page locally, and it includes this text:
Note: Function Test
The test is designed to activate all of the alarms provided for your safety in the computer,
including ascent, visual, audible, and backlight. To activate these alarms the computer is driven
into violation of the decompression algorithm and subsequently a rapid ascent to the surface.
This test is mandatory for your safety and will result in a dive in the computers memory. The
computer will be in ER mode for a period of time (48 hours) when it is returned to you. You can
verify when the computer will clear the error mode by accessing the memory and viewing the
time remaining before flying.
I thought that probably put the issue to bed - It's not really "permanent", it actually clears in 48 hours as the manual might be read to imply, and the no-fly time actually counts that down for you. ... And the guy on the boat that said he hadn't dived in a week was probably about as reliable on that as the rest of his behavior suggested.
But the OPs report that his Vyper has been in Er Mode for 60+ hours calls that into question again. Maybe the "function test" only puts it there for 48 hours, but even worse profiles can make that even longer?
I'm really interested in knowing if this ever clears on its own, and how long that takes. Also, can you look at the no-fly time? Is it counting down? How long does it have to go?
And what did that poor guy do to get his Cobra locked up for a week, and why was he still walking around?
[ BTW, he did both dives on that trip. I have no idea what he was using for managing his N2 load, if anything, and didn't try to find out. As drbill recently said in another thread, I just wanted to stay out of the way of natural selection. ]
So afterwards I decided I wasn't satisfied with the state of my understanding, and reread that part of the manual again. I now think I understand how you get a Suunto into Er mode. But how to get it out? The manual actually doesn't say, and in fact, it calls it "Permanent Error Mode". It does say you shouldn't dive for at least 48 hours, but it doesn't say how the Permanent Error Mode is exited. It didn't seem reasonable that the computer was actually trashed.
So I started googling around, and found nothing conclusive. Some reported removing the battery cleared it, and some said it cleared after 48 hours. Then I found a discussion at Suunto Regional Service Center of battery replacement. That site's not behaving for me right now, but I saved the page locally, and it includes this text:
Note: Function Test
The test is designed to activate all of the alarms provided for your safety in the computer,
including ascent, visual, audible, and backlight. To activate these alarms the computer is driven
into violation of the decompression algorithm and subsequently a rapid ascent to the surface.
This test is mandatory for your safety and will result in a dive in the computers memory. The
computer will be in ER mode for a period of time (48 hours) when it is returned to you. You can
verify when the computer will clear the error mode by accessing the memory and viewing the
time remaining before flying.
I thought that probably put the issue to bed - It's not really "permanent", it actually clears in 48 hours as the manual might be read to imply, and the no-fly time actually counts that down for you. ... And the guy on the boat that said he hadn't dived in a week was probably about as reliable on that as the rest of his behavior suggested.
But the OPs report that his Vyper has been in Er Mode for 60+ hours calls that into question again. Maybe the "function test" only puts it there for 48 hours, but even worse profiles can make that even longer?
I'm really interested in knowing if this ever clears on its own, and how long that takes. Also, can you look at the no-fly time? Is it counting down? How long does it have to go?
And what did that poor guy do to get his Cobra locked up for a week, and why was he still walking around?
