Yes. I need a vibrating-alarm computer

[BoltSnap]

I almost pressed my off switch yesterday.
I turned my rebreather on for the first time in weeks. Low battery warning.
Before I have the chance to turn it off and change batteries it goes away. I assume it was some weird error as it's showing ok voltage now.
I prebreath it, make sure the solenoid is firing and start adjusting the harness, clip on the stage and walk to the water over some rocks, alone. This is taking about 10 minutes of me being very task loaded with trying to not fall on my face.
It takes me another 5 minutes to get over the rocks and I start getting lightheaded as I'm standing hip deep in water, getting ready to put on my fins, best to describe it is that my brain feels velvety.
Now I'm a freediver, I know full well that's not a good thing. I spat out the loop and took a couple of deep breaths, FINALY check my pO2.
0.05, as far as I know that's not really breathable, yay freediving training, probably a good idea to do more rebreather training.
Battery died, solenoid did not fire and due to strong sunlight I could not see my HUD blinking red.
If I died it would have 100% been user error, my rebreather told me not to dive and I did not check my po2 just because I was busy being dumb.
If I had a Petrel 3 I would have figured out something was wrong 5 minutes earlier when my pO2 was at a safe 0.2.
Anyway, I'm getting a Petrel 3 and I don't care if the sound and haptic alarms annoy my non existing dive buddies.

I think that your post is in the wrong thread

 

[Vicko]

I think that your post is in the wrong thread

Just my 2 cents on the people who think the op does not need alarms.

 

[Gone for diving]

I almost pressed my off switch yesterday.
I turned my rebreather on for the first time in weeks. Low battery warning.
Before I have the chance to turn it off and change batteries it goes away. I assume it was some weird error as it's showing ok voltage now.
I prebreath it, make sure the solenoid is firing and start adjusting the harness, clip on the stage and walk to the water over some rocks, alone. This is taking about 10 minutes of me being very task loaded with trying to not fall on my face.
It takes me another 5 minutes to get over the rocks and I start getting lightheaded as I'm standing hip deep in water, getting ready to put on my fins, best to describe it is that my brain feels velvety.
Now I'm a freediver, I know full well that's not a good thing. I spat out the loop and took a couple of deep breaths, FINALY check my pO2.
0.05, as far as I know that's not really breathable, yay freediving training, probably a good idea to do more rebreather training.
Battery died, solenoid did not fire and due to strong sunlight I could not see my HUD blinking red.
If I died it would have 100% been user error, my rebreather told me not to dive and I did not check my po2 just because I was busy being dumb.
If I had a Petrel 3 I would have figured out something was wrong 5 minutes earlier when my pO2 was at a safe 0.2.
Anyway, I'm getting a Petrel 3 and I don't care if the sound and haptic alarms annoy my non existing dive buddies.

I will agree, with you,
But if the battery died,,, how will it vibrate,
Probably the sol kicking in, killed the battery... caused to shutdown

 

[Marie13]

There was a thread a while back where the conclusion was that haptic alarms were a good thing for CCR divers.

I’ve dived with too damn many recreational divers who don’t pay attention to alarms. When they surface, multiple divers in a group would be asking whose alarm was going off.

PO2 being way off for a CCR diver is a lot more serious situation than a recreational diver wanting an alarm for hitting reserve air or ascent rate.

 

[Joneill]

Anyway, I'm getting a Petrel 3 and I don't care if the sound and haptic alarms annoy my non existing dive buddies.

Just an FYI: the Petral 3 does not have audible alarms (only vibration) so nothing to annoy others!

 

[buzzdoo]

Get a Ratio iX3M 2 Pro. They are great computers and have always had a vibrating alarm. It does air, nitrox and 3 gases. A Shearwater Perdix 2 is way over kill unless you plan on diving trimix or plan on getting a rebreather. If you do go that route the Ratio can be upgraded later on without having to buy a new computer.

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Yes yes. Thank you. I agree I do not need to put huge monies in to a computer as I do not plan for any tech diving. And this kinda holds for my other gear - not sure I really need top-of-line anything. Mid grade is fine. Thanks for your suggestion.

 

[doctormike]

FINALY check my pO2.

Thanks for the writeup, a very good cautionary tale. I think that the takeaway is in this sentence. Just out of interest, how long was your prebreathe...?

I think that alarms do have their place in certain systems. But I also think that a reasonable argument can be made against them for OC tank pressure. While I understand the desire for the alarm, people who are strongly advocating for them should at least consider the counterargument.

For a new OC diver, checking tank pressure should be like knowing your PO2 on CCR. They should be checking the SPG regularly, especially as they get a feel for their SAC rate. Most experienced OC divers can tell you an any given point in a dive what their tank pressure is within a narrow range without looking.

So there is at least some possibility that the presence of an alarm will lead to less situational awareness and less monitoring of tank pressure. The argument against them shouldn't be that they are annoying to other divers, it's not like they are going off constantly. The argument should be that they may imply to some divers that pressure monitoring is not so critical since there will always be an alarm if it gets low. And I don't think that the takeaway should be that it's unsafe to dive without one...

 

[doctormike]

I almost pressed my off switch yesterday.
I turned my rebreather on for the first time in weeks. Low battery warning.
Before I have the chance to turn it off and change batteries it goes away. I assume it was some weird error as it's showing ok voltage now.
I prebreath it, make sure the solenoid is firing and start adjusting the harness, clip on the stage and walk to the water over some rocks, alone. This is taking about 10 minutes of me being very task loaded with trying to not fall on my face.
It takes me another 5 minutes to get over the rocks and I start getting lightheaded as I'm standing hip deep in water, getting ready to put on my fins, best to describe it is that my brain feels velvety.
Now I'm a freediver, I know full well that's not a good thing. I spat out the loop and took a couple of deep breaths, FINALY check my pO2.
0.05, as far as I know that's not really breathable, yay freediving training, probably a good idea to do more rebreather training.
Battery died, solenoid did not fire and due to strong sunlight I could not see my HUD blinking red.
If I died it would have 100% been user error, my rebreather told me not to dive and I did not check my po2 just because I was busy being dumb.
If I had a Petrel 3 I would have figured out something was wrong 5 minutes earlier when my pO2 was at a safe 0.2.
Anyway, I'm getting a Petrel 3 and I don't care if the sound and haptic alarms annoy my non existing dive buddies.

BTW, seen this?

 

[Vicko]

I will agree, with you,
But if the battery died,,, how will it vibrate,
Probably the sol kicking in, killed the battery... caused to shutdown

Sure, nothing beats vigilance and common sense, I broke the most important rule of reb diving.

Thanks for the writeup, a very good cautionary tale. I think that the takeaway is in this sentence. Just out of interest, how long was your prebreathe...?

I'd say around 5 minutes, I usually pump up the pO2 a bit and end the prebreathe once my solenoid fires on <0,2 pO2.
My take away is that I need to focus on the unit even out of the water (a bad habit I have from DM-ing on open circuit where I would check my stuff as I was jumping off the boat, that's not gonna fly with the death machine I seem to have bought). I'm 99% sure I would notice the solenoid not firing in the water even if I was not checking my pO2.

 

[grantctobin]

I almost pressed my off switch yesterday.
I turned my rebreather on for the first time in weeks. Low battery warning.
Before I have the chance to turn it off and change batteries it goes away. I assume it was some weird error as it's showing ok voltage now.
I prebreath it, make sure the solenoid is firing and start adjusting the harness, clip on the stage and walk to the water over some rocks, alone. This is taking about 10 minutes of me being very task loaded with trying to not fall on my face.
It takes me another 5 minutes to get over the rocks and I start getting lightheaded as I'm standing hip deep in water, getting ready to put on my fins, best to describe it is that my brain feels velvety.
Now I'm a freediver, I know full well that's not a good thing. I spat out the loop and took a couple of deep breaths, FINALY check my pO2.
0.05, as far as I know that's not really breathable, yay freediving training, probably a good idea to do more rebreather training.
Battery died, solenoid did not fire and due to strong sunlight I could not see my HUD blinking red.
If I died it would have 100% been user error, my rebreather told me not to dive and I did not check my po2 just because I was busy being dumb.
If I had a Petrel 3 I would have figured out something was wrong 5 minutes earlier when my pO2 was at a safe 0.2.
Anyway, I'm getting a Petrel 3 and I don't care if the sound and haptic alarms annoy my non existing dive buddies.

Kudos to you for sharing the story. I’ve found the Fathom HUD disco mode sufficient to see in daylight, but have a Petrel 3 being delivered shortly for the same rationale.