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Scuba Forum / UK Scuba / August 2005Aladin Air-X Failure
Once again equipment failure question. Background: On the weekend of the 19th -21st of August I did five dives, these were the first dives in a month. The first four were trial dives with inexperienced divers, the maximum time on any dive was 30 minutes and the maximum depth recorded was 17m. In general they were in the region of 30 minutes at 8-12m depths. There were 2 dives a day on Friday and Saturday, two hours plus surface intervals, with the last dive being approximately 21 hours before the incident in question. On Sunday the 21st August, I went for a pleasure dive with my partner. On setting up the scuba unit I noted contents at 198bar, air temperature was 29 degrees. Checks were done and we entered the water. We dropped to a wreck after about a 5 minute swim descending to 26-28m, at this point I noted my contents at 170bar. Then what I can only describe as all hell broke lose with the unit. In the space of 5-6 breaths the contents went from 170 Bar to 140, 114, 102, 89 then back up to 140. The unit then totally failed into ERR... mode. Obviously we aborted immediately and recovered. On recovering after a 10 minute swim it was established, by independent test, I had 150 Bar remaining. I spoke to Scubapro yesterday but wasn't particuarly happy with the response I'm just interested to see if anyone else has had a similar problem with one? I know it's an older unit and I can get a reasonably priced upgrade, however, given the way it failed and the fact that I could have been in serious problems had I gone into deco with no contents or depth readings. Any help appreciated. DaveA > I spoke to Scubapro yesterday but wasn't particuarly happy with the > response I'm just interested to see if anyone else has had a similar [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > serious problems had I gone into deco with no contents or depth > readings. My Aladin Nitrox went "Err" as I was entering the water while, oddly enough, teaching a nitrox course. It's what they do when the battery is dying - I would guess that the battery was on the edge (this happens when the indicator reads less than about 50% unfortunatly) and the cold water slowed the reaction in the cell sufficiently that some flip-flop switch in the unit determined that there was not enough power. Once that flip-flop has flipped (flopped?) the only solution is to change the battery. For me it was fine - I was teaching the course from tables and switched to my dive timer - but I agree it was pretty annoying. Top tip for extending the battery life is to clean the computer with freshwater and dry it before it goes back in the box (preferably in a place where it won't get wet). All that beeping and cycling through the display eats the battery pretty sharpish. Beyond 50% battery you're living on borrowed time. HTH. Ben > .....I could have been in > serious problems had I gone into deco with no contents or depth > readings. You would go into deco without backup depth readings? You are a braver man than I am. I used to have two contents gauges on the twinset too. nigelH Nigel, The emphisis was on 'had I' I did have my old Octopus II as a backup timer / depth gauge. The idea wasn't to do a deco dive, however more of a 'what if' scenario. Ben, Battery is a possibility it was reading 57%. Scubapro have said it sounds like a TX failure throwing erronious tank readings therefore the unit shuts down. Given the 57% on the battery it was 'unlikely' to be that. I was quite surprised to be told to take it back to a dealer who'd upgrade to an Air-Z for £95.00 and if I wanted to be on the 'safe' side they's replace the TX for an additional £57.50. The second part there surprised me given that the first suspected fail point WAS the TX. All in all They just seemed to show no interest in why the unit failed. As they no longer support the Air-X the upgrade was on the cards anyway. I just thought they'd show a little more interest in why it failed in the way it did. Thanks for the replies so far. DaveA First of all, congratulations on actually going diving Dave. Assume it wasn't in the UK. > I was quite surprised to be told to take it back to a dealer who'd > upgrade to > an Air-Z for £95.00 and if I wanted to be on the 'safe' side they's > replace the > TX for an additional £57.50. The second part there surprised me given > that the first suspected fail point WAS the TX. If you shop around, you can get a 2 mix Apeks Quantum for that money and go back to an old fashioned, and reliable, pressure gauge. Jason  SignatureSee http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/ for Caribbean trip reports including Aruba, Cuba, Grand Bahama, Barbados, St Lucia and Mexico > If you shop around, you can get a 2 mix Apeks Quantum for that money and > go back to an old fashioned, and reliable, pressure gauge. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > See http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/ for Caribbean trip reports > including Aruba, Cuba, Grand Bahama, Barbados, St Lucia and Mexico Exactly. Really puzzles me why people have to make something which is mechanical, simple, reasonably bomb-proof and works fine (like a pressure gauge on a hose) into something complex, electronic, non-user-serviceable and unreliable... It's the old story about the American astronauts space-pen versus the comonauts pencil. I know which I'd rather have! My 2p worth! M > Exactly. Really puzzles me why people have to make something which is > mechanical, simple, reasonably bomb-proof and works fine (like a pressure > gauge on a hose) into something complex, electronic, non-user-serviceable > and unreliable... It's the old story about the American astronauts Agreed, I love a gadget as much as the next man, but the minor convenience of having my pressure gauge on my wrist really isn't worth it in terms of expense and reliability. And the time left at this depth isn't much use to me because on a deep dive, I know I've got loads more gas than I need. And on a shallow one, I can just go up. Jason Signaturehttp://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/boatspaces/ for UK dive spaces Battery is a possibility it was reading 57%. DaveA ---------------------------------------- 57% of capacity or 57% of voltage? If it's capacity (i.e. ampere-hours) it does seem surprising to have let you down, but if it's voltage then it is well past the time to change it. After all, you wouldn't expect to start a car on a battery that was so clapped out that it only produced 7 volts instead of 12. Cliff. > Battery is a possibility it was reading 57%. > > Scubapro have said it sounds like a TX failure throwing erronious > tank readings therefore the unit shuts down. Given the 57% on the > battery it was 'unlikely' to be that. Where in the manual is anything said about battery life/remaining capacity vs. percentage shown? One should expect that with 57 percent remaining capacity you have 57 percent left in terms of operating time, until a battery warning goes off. Unles they say something different in their handbook, according to europeen laws, which demand trhuthness in manuals, the balll is in Scubapro#s field. They have to explain why computers breakdown with a remaining life in the 50% region. Matthias > Unles they say something different in their handbook, according to > europeen laws, which demand trhuthness in manuals, the balll is in > Scubapro#s field. They have to explain why computers breakdown with a > remaining life in the 50% region. I'll think you find they say that there's a time factor in the manual too. My Aladin Pro Nitrox stopped working when the battery got to about 50%. Ought to get a new one and sell it really. Jason Signaturehttp://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/ for Aussie diving reports including the Coral Sea, Ningaloo reef, the Solitaries and Byron Bay >> Battery is a possibility it was reading 57%. >> [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > explain why computers breakdown with a remaining life in the > 50% region. There is a number of reports of similar behaviour on the net (including one from myself). The problem with your line of argument of course is to show that it is really the battery that had failed. My local dealer (who is usually trustworthy) claims to have seen Aladins that have a proper low battery warining on the display and that all the ones with 'Err' have a fault in either one of the sensors or of the PCB board. The problem with the fix is not so much the price (roughly 80 Euros given that I have taken my Aladin to seven years of diving) but the time of several months it takes Uwatec/Scubapro/Johnson Outdoor to fix it. In the meantime, I've bought a Suunto Vyper off ebay, see my other posting. Robert Signature.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oO Robert C. Helling School of Science and Engineering International University Bremen print "Just another Phone: +49 421-200 3574 stupid .sig\n"; http://www.aei-potsdam.mpg.de/~helling >> .....I could have been in >> serious problems had I gone into deco with no contents or depth >> readings. > >You would go into deco without backup depth readings? I bring a SMB with indications on the line as a last resort backup. This, and breatning from the longhose, is the last items from technical diving I will give up, even on "blue water" dives. >You are a braver man than I am. > >I used to have two contents gauges on the twinset too. Whatever happened to proper gas planning for deco dives? -- mrr >> I used to have two contents gauges on the twinset too. > > Whatever happened to proper gas planning for deco dives? I gave it up when I stopped diving the twinset. 8-) The two gauges were to cater for re-planning a deco dive after a serious breakage leading to closing the manifold. Also, after having an SPG hang up on me, some confirmation of readings helped. The alternative is to rely on my diver skills and training but, once I have a couple of bar of Nitrogen in my brain, I see no reason to trust them. nigelH > >> I used to have two contents gauges on the twinset too. > > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > nigelH My Buddy & I have replaced our three Air-X's with Air-Z's now. They all failed around the 40-50% battery-life mark. The Air-Z's are fine. I have done around 200 dives on my Aladins, my buddy (an instructor) has about 2000 on hers! We both use a backup contents gauge. If diving solo I also wear my Suunto Spyder. Pip pip SignatureChris Notton Replace "nospam" with my surname to reply by email Sostituisca il "nospam" con il mio cognome per rispondere }<////(*> |
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