Eon Steel - anticipated Tank Pod battery life

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Diving Dubai

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@Hendrik@Suunto

I brought my Eon late Feb 2015 and now have 4 Pods. Two pods were purchased in Feb, two more in August 2015.

All battery indicated good at the time of purchase.

The two purchased in August have both shown low batteries, One of the Feb pods has also come up with Low battery.

POD 1 - s/n 1443105951 Feb 2015 approx 100 dives Low Battery Feb 2016 Battery being changed by local Suunto deaer
POD 2 - s/n 1443105998 Feb 2015 approx 100 dives Battery still over 3/4 full
POD 3 - s/n 1519106415 Aug 2015 approx 30 dives Low Batt Dec 2015 Battery changed under warranty by Suunto Dealer
POD 4 - s/n 1519106443 Aug 2015 approx 30 dives Low Batt FEB 2015 Battery being changed by local Suunto deaer

As you can see 1 Pod is functioning as I expect it would. PODs 1 & 2 were purchased just before the recall (Which was for POD's not sold and not showing faults to my understanding) PODS 3 & 4 were those post recall once issues had been sorted. Dives are generally 50-60 minute dives

No Pods are left pressurised for any undue length of time etc.

I'm guessing that because I brought the first two when the Eon had shipped so I'm guessing those hadn't been on the shelf long and given the last two were post recall again I'm guessing not a long shelf life.

My question is. What would the expected life expectancy be? As you know you don't see the battery life unless you delve into the menu (an annoyance) and have the Pods active. So rather now do I need to pressurise each pod before a dive trip or can I least anticipate a given time say number of dives or length of time?

Regards
 
Diving Dubai,

I knew I'd seen it somewhere but it is hard to find. http://ns.suunto.com/Manuals/Tank_P..._EN.pdf?_ga=1.114211079.1856341903.1454847175

It says 300 dives but recommend battery replacement after 200 dives or 2 years.

I remember Hendrix mentioned in a post somewhere that the battery life meter is not based on actual voltage but an algorithm or preset time. The ones that shipped out already low were only showing low. I wonder if there is a deeper issue that is causing the short life or if yours were only partly effected right off the bat and are only now showing the problem.

FYI my original pod that came with my EON has 66 dive and still shows full. Also I do leave mine pressurized about 1 out of 3 dives for the soak, so about an extra hour, but I think they sleep after a few minutes of the air not changing so...
 
@Chicken SCUBA

Thanks for that. that was my understanding too. I thought I'd put this up to give @Hendrik@Suunto a heads up. It doesn't bother me as such because I have a good relationship with my LDS and the batteries will be changed this week. I just wondered if there was an underlying issue, as well as hoping that the next update would make it easier to see the Pod battery status (even have the Eon remember its last transmitters and levels at that time and date
 
Hi! The battery life expectancy is 300 dives, as mentioned. With a dive we assume 1 hour divetime and half hour constant pressure applied during surface time. Our actual battery tests have confirmed that the batteries should last at least this long with a good safety margin. If the batteries experience extreme temperatures during storage or use the actual capacity might be reduced. If the Tank Pod is left pressurised it enters a low power mode after a short while, sending less frequently, but goes to sleep after approximately one hour.

The Tank Pod battery capacity indication shown in Eon is not based on real battery capacity left, because it is impossible to measure the capacity of these special batteries by voltage or internal impedance. The indication is based on a usage time counter in the Tank Pod, which counts down the capacity each time the Tank Pod transmits. Our own tests have shown that the indication works reliably now after the initial problem with sensitivity to static electricity has been solved. Please check that when you soak your gear pressurised that you don't accidentally forget and leave them soaking too long and that the pressure really is constant during soaking. Temperature changes and leakage (if valve is closed) might change the pressure enough to keep the Tank Pod transmitting. You can check if the Tank Pod is transmitting during soaking by monitoring the LED (difficult in sunlight) or checking the pressure indication with Eon Steel.

If the battery indication still gives you less than 300 dives after battery change and the above mentioned precautions during soaking please arrange for a warranty replacement and have them send your problematic Tank Pods to me (Tom Ahola at Suunto head office) and I will investigate them.

Regards,
Tom from Suunto
 
Thanks for info Tom, I'll keep a track., About to go to Raja Ampat for 2 weeks so that will put another 30 or so dives on them and I'll keep track of what happens
 
Hi Tom

Hope you're still reading this thread. In Feb I wrote teh following:

POD 1 - s/n 1443105951 Feb 2015 approx 100 dives Low Battery Feb 2016 Battery being changed by local Suunto dealer
POD 2 - s/n 1443105998 Feb 2015 approx 100 dives Battery still over 3/4 full
POD 3 - s/n 1519106415 Aug 2015 approx 30 dives Low Batt Dec 2015 Battery changed under warranty by Suunto Dealer
POD 4 - s/n 1519106413 Aug 2015 approx 30 dives Low Batt FEB 2015 Battery being changed by local Suunto dealer.



So my dealer changed 3 Pod batteries

The Current status is

POD 2 - s/n 1443105998 Feb 2015 Approx 160 dives on Original Battery Now at 1/4

POD 1 - s/n 1443105951 Feb 2015 approx 160 dives Low Battery Feb 2016. Pod Changed to xxxxxx5883 Pod has done 60 dives. Dived Okay on first dive, Stopped working on Second. Will not pair and no LED showing.

POD 3 - s/n 1519106415 Aug 2015 approx 30 dives Low Batt Dec 2015 Battery changed under warranty by Suunto Dealer. Pod now completed a max of 60 dives (probably less) Has Battery Low battery symbol

POD 4 - s/n 1519106413 Aug 2015 approx 30 dives Low Batt FEB 2015 Battery being changed by local Suunto dealer.

Pod now completed a max of 60 dives (probably less) Has Battery Low battery symbol

The upshot of all this is: Only 1 out of four pods has had anywhere near the expected Battery life. (160 dives and 18 months)

The other 3 have not lasted 4 months or 60 dives (I've quoted 60 dives as 2 of these are on our side slung stages which we don't take every dive, so I've used the dive count of the Pod we always use for backgas)

The Pods below to both me and my wife, we have 2 Pods each and they are not mixed up, so it's not user error. I really can't fathom why we have 3 PODS not performing and are seemingly losing charge.

Oh as a further comment # 6415 showed a low battery withing a few weeks (say less than 10 dives) We ignored it as was sure after a new battery it might be an Eon bug with battery life display.

All going to Dealer tomorrow (3rd July) - Still concerned we have PODS that have fallen through the QA system and we can't rely on the battery life indication
 
Hi!

Sorry to hear that you still have trouble with the Tank Pods.

I replied to your private message but will also reply here for other's who follow this thread.

I think with POD 1 you unfortunately you got a bad replacement. It is rare but can happen that although tested at factory they break during first days of use under stress due to a hidden defect. It can be a leak or solder joint fail, for example. It will for sure be replaced again and odds are that the second replacement will be a good one.

But POD 3 and POD 4 are different. As they are the newer version according to serial numbers (I will check this at the office tomorrow) they should not have the problem with electrostatic sensitivity resetting the battery counter. I have not heard about any returns due to this problem any more. Have these Pods been close to exceptionally strong electrical disturbances like sparks, lightning or such? Another possibility is that they actually have been active for a long time and battery really is low. Do you keep these regulators connected to the tanks between dives? I found that one of my own regulator, when connected to the tank with tank valve shut, is not completely removing pressure from the system when pressing the purge valve. If the pressure is over 5 bar the Tank Pod will not shut down and waste battery also between dives.

If you don't think pressure between dives is the problem, please ask your dealer for a replacement and send POD 3 and POD 4 to me for investigation.

Sorry again for the trouble and I hope you eventually get good working Tank Pods.

Happy diving!

Tom
 
Thanks for the reply Tom, have PM'd you with further details. It's not a huge issue and given the amount of diving we do we are bound to run into teething issues on a new system. I've had bigger issues on a new car!!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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