How long will my compass glow for? (night dive)

[davidbaraff]

I'm doing my first night dive. I realized the other day that my Suunto SK7 compass glows in the dark!! Cool.

But only if it's been exposed to some light -- and I realized I have no idea how long the effect lasts. Does anyone know if leaving it in the sun for an hour or two during the day will let it glow during your night dive? (I guess I could start doing some experiments but maybe someone already knows this.)

 

[fisheater]

I just shine my dive light on it just before or early in my dive.


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[PfcAJ]

I wouldn't let it sit in the sun, that's rarely good for anything. Keeping it in the light will only make it glow longer to a certain point, and that exposure time is seconds, not minutes.

Just hit it with your dive light and it'll glow for a good while. If it dims, hit it again! Your SPG probably glows, too, but don't blind yourself with the glare.

 

[elan]

They glow for few tens of secs.
It makes mo sense to let the sit in the sunlight for a day

 

[Bratface]

They don't glow forever but should be long enough to look at your air, directions, etc. Shine the light on your gauges and be careful not to blind your buddies. Your computer should have a button to light up the face so that you can easily read it. Good to know when doing safety stop.

 

[g1138]

Maximum saturation for the glow particles will be under a minute; and it doesn't take long for you to hit that point when shining a light on it. As other's have said: just use your light to look at the compass, or shine your light on the compass for a few seconds to charge it enough for a good peek.
Your SPG probably glows in the dark too.

I personally find it hard to see black digits on a glow green background. So I just use my light to view my gauges. I prefer to have the colors inverted ie glow-green digits on a black background. Unfortunately they only make SPG's like that. =[

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Maximum saturation for the glow particles will be under a minute; and it doesn't take long for you to hit that point when shining a light on it. As other's have said: just use your light to look at the compass, or shine your light on the compass for a few seconds to charge it enough for a good peek.
Your SPG probably glows in the dark too.

I personally find it hard to see black digits on a glow green background. So I just use my light to view my gauges. I prefer to have the colors inverted ie glow-green digits on a black background. Unfortunately they only make SPG's like that. =[

Actually it is best NOT to do this. A better way.. Shine the light on the gages/spg but DO NOT look at it.. After the light is removed, then look at the glowing display. You only have to hit it with the light for a second or two and it will glow more than long enough to read it and you will not ruin your night vision, by blasting your gages from point blank with a bright light.

 

[davidbaraff]

I didn't realize that just a dive light was enough to make it glow back at you, but now I do. Yes, indeed, a couple of seconds of dive light on it and it glows just great for a good while. I like the idea of not looking at the compass while shining the light on it, so as to keep night vision.

I don't have a separate SPG -- my computer gives me everything: depth, air, time, etc. (on my wrist). I do know that it has a glow button -- I was going to set it to 15 seconds for the night dive, rather than the normal 5 seconds it's on usually. Seems better to hit the glow button than to keep shining my light on it.

Thanks for all the feedback!

 

[g1138]

Actually it is best NOT to do this. A better way.. Shine the light on the gages/spg but DO NOT look at it.. After the light is removed, then look at the glowing display. You only have to hit it with the light for a second or two and it will glow more than long enough to read it and you will not ruin your night vision, by blasting your gages from point blank with a bright light.

True, if you shine the light directly into the gauge then you'll blind yourself by the back glare. But if you use the periphery of your light's spotlight then it's not glaring at all.

This is why when I show my gauges to my buddy I let him/her use their spot light, rather than trying to be helpful.

 

[NJDiver_Chris]

I just did a night dive, the gauges were out all day but they still went dark like a minute after going under, I just occasionally shined my light on them, light them up for about 30 seconds