Suunto Vyper 2 question

[SeaHound1]

I don't have a Suunto, but if RTFM didn't help, try "OFF" or setting the nitrox value to 21.

 

[ClayJar]

I don't have a Suunto, but if RTFM didn't help, try "OFF" or setting the nitrox value to 21.

DO *NOT* SET YOUR Vyper2 TO "OFF"!

The OFF mode disables the DIVE mode, and allows the TIME mode to be used underwater.

Generally speaking, it's a very bad idea to just make a wild guess with your dive computer, and if anyone were foolish enough to listen to that absolutely incorrect advice (marked in red), they would have a watch. Setting the "dive mode" to OFF does not even display the depth and dive time information you get from GAUGE mode, so someone with no depth gauge who sets their Vyper2 to OFF would be in a very precarious position at best and likely dry for 48 hours until they can switch the computer back into dive mode. (The manual does not state whether there is a 48-hour lockout before you can change out of "OFF" mode, but as there *is* such a lockout before you can change out of "GAUGE" mode after diving it, it's only logical.)

I don't mean to sound harsh, and I have no animosity toward you or anything, but please don't tell someone how to work a dive computer if you're just guessing. If you have the computer someone's asking about, certainly you can comment. If you go online, download the manual (they're almost all out there), research the question, and post a reply, that's excellent. (I check the manual even for Suunto computers, just to be sure I'm not giving bad information.) But if you're just going to guess, DON'T!

 

[SeaHound1]

Sorry, you're absolutely right. Do not set your computer to off! I was being flippant and should have said nothing. Please ignore my post. Moderator, please delete my post, if you prefer.
Sorry.
Michael

 

[ClayJar]

I have a feeling we've all had a flippant reply to our credit sometime or other, and no harm done here. I guess it's probably a decent reminder to know about the gear you're diving, especially if setting something wrong could be misfortunate.

Actually, I ran into a computer problem last weekend on a checkout trip. We had one diver (of six on the boat) who couldn't figure out how to set his Suunto Vyper to nitrox. I've seen Suunto computers *many* times, but although I knew how to go through the menus, I couldn't find nitrox settings anywhere. I called the instructor over, and he couldn't find nitrox settings, either (which made me a bit less exasperated, as at least I knew I wasn't the problem).

In the end, he just dove with the computer set as air. It ended up being a moot point, as we dove a wreck with the sand bottom at 26 feet, but if he knew his computer, he wouldn't have had a problem.

Naturally, I went online when I got back and checked the manual for the Suunto Vyper. The nitrox settings would indeed have been where I was looking for them, but apparently the original Vyper does not let you switch from air to nitrox until the no-fly time has expired, unlike the other Suunto computers, which will let you switch *to* nitrox (just not back to air). That's in ALL CAPS under the heading "NOTE!" right on page three of the manual.

With that in mind, I should make it a point to tell users of the original Suunto Vyper to stay in nitrox mode, as they cannot switch to it once they've started a dive series. The Vyper2 on which this thread derives can switch from air to nitrox during a dive series, as can the Gekko and such, but seeing as there's an exception to that rule, staying in nitrox mode suddenly seems more useful than I had considered it previously.

 

[monster]

That is correct. On any Suunto computer, you can always switch from AIR mode to NITROX mode, but you can only switch back to AIR mode once the no-fly time has been completed. The no-fly time, meanwhile, is 12 hours or the desaturation time, whichever is longer. (Desat time can get up to 24-48 hours, depending on the dive series.)

(If you switch into GAUGE mode and make a dive, the no-fly time is set at a fixed 48 hours. You will not be able to switch into AIR or NITROX mode until 48 hours of surface time.)

You can always set your oxygen fraction to 21% if you dive air while in NITROX mode, of course. The two things to remember with the Vyper2 are that *unlike* the Gekko (for example), the computer will *not* revert to 21% automatically after a certain period, and *like every Suunto computer*, you *NEVER* round the oxygen percentage up. (31.9% oxygen should be entered as 31, not as 32. See section 6.2.1 on page 30 in the manual [pdf].)

Hi, ClayJar.

I know the above is true about my Vyper, and am considering getting a Vyper2, but have had second thoughts because the literature says it allows for only 2 gas mixes, and when I do deco, I usually do bottom on air, have a travel gas (mix 1), and then do O2 (mix 2) -- 3 gases.

In another post, I saw that I can actually do the dive above, since I can go from AIR to MIX 1 then MIX 2. But if what you say is true, that I can't switch back to AIR after having done the dive above, then that means I can't do a second dive with air + travel gas + O2, since I can only now handle 2 [NITROX] gases.

Can you confirm? This would really be helpful in deciding whether to get the Vyper2 or the VyTec.

Thanks!

 

[Kern]

Hi, ClayJar.

I know the above is true about my Vyper, and am considering getting a Vyper2, but have had second thoughts because the literature says it allows for only 2 gas mixes, and when I do deco, I usually do bottom on air, have a travel gas (mix 1), and then do O2 (mix 2) -- 3 gases.

In another post, I saw that I can actually do the dive above, since I can go from AIR to MIX 1 then MIX 2. But if what you say is true, that I can't switch back to AIR after having done the dive above, then that means I can't do a second dive with air + travel gas + O2, since I can only now handle 2 [NITROX] gases.

Can you confirm? This would really be helpful in deciding whether to get the Vyper2 or the VyTec.

Thanks!

I can't help with your question, but I'd love to know why you use a travel gas when your using air as a bottom mix. Or is it just terminology.

 

[monster]

Hey, Kern.

What my dive group refers to as a travel gas is really just another nitrox mix that we use up to and starting from MOD, to lessen loading/begin decompression early, before switching to O2 at 20fsw/6m. Depending on the bottom profile and the mix, the travel gas does save us some deco time, though in other cases, we could just as soon do without it.

 

[ClayJar]

If you are in AIR mode, your dive can use one and only one mix, i.e. air. If you are in NITROX mode, your dive can use one or two mixes. You can only switch from AIR mode to NITROX mode with your Vyper2 in surface mode, not during a dive. (And you can only switch back once you've completely off-gassed.)

 

[monster]

If you are in AIR mode, your dive can use one and only one mix, i.e. air. If you are in NITROX mode, your dive can use one or two mixes. You can only switch from AIR mode to NITROX mode with your Vyper2 in surface mode, not during a dive. (And you can only switch back once you've completely off-gassed.)

Thanks, that's the feedback also I got from a few other users. That sucks. Ah well.

 

[monster]

Does anybody know whether the Vyper straps will fit the Vyper 2? Or where I can get replacement straps for the Vyper 2?