Change the owners manual to state what brand batteries are acceptable

[D_B]

Are there any plans to change the owners manuals of the dive computers that use CR2450 batteries that only Sony or Panasonic batteries should be used?

*snip* Oceanic recommends either a Sony or Panasonic battery. *snip*

or at least how about a sticky here?

I just sent my VEO200 in to Oceanic to have it looked at because of battery issues ... poor battery life, shutting down because of "low battery" while showing full battery, odd behavior. etc.
There is no mention of brand on the 200/250 manual download on the Oceanic site, or in my paper manual.. and after seeing Dougs post, I bet I'm having issues with the brands I'm using (Duracell, Eveready)

I like my computer ... I wonder what they will do with it, and how much it will cost me

 

[D_B]

Some more thoughts on this from another thread ... (thank you Charlie99)

The problem is most likely the voltage while loaded, not the unloaded or open circuit voltage. Or to say it a different way, some batteries have too high of internal resistance to work properly in equipment that uses the battery for short high power bursts, even if the overall average power drain is low.

A well designed system would do the battery voltage test while under load. It sounds like the VEO100 does not do this, and therefore gives a falsely optimistic battery charge indicator. You could do a manual test of this sort by measuring the battery voltage while it is loaded with a 100 ohm resistor (about 30mA of current draw). If the "good" vs "bad" battery doesn't show up under that test, then try 50 ohms/60mA loads.

The Pelagic/Oceanic computers that use 1/2AA Lithium batteries also have this sort of problem. In that case, I've found that any battery that the manufacturer has rated for "pulsed duty" will work, while the ones designed only to supply very low levels of current for a long time to realtime computer clocks do not work.

Charlie Allen

I found this info on Sony CR2450 batteries ...
Sony CR2450 Specifications
3V ... Nominal Voltage
2.5Ｖ 600mAh ... Nominal Capacity (2.5V cutoff)
0.4mA ... Recommended Continuous Drain
24mA ... Recommended Pulse Drain

And Panasonic ...

Two Design Types—BR & CR:

Panasonic coin type lithium batteries are available in two types: BR series, poly carbon mono-fluoride lithium batteries for uses requiring extended reliability and safety, and CR series, manganese dioxide lithium batteries for uses requiring high voltage and strong load pulse characteristics.

... only Sony and Panasonic (found so far) has a Pulse Drain rating or say they are for pulse duty

Was interesting to compare brand capacities/specs , from this site ... Battery Technical Specifications at Micro Power Battery

DB

 

[D_B]

The LDS called and left a message .. want's me to call them back to discuss "options" concerniing my computer .. I'll let you know what they say

 

[mike_s]

why wouldn't Oceanic support battery brands such as Duracell and Enegizer that are prob some of the more common batteries in the US that aren't the "el-cheap-o's" ?

 

[D_B]

why wouldn't Oceanic support battery brands such as Duracell and Enegizer that are prob some of the more common batteries in the US that aren't the "el-cheap-o's" ?

Please read the above post #2 carefully
.. it is because those batteries are not rated for pulse duty (Momentary spike in current draw needed by the computer)

 

[D_B]

OK, LDS called and Oceanic no longer carries the VEO200 (no surprise) and they are willing to upgrade me with a VEO250 (refurbished, all new parts inside case) for a fee, I wrangled with my LDS a bit and got them to lower the cost to a point that I thought was fair (and a good deal)
So I am happy with it but ....

I wish someone would change the info in the manual to state that only certain button cell batteries are acceptable.

That would have avoided the frustrations that I've had with mine, all suited up to dive, and have to change out battery at last minute because it's doing weird stuff again, and was OK just that morning when tested

 

[PR_SMITH]

I wish someone would change the info in the manual to state that only certain button cell batteries are acceptable.

Hi,

How about the direct approach? Oceanic Worldwide - Contact Oceanic

You may wish to include a link to this thread, so they know it affects plenty of users.

 

[D_B]

I PM'ed Doug Krause and he said that the info has been passed to Oceanic, but that things like changing the owners manual doesn't happen overnight

I sent Oceanic a comment , and a link to this thread too, maybe more users can send them comments ... hopefully the weight of numbers will speed things up

 

[deepstops]

why wouldn't Oceanic support battery brands such as Duracell and Enegizer that are prob some of the more common batteries in the US that aren't the "el-cheap-o's" ?

Please read the above post #2 carefully
.. it is because those batteries are not rated for pulse duty (Momentary spike in current draw needed by the computer)

Sorry, I'm into this late. I found this thread when it was linked in another post.

That being said, the link provided in post #2 indicates the Energizer CR 2450 is also rated for pulse duty the same as the Sony and Panasonics are. There is no link for information on the Duracell batteries.

I've been using the Energizer CR2450s in my Versa Pros (predecessor to the VEO series) for years and get 125+ dives (about a year plus) on each battery. I will say I rarely use the backlight and I have audible alarm turned off which I'm sure extends battery life greatly.

 

[rlskill1]

I just ordered a VEO 250. Thanks for the battery advice.