Aeris Manta Dive Computer - Low battery warnings

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justcstan

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Location
Australia
# of dives
200 - 499
Purchased in July 2010 from Divers-supply.com. Activated the dive computer (DC) from hibernation mode prior to my trip to Fiji in Oct 2010. The SONY battery was included and already inserted in the DC.

Oct 2010: After 10 dives, I noticed a low battery signal on the DC. I was puzzled because I assumed that the vendor would have provided a fresh battery and it should last for 300 dives. However, the low battery signal disappeared the next day and I ignored the problem. Dec 2010: I dived in Papua New Guinea. After a couple of dives, I noticed again a low battery signal on the DC but it disappeared the next day. This time, I decided that I should replace the battery. Out of curiosity, I checked the voltage of the battery provided and found it to be full. Apr 2011: I replaced a new battery and did 5 dives in Fiji. No problem was encountered. Jun 2011: I dived in Papua New Guinea and found that the same problem appeared. Low battery signal on the DC, disappeared the next day. Because in all these events, I was able to complete the dive despite the low battery signal, I did not consider the problem to be significant. Aug 2011: I dived in Fiji and found on 1 dive that the signals on the DC were flickering, sometimes disappearing completely. In that dive, the dive time froze at 30 mins after beginning of dive. I opened the battery compartment and found no evidence of water damage. I changed the battery and was able to complete all my dives in Fiji. However, this time there was cause for concern because the signal actually disappeared and the DC stopped recording the dive time elapsed. I decided that it should be inspected after discovering that the voltage of the second battery was also full. I plan to send the DC for an inspection. Oceanic Australia is a distributor for Aeris Manta in Australia but they told me that because the DC was purchased from the States, the warranty does not apply. Nonetheless it would be good to know what went wrong. I have also written to Divers Supply and Aeris Manta.
 
Welcome to the (large) club!! This seems to have been a design flaw with a few of the Oceanic and Aeris wrist computers. It's apparently some sort of intermittent discharge or static build-up problem, possibly more than one issue. At any rate, there's a hardware fix that you should insist on, and that it be covered under warranty.

I had no problem until the first battery went out just shy of two years after purchase. After that it was a crap shoot whether the new battery would last a few hours, days, or even a couple of weeks - but not longer. It seemed to be worse if I actually wore the watch.

I sent it to Aeris and they apparently fixed it, though until this battery is successfully replaced at the end of its life, I'm not holding my breath. Aeris assured me that they haven't had any returns of watches that have had the hardware fix. It's been going for 6 or 7 months now, and they did give me a new warranty (I had to pay a small amount for the service due to their warranty unfortunately not being transferrable) though I don't recall the duration - 6 mos at least I think.
 
Spoolin, I've been speaking with their repair service for awhile and specifically asked if there has been any hardware/firmware changes and they indicated that nothing, hardware wise, has been changed since they first came out.
Do you know anything else about the flaw?
I've had to RMA 6 geo's, all of which have been defective w/ battery or sensor problems.
thx
 
All I know is that I found quite a bit of information about this issue on a freediving forum, when Aeris brought out a freedive watch (F10 or something like that). A few members there described having the low battery issue and sending it back for some 'hardware fix', that solved the problem for them. I spoke with Mark at Aeris in Oakland, California about my watch and he mentioned some sort of similar sounding hardware fix - a shield I believe, to deal with some sort of static charge/discharge issue - they would do, and so far it has kept mine working for several months.

With mine, the problem only surfaced once it came time to change a depleted battery, after two years. Whether my 'fixed' unit will continue to work reliably once that time comes again, I'll have to wait to see.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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