Oceanic Atom - No confidence

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love2fishfork

Contributor
Messages
230
Reaction score
52
Location
Kansas City (Overland Park)
# of dives
200 - 499
I purchased an Atom computer from my LDS. They let me use it in the pool and it flooded. My LDS returned it to Oceanic and they replaced it. On my next dive in Cozumel my new Atom flooded again. I had to abort my dive and rent a set of gauges for the remainder of the trip. Again my LDS returned it to Oceanic and they replaced it. Is there a design problem with the battery compartment? How am I supposed to have any confidence in this computer based on what I have experienced? Do I need to buy a set of "back up" gauges after I already spent $900 on a computer? I'm not happy with Oceanic!
 
I dive Oceanic as well as Suunto. I have not had the type of experience you have had. There is a new 'version' of the atom coming out at some point.

I always carry a backup set of gauges.

Good luck,
 
love2fishfork:
I'm not happy with Oceanic!


Sounds like your dealer is on top of things. It is unusual to have so many issues, particularly with flooding. What can we do to help?

Best,

Chris
Regional Sales Manager Oceanic Southeast
 
cerich:
Sounds like your dealer is on top of things. It is unusual to have so many issues, particularly with flooding. What can we do to help?

Best,

Chris
Regional Sales Manager Oceanic Southeast

Yes I am very happy with my dealer, and I am happy that Oceanic replaced it twice and very quickly. However this is an expensive piece of gear and so far it's been totally useless to me. Is this just a fluke or is there a problem with this thing. I don't feel comfortable diving with it right now. Can the battery compartment be sealed with silicone or something? When the Atom was designed, wouldn't it have made sense to seal the battery compartment from the electronics? That way if it floods you only loose a battery not the whole computer. Is this a rare thing that will never happen again? I'm going to the Keys in May and want to be able to use this but if I have to abort another dive I am going to be REAL upset. And what do I do if it floods after the warranty expires?

You say "It is unusual to have so many issues, particularly with flooding." There are NO ACCEPTABLE ISSUES when my life is at stake!
 
love2fishfork:
Yes I am very happy with my dealer, and I am happy that Oceanic replaced it twice and very quickly. However this is an expensive piece of gear and so far it's been totally useless to me. Is this just a fluke or is there a problem with this thing. I don't feel comfortable diving with it right now. Can the battery compartment be sealed with silicone or something? When the Atom was designed, wouldn't it have made sense to seal the battery compartment from the electronics? That way if it floods you only loose a battery not the whole computer. Is this a rare thing that will never happen again? I'm going to the Keys in May and want to be able to use this but if I have to abort another dive I am going to be REAL upset. And what do I do if it floods after the warranty expires?

You say "It is unusual to have so many issues, particularly with flooding." There are NO ACCEPTABLE ISSUES when my life is at stake!

I haven't seen your unit so can only make an educated guess. It's a fluke, we want the units to work and be waterproof, to be blunt we lose money if they are not.

I wouldn't recommend sealing the unit with silicone and flooding is NOT a common instance.

I just spent the last 5 mins. trying to think how to reply to your comment on "No acceptable issue" and basically a divers life should never be at stake because a dive computer fails provided the user has followed safe diving practices. That is the dive instructor in me talking.

Murphy being what it is anything I say with regards to how the unit will work on your upcoming trip in May will backfire:wink:

What would you like to do? Do you want to return the unit? Would you like to wait a few weeks and get the Atom 2.0. PM me so I can help.

Best,

Chris
 
love2fishfork:
You say "It is unusual to have so many issues, particularly with flooding." There are NO ACCEPTABLE ISSUES when my life is at stake!


well, you're going to have to face it: any piece of equipment can fail at any time,
so you better have a contingency plan in place

frankly, loss of a computer is not a life-death situation. if it is for you, you need to
rethink your diving practices.

that said, yes, i'd be annoyed too if two computers flooded on me.
 
H2Andy:
that said, yes, i'd be annoyed too if two computers flooded on me.

Yeah, me too. I'm looking forward to being PM'd so we can hopefully make it a little less annoying.
 
cerich:
I haven't seen your unit so can only make an educated guess. It's a fluke, we want the units to work and be waterproof, to be blunt we lose money if they are not.

I wouldn't recommend sealing the unit with silicone and flooding is NOT a common instance.

You guys should go in the same direction Uwatec did with their SmartComs. The battery is completely sealed in the case and is non-user (or dealer) serviceable, and the case is packed with goo (grease of some sort, I beleive).

It's good for years, and then goes back to the factory for battery replacement. This would be good for you in a number of ways:

  • Very few failures due to leakage
  • No chance of anybody improperly selaing the case, since it doesn't get opened outside of the factory.
  • Lower failure rates during the warranty period
  • You get to see how the computers are aging, in case you want to make design changes
  • Happier owners
Terry
 
H2Andy:
well, you're going to have to face it: any piece of equipment can fail at any time,
so you better have a contingency plan in place

frankly, loss of a computer is not a life-death situation. if it is for you, you need to
rethink your diving practices.

that said, yes, i'd be annoyed too if two computers flooded on me.


Let's not start a big fight over my diving practices, but I think everyone agrees that depth and air pressure are critical information and if it's wrong it could be dangerous.
 
if you're doing the kind of dive where loss of depth and air pressure information
could be dangerous, you need backups.
 

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