DiveRite 10w HID cutting out prematurely?

ae3753 · Sep 2, 2006

Recently purchased a DR SunSpot 10W HID in preparation for our Mexico trip. On its maiden voyage today, it cut out 20 minutes into the dive at 30 ft. Waited a couple of minutes, turned it off and then back on, and the light fired up. Remained lit for about a minute and then cut out again.

Finished up the dive, no leak/flood. Everything looks alright. The other DR SunSpot we had worked fine.

Is there anything that I can try or check?

Thanks.

RJP · Sep 2, 2006

It takes several charge/discharge cycles for the battery to "break in" and hold a full charge.

Same thing happened to me, but I expected it as my dealer told me it would happen.

ae3753 · Sep 3, 2006

Thanks for the information. I expected not getting a full charge but 20 minutes is significantly less than the rated 4 hours of burn time, so I thought that something might be wrong.

Glad to hear that this isn't cause for concern. We have a dive planned for Monday and hopefully things go better.

JackConnick · Sep 3, 2006

Hmm, I never heard about a "break-in", try charging it, letting it sit a bit and charge it again.

The Dive Rite red cords have had problems breaking internally if you have one. You might also have a ballast problem.

I do get 4 hours off of mine.

Jack

ae3753 · Sep 3, 2006

It's a new light with gray cord.

Since we have two identical lights, I'll switch the batteries and throw them in the bathtub to isolate the issue.

Hopefully, not a ballast or cord issue.

Thanks for all the help.

RJP · Sep 3, 2006

jackconnick:
Hmm, I never heard about a "break-in", try charging it, letting it sit a bit and charge it again.

Nope - gotta charge it, discharge it, and charge it again. My LDS sells tons of these and says it's quite common.

Mine crapped out after 30min the first time I dove with it. Took it home that night. Charged it, put the head in a full sink, ran it until dead, charged it again, dove with it the next day and it was fine for two 50min dives. After that I've gotten the full 4hr burn time no problem.

Ray

wedivebc · Sep 3, 2006

ae3753:
Recently purchased a DR SunSpot 10W HID in preparation for our Mexico trip. On its maiden voyage today, it cut out 20 minutes into the dive at 30 ft. Waited a couple of minutes, turned it off and then back on, and the light fired up. Remained lit for about a minute and then cut out again.

Finished up the dive, no leak/flood. Everything looks alright. The other DR SunSpot we had worked fine.

Is there anything that I can try or check?

Thanks.

I had a problem with the orange cord cutting out intermittently while I was cave training in Mexico. Protec, who I was training with replaced it under warranty as they are a dive rite dealer.

gr8fuldiver · Jan 14, 2007

Taken from the Dive Rite Express site:

Characteristics of Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries

NiMH batteries do not develop a memory. However, new NiMH batteries need several charge and discharge cycles before they will deliver their full burn time rating. During the first few cycles the burn times may be as short as 30 to 60 minutes. After four to six cycles the batteries will begin to perform normally, and it may take as many as eight to ten cycles before they have been conditioned enough to reach peak performance. The typical battery charging time is about 60 minutes for a conditioned 4500 mA battery that was used to power a 10W light for two hours.

Mafiaman · Jan 14, 2007

One important thing to remember with Dive Rite lights, (I own 2) is to plug the battery into the charger THEN plug the charger into the wall outlet, other wise you may get a false FULL CHARGE light but only have a small charge.

DiveRite 10w HID cutting out prematurely?

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