Citizen 20th Anniversary Issues-Beware-

Typing under my wifes ID: My Name is Jim.

I recently purchased a Citizen Eco-Drive 20th Anniversary watch and realized it has some issues. I do have a high frequency hearing loss and cannot hear any of the three different alarms on the watch, unless it is about a 1/4 of an inch from my ear. Even then, it would not wake or really alert me. I have to believe I would not be able to hear any of the other warnings such as ascent too fast, etc.

I was going to let my wife use my watch tomorrow during one of her certification dives so she was reading the manual. On page 11, she noted a WARNING I copied an pasted below which states:

WARNING
The use of this watch for diving is limited to
recreational diving (non-decompression diving) at a
water temperature of 0°C to +40°C (32°F to 104°F).
Do not use this watch for the following types of diving:
• Diving outside the above temperature range
• Decompression diving
• Saturation diving using helium gas
• High-altitude diving at 3,000 m (10,000 ft) above
sea level or higher
• Diving in water other than saltwater (water having a
specific gravity of 1.025)WARNING
Allow a sufficient margin during diving with respect
to the no-decompression diving limit time.

I realized now that not only did I have a problem hearing the alarms, I was not supposed to be using the watch in anyting other that saltwater. Freshwater diving appears to be out. So, that being said, I contacted the vendor and am going to send the watch back for a full refund. It's a shame because it is a great looking watch, but when you pay that kind of money for a watch, you should be able to use all the functions. Guess I should have done my homework better which I will on my next watch. Just wanted to let anyone who was interested in the watch to know about the glitches before they picked one up and met with the same thing.

Jim

Jim,
I have been using that watch for 3 years now, and it is a great watch. The first dive I ever did with it was in a quarry in PA, (many times after that) and now it sees salt water weekly. I also use it on my tech dives, and other than making sure the charge was sufficient for the dive, I haven't had a problem with it. It works well as a timer and a backup depth guage as well. I think you will find other Citizen fans here as well.
I guess I'm trying to say I wouldn't be too quick to send it back, unless it really doesn't suit your needs. Remember, dive gear is a very personal choice, and if you are not comfortable with your choice, then by all means return it.
Safe Dives
Charlie

Ladyvalea:

• Diving in water other than saltwater (water having a
specific gravity of 1.025)

I realized now that not only did I have a problem hearing the alarms, I was not supposed to be using the watch in anyting other that saltwater. Freshwater diving appears to be out. So, that being said, I contacted the vendor and am going to send the watch back for a full refund. It's a shame because it is a great looking watch, but when you pay that kind of money for a watch, you should be able to use all the functions. Guess I should have done my homework better which I will on my next watch. Just wanted to let anyone who was interested in the watch to know about the glitches before they picked one up and met with the same thing.

Jim

Click to expand...

Hi Jim -

Unless the alarm volume is a big issue for you, there's no reason to get rid of the watch. I can almost guarantee you that the salt water only disclaimer is not because something might happen to the watch in fresh water, but rather the depth indicator is most likely only calibrated for FSW (feet sea water) vs FFW (feet fresh water).

Think back to your openwater class book work: 1 ATM = 33 FSW or 34 FFW. If you're diving in salt water the gauge reads true, if you're diving in fresh water (or water with SG<1.025) then the gauge will read slightly different than your actual depth. It's not a big difference and you can easily convert it if you feel the need to. For example, if on a dive in fresh water, your watch reads 100 feet, all you have to do is multiply *33, then divied by 34 to find that your actual depth is 97 FFW - OR you can just not worry about it and know that you have a 1' additional safety margin built in.

Thanks for both of your responses. Although initially I was planning to use the alarm functions of the watch during my work-related travel, I had already decided it wasn't much of an issue when I realized I could not hear the tones unless they were right at my ear. I can only surmise that I most likely would not hear any of the additional alarms the watch may have. That coupled with the salt water warning caused me to think I had made a mistake with the watch. Based on the responses provided by Charlie and Daz, I have pretty much concluded to go ahead and keep the watch and will just have to remember the advice regarding the depth issues.

Further, I agree with the comment also about the watch likely being calibrated for salt water as I often run into circumstances where I contact the manufacturer or testing companies of a product to obtain a position. I had completely failed to apply it to this point of contention. The majority of the time I am told by the manufacturer/testing companies laboratories that they issue a warning based on the way a product is tested. They only stand behind the item only if the conditions are equivalent to that of the testing. Although many times they feel the product will do the same thing in other situations, to keep out of being tied up in litigation, they clarify repeatedly that they rely primarily and can only stand behind something based on the methodology used in the testing. That being said, if the testing methodology for the watch was to calibrate it in salt water, the only thing they will address is the use of the watch in salt water. This not only applies to the watch but most everything we buy or use. You gotta love those engineering minds at work out there that design and test this stuff for us.

I've been diving a Citizen Cyber Aqualand for 4 years. The manual has 5 pages of warnings diving with this watch. Mine states I should not dive it in less than 50 degree F water, I guess it is due to the display. I've used it in 39 degree F water with no problems. Sure the alarm is not as loud as some other divers, yet I have little hearing loss. I suppose it could be an issue for you but, they are great watches. I actually have not looked at my manual for 4 years, thank you for your post, I did not realize I was diving so close to the edge!

I'm off to read my car owners manual.