Elite T3 Conservative setting or not??

I just used my Aeris elite T3 on a couple of dives. It is set to the conservitive setting. It seems to pretty close to PADI dive table. What difference would it make to the dive to turn the conservitive setting off. Has anyone experimented with both settings on same type of dive?

I assume the Oceanic version has close sofware.

Tell me what setting you use and why

Thanks guys

The T3's "conservative" setting is, in essence, an altitude adjustment. When it's turned on, the times are calculated based upon (whatever altitude you told the T3 you're diving at) + 3000'. This reduces NDL/allowable bottom time, with all the ensuing physiological effects of doing so.

The biggest difference you'll see is on shallow dives; the difference diminishes with depth.
Here's a few examples; we'll assume you're diving at sea level and have an unlimited supply of gas.
At 30', if the conservative switch is "on", the T3 sets your NDL at 3:35. Turn it off, and you've got 4:20.
At 60', if the conservative switch is "on", the T3 sets your NDL at 0:46. Turn it off, and you've got 0:57.
At 90', if the conservative switch is "on", the T3 sets your NDL at 0:20. Turn it off, and you've got 0:24.
At 120', if the conservative switch is "on", the T3 sets your NDL at 0:10. Turn it off, and you've got 0:13.

Me, I turn it off above 70' (about 3 ATA, fresh water). Deeper than that, the bottom time gain isn't enough to convince me to push the NDLs.

Dgsmith:

I just used my Aeris elite T3 on a couple of dives. It is set to the conservitive setting. It seems to pretty close to PADI dive table. What difference would it make to the dive to turn the conservitive setting off. Has anyone experimented with both settings on same type of dive?

I assume the Oceanic version has close sofware.

Tell me what setting you use and why

Thanks guys

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I usually have that feature turned off. The difference is your ndl times. When the feature is on it treats your dive as an altitude (3000ft) dive. Ndl time on air is 19 min @ 100fsw with feature off and 16 min @ 100fsw with feature on. The conservative feature is just that it gives you more conservative ndl limits. I now also have a back up computer that I leave on air when diving 32% nitrox with the elite t3 just to see the difference in ndl times (back up on air showed an 8 min deco obligation and the elite on 32% still had 12 min ndl time on my last dive). If you stay away from the limits on either setting you are fine.

I don't see any reason to fool around with the computer's setting to add conservatism. If you're that worried about conservatism then you should have gotten a computer from a different manufacturer that uses a different, more conservative algorithm.

Changing altitudes to not match the current altitudes, changing Nitrox setting to not match actual setting, changing this and changing that to not match your actual condition...I simply don't get it.

Plan your dive and dive your plan. If the NDL says that you have 20-minutes at that depth? Don't stay until 20-minutes had passed and then ascend. Ascend at 15-minutes or 17-minutes. There's your conservatism right there without having to mess around with changing computer settings to bogus conditions.