Question about Integrated Air Computers

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

dallaskincaid

Contributor
Messages
182
Reaction score
78
Location
Maryland
# of dives
500 - 999
So, I just got an Oceanic Pro Plus 2.1 integrated air dive computer. I've read some people bring backup devices with them. Is that really necessary? Do these things fail?

Advice would be great!
 
I can't speak to the Oceanic integration wrt reliability because all of my transmitters etc are Scubapro. While they occasionally drop a connection during a dive, they do reconnect quickly so I've never experienced a failure. I do carry a backup SPG on all tanks being carried to facilitate quick checks ahead of getting wet and also because I like redundancy of equipment. If the transmitter were to fail completely and you didn't have an SPG, you'd be advised to call the dive anyway and head on up, same as you would if you were using just an SPG and it failed.
 
I have an air integrated computer. I started out also keeping a SPG on my rig too, but after some time I took it off. When I go on a liveaboard trip, I bring the SPG with me so if my computer fails I can switch over to SPG and tables and keep diving.
 
Everything fails. But realistically, SCUBA gear is pretty reliable.

Whether or not that means you need redundant gear depends on how big an impact that failure will have on your diving.

Ask yourself what impact a failure of a particular piece of gear will have on your diving.

If your regulator fails, that's a pretty devastating failure, so you carry a backup. Actually, you "carry" two backups, since you have your own alternate air source and your buddies.

If your SPG fails, you can thumb the dive and repair or replace it on the surface. Not nearly as devastating, so most people don't use redundant SPGs.

If your computer fails, you can thumb the dive and repair or replace it on the surface, but since this impacts your ability to dive more that day, I think most people like to have a backup. That doesn't mean you need two complete computers. Your backup can be as simple as a cheap Walmart watch that can function as a bottom timer and a set of tables.

Personally, if I were using a wireless AI computer, I'd add a mechanical SPG as a backup.

I'd suggest you go through each and every item you carry on a dive and ask yourself "what do I do if this fails?" Knowing how you'll deal with a failure tells you what extra gear you need to have.

Obviously, the rules are different for rec and tech. In tech diving, the rule is "Two is one and one is none". :)
 
I have had an air integrated computer and it has failed on me. I was on a liveaboard so if I did not have a back up computer on me (no need for air integration)- I would not have been able to keep diving because my nitrogen load would not be recorded on a replacement computer. On liveaboards- they want you out of the water for 24 hours and so the cost of a cheap backup computer is well worth it to protect the investment you had made in dive travel.
 
I have had an air integrated computer and it has failed on me. I was on a liveaboard so if I did not have a back up computer on me (no need for air integration)- I would not have been able to keep diving because my nitrogen load would not be recorded on a replacement computer. On liveaboards- they want you out of the water for 24 hours and so the cost of a cheap backup computer is well worth it to protect the investment you had made in dive travel.

What was the model? Why did it fail?
 
So, I just got an Oceanic Pro Plus 2.1 integrated air dive computer. I've read some people bring backup devices with them. Is that really necessary? Do these things fail? Advice would be great!
And, the advice will be divergent.

AI computers and transmitters rarely 'fail'. That doesn't mean that they do not ever fail, only that it is uncommon to occur, during a dive. However, a few units may lose synchronization during a dive - in some cases the link is restored, in others it is not. Some transmiitters may 'fail' - stop transmitting - at lower pressures, but that is usually below 1000psi, or probably lower than 700psi.

As you can already discern from responses, some divers employ a 'hosed' SPG as a back-up, or rather as a primary. I do. My primary pressure gauge is my SPG. My AI computer / transmitter is a convenience, allowing me to check pressures by merely rotating my wrist to look at my computer during the dive, rather than unclipping my SPG from a waist D-ring. So, is it necessary to bring a back-up device? My answer is 'No'. Yes, my computer / transmitter serves as a back-up, but it is brought for covenience, not necessity. If my computer - transmitter link fails, I DO NOT thumb the dive - I have the SPG. If my SPG fails during a dive, I call the dive.

An argument made by some in favor of using only the wireless AI configuration is that it improves the 'streamining' of gear. I have difficulty believing that the majority of divers who use a wireless AI rig can objectively discern any difference in the performance of their rig based on the absence of a single (high pressure) hose. Now, if the argument is that the wireless / hoseless AI set-up is more streamlined than a rig with an excessively large console, positioned at the end of an unnecessarily long HP hose, all inadequately attached to (and therefore dangling from) the BCD, I can readily see the argument. Of course, the logical solution in that case is a more streamlined SPG configuration.

It is worth adding that SPGs also fail, but also rarely, and it is also quite uncommon for an SPG failure to occur, during a dive. A couple of recent posts on SB attempted to quantify the relative frequency of failure of SPGs and wireless AI computers, to the end of suggesting greater reliability of wireless AI units. But, computation of valid, objective, comparative reliability data cannot easily be done. The preponderance of divers use a SPG, and notwithstanding the proclamations of reliability of wireless AI units, most reports of failure of equipment are anecdotal.
 
I have had buddies with air integrated computers that have failed or otherwise had issues. Don't remember brand names. The most common problem seems to be loss of signal. Remember there is a battery in your computer AND your transmitter. It sucks when your buddy ends the dive because their SPG signal cuts out.
 
Everybody wants to talk transmitter failure. Um, the computer the OP has does not have a wireless transmitter!
 
Everybody wants to talk transmitter failure. Um, the computer the OP has does not have a wireless transmitter!
I was going to say something, but I figured there was good discussion regarding wireless transmitters and eventually someone would realize that wasn't what I was asking..haha :wink:
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom