3rd Wisdom

Last weekend my Wisdom developed an error in the SPG with a reading of 330 psi when the reg was depressurized and 330 psi over the actual tank pressure when the reg was pressurized. Then it got worse as it also refused to download the last 9 dives from that weekend and by Tuesday had lost the use of the button on the face. So what ever was wrong with it seems to have been progessive.

So after 186 dives I took it into the shop and it was exchanged on the spot with no concern that Sherwood would not replace it as it was inside the 2 year warranty.

This is the 3rd Wisdom I have received as the first one shut itself off during dive number 80 something and never came back on. I cannot make a glowing recomendation about the Wisdom's reliability (although the trend is good) but the warranty support and service are excellent.

And to be fair, I dive a lot doing 130-150 dives per year with nearly all of them in very cold water and over half of them to depths below 100 ft. So, 186 dives in my dive bag is a lot and is probably harder on a computer than a decade of diving at a more normal rate in nicer conditions.

Maybe you should consider switching to the Oceanic Pro Plus 2/Aeris Atmos ai if you have further problems with the Wisdom; recent Sherwood computers and all Aeris computers are repackaged Oceanic (Pelagic Pressure Systems) computers using identical modified Haldanean algorithm.

If they ever stop replacing them, I'm going to buy an OMS bottom timer and a backup capillary depth gauge and call it good.

On about half my dives (the deep ones) I cut my own tables with my PDA and DPlan and use that for the deco anyway. The gradient model used there is more conservative than the Haldane model and incorporates deep stops that leave me feeling better with out spending any more time in the water on deco.

DA Aquamaster,
Sorry to hear that. A few weeks ago, I whined about my third Wisdom bugging out, and yours was still fine.

Do you really suspect it's deep cold water diving that's causing the problem? My dives are usually in 42-70 degrees, not much deeper than 110 feet....

I had 3 Wisdoms fail alreay.

All my dives were in the 30 - 60 foot range and Temps varied from 52 - 81. Last one failed on a liveaboard in the bahamas.

scuba_star:

... Last one failed on a liveaboard in the bahamas.

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That bites. My second one failed mid-dive, so did my third.

scubagirl15:

DA Aquamaster,
Sorry to hear that. A few weeks ago, I whined about my third Wisdom bugging out, and yours was still fine.

Do you really suspect it's deep cold water diving that's causing the problem? My dives are usually in 42-70 degrees, not much deeper than 110 feet....

Click to expand...

Sadly, I was just starting to believe in this one. With the variable reinforcement schedule that the improved failure rate has established it is probably going to take well over 300 dives for me to start fully trusting this one.

I know locally 3 out of 5 divers have had problems with them with one or more replacements and the 2 that have not had problems have been one or two trip a year tropical divers. So it could be the cold, the high use rate, the high altitude, or a combination of other factors. In any event, our shop's failure rate is well over the 1.5%failure rate that Sherwood has claimed overall.

In general, being primarily a cold water diver, I am always a little peaved at companies who do their testing in warm water and design their equipment accordingly. I wish they would test prototype regulators and computers in cold water before finalizing the designs. Last weekend one of the divers checked her pelagic hocky puck on the surface and got no low battery warning only to have it die at 90' after it cold soaked midway through the dive. A little cold water testing by pelagic would have identified the need to increase the voltage parameters on the low voltage warning slightly.

I realize the majority of the dive market now consists of infrequent warm water divers, but if a piece of equipment can function relaibly in cold water, it's warm water perfromance is guarenteed.

On a positive note, Sherwood is the first company I have ever known that sends me a brand new dive computer every year. This one even has a quick disconnect that I really like.

Sherwood has also been sending me a brand new ones to replace the dead ones. I just wished one of 'em survived their dives! LOL Given my against-all-odds bad experience with the Wisdom, my LDS has promised to ask if Sherwood would refund my money. I know you didn't think they would, but heck, the store owner is willing to give it a shot, so I'll sit tight and hope for the best.

Yeah, I remember your last post on this subject: you really did seem optimistic about it.

I too suspect that these puppies are just not suited for cold water diving and every weekend at that....

I'm also starting to wonder at air integration technology. Is it simply too new to be dependable? Then again, there are plenty of people out there diving with these computers without incident. Or is the technology simply not at the point where it will perform in cold water?

Now I'm worried....

My dive partner bought a Wisdom last week or two. We're going Adv this weekend. I was thinking about getting one as well, so we'd be diving the same gear. Looks like I might not want to do that now. Any comments on a replacement? I do like the price of the Wisdom over the $700+ rigs, but being a new diver (less than 30 dives), I think I'll stay with my old 1996 Dacor Omni computer for now.

Charley