Suunto Cobra - Spontaneous Reset

[davehicks]

Suunto Cobra - Spontaneous Reset

I just returned from a week long trip in Mexico and everything went just great; with the exception of my Cobra. After doing the first dive of the 5th (of 7) day I was about to reset the nitrox mix to 36% and noticed that it was 6pm on Jan 1st 2000. After scratching my head for a moment I realized that the computer had completely reset. Time gone, data gone, repetitive dive profile and nitrogen exposure lost!

I switched to tables and just did a 40 foot dive for the last dive of the day, but I was not comfortable having lost the dive profile and no fly time. If I was doing 3 or 4 dives a day this would have been a real inconvenience.

So I ask if anyone else has experienced this sort of spontaneous reset. My cobra is about 2 years old, has 200 dives on it, and the battery meter has never budged from 100%. The computer worked just fine for the rest of the trip. I plan to replace the battery and give Suunto a call. Any other advice? Should I write this off as a fluke, or drop it like a hot rock?

Dave

 

[wmspdi]

When it comes to ANY kind of computer Murphy's Law is in effect. I have a Cobra and have not seen that happen (yet). But since I don't total trust computers (I work with PCs daily) I have an analog pressure gauge on my second HP port (SP MK25) as a back-up, and I wear a Mosquito for a dive watch. If the Cobra and Mosquito do NOT read the same (or close) I start looking for a problem, and check the tables. It may be overkill, but I think it is better than getting killed by a malfunctioning CPU. (FYI- I am a flight instructor, so I was trained to have redundent systems in aviation, and carried the practice over to diving)

 

[scubadoguk]

Suunto Cobra - Spontaneous Reset

I just returned from a week long trip in Mexico and everything went just great; with the exception of my Cobra. After doing the first dive of the 5th (of 7) day I was about to reset the nitrox mix to 36% and noticed that it was 6pm on Jan 1st 2000. After scratching my head for a moment I realized that the computer had completely reset. Time gone, data gone, repetitive dive profile and nitrogen exposure lost!

I switched to tables and just did a 40 foot dive for the last dive of the day, but I was not comfortable having lost the dive profile and no fly time. If I was doing 3 or 4 dives a day this would have been a real inconvenience.

So I ask if anyone else has experienced this sort of spontaneous reset. My cobra is about 2 years old, has 200 dives on it, and the battery meter has never budged from 100%. The computer worked just fine for the rest of the trip. I plan to replace the battery and give Suunto a call. Any other advice? Should I write this off as a fluke, or drop it like a hot rock?

Dave

o but mine is going as it has locked out once and this last weekend left me on the line long after my bud's had gone!!twice.
After the first lock out I had to reset??

 

[Charlie99]

Suunto Cobra - Spontaneous Reset

After doing the first dive of the 5th (of 7) day I was about to reset the nitrox mix to 36% and noticed that it was 6pm on Jan 1st 2000. After scratching my head for a moment I realized that the computer had completely reset. Time gone, data gone, repetitive dive profile and nitrogen exposure lost!

Should I write this off as a fluke, or drop it like a hot rock?

One possibility is a loose battery, or bad battery connection. While most dive computers will retain memory for quite a while without battery when in a low power mode, if you are in a high-power drain active mode, a momentary disconnect of the battery would be likely to cause a reset.

Do you remember whacking your computer while getting back on the boat?

My suggestion is to open up the battery compartment, clean off the battery and contacts, make sure there is reasonable spring tension, then seal it all back up.

 

[jamiei]

I find it odd that you have so many dives on the computer and its still at 100%...

 

[The Chairman]

My battery is close to 100% as well. I don't like it either. I think I bought mine in 2000.

 

[ScubaRon]

My battery is close to 100% as well. I don't like it either. I think I bought mine in 2000.

The Cobra does not have a % indicator, but indicates the power by showing 1-4 segments. This is not a linear bar graph and 4 segments does not mean "100%":
- 4 segments means that you have enough power to continue diving.
- 3 segments means you can still make a few dives, but replacement is needed soon
- 2 segments means you should not use it, but might possibly squeeze one more dive out of it; backlight is disabled
- 1 segments means the computer is disabled.
So it is quite normal that you have 4 segments for a very long time.

 

[Hallmac]

I don't recommend relying on the battery meter. It only works on start up. To me that means the battery has had a chance to rebound and may not be a true indicator. Just change it every year or 60 dives which ever comes first. Been using a cobra Since they came out and never had a single problem.

Hallmac

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

bingo replace that battery yearly promblem solved buy the way i had to replace mine almost after year and half anyway so replace every year safer !!!!!

 

[pasley]

I took this quistion to the pros at SUUNTO. Here is their respoonse:
There have been a few similar cases, but all of them in cold water. Some batteries do not have a normal discharge curve, and the voltage may drop very quickly due to cold water, use of backlight and sound alarm. The computer also uses more power the more the processor calculates, so on a repetitive decompression dive the consumption is bigger that on a No Dec dive.

Of course it could also be a mechanical fault, but as the Cobra battery is between two “lips” it really can not be dislodged even by impact.

As the product had +200 dives on the same battery I’d suspect a battery replacement does the job.

regards,
Sten Stockmann
Product Manager, Diving

Suunto Oy