Aladin pro battery question

[trymixdiver]

I have an Aladin pro made in 03/95 and it has the battery soldered in it.

1. is there any reason i shouldnt replace this myself ?

The dive shop is asking $85 bucks. Seams very high for a damn battery, what do you think ?

TMD

 

[Ari]

The battery is not user replacable. Not to say that you can't try and do it yourself, but it is not designed for it.

Ari

 

[trymixdiver]

the reason i ask is that one shop say i cans do they have to, and the other shop says they will seel me the kit to do it myself. IF its just a matter of soldering that one little wire i dont see why i cant do it, i have some experience with soldering.

TMD

 

[Ari]

I don't have any specific experience with the actual replacemant of the battery. Nevertheless, you must make sure the connections are right and that the thing is watertight. I think that water-proffing the thing is the most crutial part.

In the Aladin manual they reffer to it as something that has to be done in the shop.

By the way, although the battery life is supposed to be something like 6-7 years, the fact that it is not user replacable was one of the major reasons I traded it in for a Vyper.

What's the price difference between buying the kit and having it serviced in the shop?

Ari

 

[trymixdiver]

$60 for the kit, $85 for shop to do it.

You bring up a good point, i will read the manual ans see what they say.

Thx
TMD

 

[MNScuba]

Strange... my shop told me 'lifetime free battery replacement' and said it was covered by Scubapro.

 

[Ari]

I think it's not the case.

Ari

 

[ninja]

I work in a shop have changed 3 or 4.

Hey trymixdiver it is a fairly straight forward process blue wire on blue side of battery and red wire on red side of battery. The are soldered into place and the kit comes with a new end cap and oring.

Piece of cake. The kit does contain a small tool for removing and installing the end cap!!

Scubapro does not have life time warranty on battery relacement just annnual service kits on regulators....

Good luck

NINJA

 

[SaltyWhale]

Hi trymixdiver

I believe you are talking about the first generation of Aladin Pro.
And by now waranty should be off.

Change yourself = Cheaper (I've always done mine myself).

Send it to the shop = Hold them liable should anything go wrong after batt change.

The new Aladin Pros has a long batt life time. A fellow diver of mine had his sent for replacement, instead of just batt changed, he got a new unit. Well at least that's what he told me.

 

[multistrada]

Dear trymixdiver,
I own a Beuchat Aladin Pro, purchased in the early eighties when they first came out on market. I have replaced the battery twice. The first time I used jumpers to maintain voltage to the computer while soldering in the new battery. I did this before the battery went dead.
Recently I replaced it a second time after it sat on a shelf for 5 years. The Batt Low indicator was diplayed. When I tried to turn it on by placing my wetted finger across the contacts it went dead altogether.
With nothing left to lose, so to speak, I replaced the battery without the extra care of jumpers. Battery cost $10.45. While this is an usual battery, originally used for mil applications, it isn't hard to find.
The unit at first seemed dead....then I used some scotchbrite, buffing the contacts, and it came back to normal operation. I just used it for a week of diving on Roatan, comparing it's reading to others diving similar profiles. My 20 year old, beat up and ugly after being drug thru wrecks etc. etc. computer is still working fine.

If you are going to attempt to do this yourself there are only a few things to be aware of. The battery as originally installed bythe manufacturer probably has tabs on it for soldering to. My first replacement did but the second did not. This complicates the soldering (all soldering should be completed quickly so the heat buildup doesn't damage the battery, and generally you should not deprive a computer of voltage for long so that it desn't dump any violatile memory...good design should dictate nonviolatile for any program memory but I don't want to assume that) So I believe you should use a good clean soldering iron of medium heat that is suitable for electronics repair. Also use soldering paste that will clean the battery contacts of any oxidization so the leads fom the computer will get a good quick contact to the battery. Your enemy here is too much heat applied to the battery for too long.

This sounds difficult and complicated but believe me it isn't. If you've not done any electronics repair, find a friend that may have been trained in the military (milspec, or any good soldering trainng in school and it will be a piece of cake.

If you have any further questions feel free to contact me.

multistrada
northern illinois