Bert van den Berg
Contributor
After changing the battery on my dive computer I had to reset the date/time and units of measure but forgot to change the Personal Safety Factor to "Medium" (the default is Personal Safety Factor 2). Did a wreck dive to a maximum of 93 feet (70 feet average for 46 minutes) that was identical to one done in December without issue. The dive computer decided that I went into deco and demanded a stop at 39 feet for 2 minutes (did that) and another at 10 feet for 31 minutes. I realized at that point what happened and only did three minutes at 15 feet. This was the first time ever that the computer told me I was in deco so had no prior experience. With Personal Safety Factor 2 the bottom time is roughly cut in half. A look at the PADI dive table said we were at the limit but not into deco with 70 feet/46 minutes.
Did a second dive 1-3/4 hours later to find that my dive computer refused to compute/display deco time because I had violated my deco on the earlier dive and it was only providing depth, bottom time and temperature. Since I was buddied with a Dive Master and understood what happened and since the buddy and I were glued together on the first dive I thought I would just rely on his computer. 20 minutes into the second dive I looked at his computer to discover that it was displaying the word "UP" instead of time remaining till deco.
I called the dive and we ascended from 80 feet taking 19 minutes to do so with a five minute stop at 15 feet. The dive tables said that we probably went into deco on the second dive and should not have spend more than 10-15 minutes there. I was not happy with my decision to dive without a properly working computer and also very unhappy to find that a Dive Master certified diver would do the same. Lost quite a bit of sleep that night and decided that was never going to happen again.
Did a second dive 1-3/4 hours later to find that my dive computer refused to compute/display deco time because I had violated my deco on the earlier dive and it was only providing depth, bottom time and temperature. Since I was buddied with a Dive Master and understood what happened and since the buddy and I were glued together on the first dive I thought I would just rely on his computer. 20 minutes into the second dive I looked at his computer to discover that it was displaying the word "UP" instead of time remaining till deco.
I called the dive and we ascended from 80 feet taking 19 minutes to do so with a five minute stop at 15 feet. The dive tables said that we probably went into deco on the second dive and should not have spend more than 10-15 minutes there. I was not happy with my decision to dive without a properly working computer and also very unhappy to find that a Dive Master certified diver would do the same. Lost quite a bit of sleep that night and decided that was never going to happen again.