Atomic Aquatics Cobalt Dive Computer

[donhealy]

Ron (or others)

I recently received a Cobalt with a down-arrow that didn’t respond without excessive force, like 3-4x the other buttons. No problem there, Atomic was polite and apologetic.
Ha,

I received one like that as well. I'm living with it. How did you get it solved?

Don

 

[Michael Anthony]

Ron (or others)

I recently received a Cobalt with a down-arrow that didn’t respond without excessive force, like 3-4x the other buttons. No problem there, Atomic was polite and apologetic.
Ha,

I received one like that as well. I'm living with it. How did you get it solved?

Don

My first one was like that. The second one did not have that issue. Fingers crossed for the third one.

 

[RonR]

Ron (or others)

I recently received a Cobalt with a down-arrow that didn’t respond without excessive force, like 3-4x the other buttons. No problem there, Atomic was polite and apologetic. In reading the manual and playing with setup it was not clear about specifying consumption/SAC rate.

I saw where you can set a Gas Consumption Rate or average the last 10 dives in Simulation Setup. Can you also set consumption/SAC rate for remaining gas calculations? Here is the issue:

About two-thirds of the time when diving doubles with an isolation manifold, I shut the isolation valve until the primary bottle is breathed-down to noticeable resistance or 2-300 PSI, equalize the two bottles thought the isolation valve and shut it, and repeat “X” number of predetermined times depending on the dive profile. Just a guess, but I am thinking that this is going to make the Cobalt’s remaining Gas Time numbers squirrely.

I didn’t get into how the Cobalt handles Gas Time when switching gas, but will this procedure make Cobalt’s average gas consumption calculations at the end of the dive erroneous? Should I tell it that the doubles are a single/half the total volume?

Well, if you enter the actual total tank volume, and the tanks are equalized at the beginning and end of a dive, the total gas consumption and SAC should be correct.

When you do a gas switch, the pressure reading and the gas time number are grayed out to indicate you are not breathing the primary mix. Average gas consumption calculations would not be affected unless you started breathing the primary mix again without switching in the Cobalt, or stared breathing a secondary tank without switching in the Cobalt- the calculations are based only on the time you actually spend on the primary mix.

You can't override the measured values for consumption in an actual dive- you can set anything you want for planning, but in the dive it will base gas time calculations on actual measured pressure changes. So if your pressure is changing up and down, it will throw things off, at least for a time (gas consumption calculations are buffered). We'll have to look at this some to predict exactly how, it's a bit unusual. I can't think how any computer could really handle this- even if you did enter a SAC rate it would have to ignore the measured pressure and calculate based on a theoretical tank, using only depth as an input. One of the main reasons for having a gas time remaining number is to warn you if something unusual (like a leaking valve) happens, that would eliminate the possibility.

 

[RonR]

Ron (or others)

I recently received a Cobalt with a down-arrow that didn’t respond without excessive force, like 3-4x the other buttons. No problem there, Atomic was polite and apologetic.
Ha,

I received one like that as well. I'm living with it. How did you get it solved?

Don

Call Atomic or go through your dealer as a warranty issue. They should be able to adjust it.

Ron

 

[Akimbo]

…I recently received a Cobalt with a down-arrow that didn’t respond without excessive force, like 3-4x the other buttons. No problem there, Atomic was polite and apologetic…

…I received one like that as well. I'm living with it. How did you get it solved?

Don

My first one was like that. The second one did not have that issue. Fingers crossed for the third one.

…Call Atomic or go through your dealer as a warranty issue. They should be able to adjust it.

Ron

I got mine mail order since my LDS isn’t an Atomic dealer. I could have returned it to the Internet dealer, but he indicated this was a common problem with the current production run and sending it for repair would likely get better results. Hopefully, if they do send a different computer, the tech that makes the decision will test the buttons first.

You save shipping cost if you got if from a local dealer though.

 

[Akimbo]

Well, if you enter the actual total tank volume, and the tanks are equalized at the beginning and end of a dive, the total gas consumption and SAC should be correct.

When you do a gas switch, the pressure reading and the gas time number are grayed out to indicate you are not breathing the primary mix. Average gas consumption calculations would not be affected unless you started breathing the primary mix again without switching in the Cobalt, or stared breathing a secondary tank without switching in the Cobalt- the calculations are based only on the time you actually spend on the primary mix.

You can't override the measured values for consumption in an actual dive- you can set anything you want for planning, but in the dive it will base gas time calculations on actual measured pressure changes. So if your pressure is changing up and down, it will throw things off, at least for a time (gas consumption calculations are buffered). We'll have to look at this some to predict exactly how, it's a bit unusual. I can't think how any computer could really handle this- even if you did enter a SAC rate it would have to ignore the measured pressure and calculate based on a theoretical tank, using only depth as an input. One of the main reasons for having a gas time remaining number is to warn you if something unusual (like a leaking valve) happens, that would eliminate the possibility.

I am not upset about invalidating the Gas Time reading and would never expect a manufacturer to even try to accommodate this technique. It is handy to have it monitor SAC rate reliably so it makes sense that all I have to do is make sure the isolation valve is open before hitting the surface.

Please let me know if you think of any other steps or settings that may prevent confusing it. Hopefully this pressure deviation from normal testing won’t turn up any bugs. I will keep you informed. Thanks.

 

[jpdunc]

After a couple of months of non use, my battery is totally dead and will not charge. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

 

[reefman]

After a couple of months of non use, my battery is totally dead and will not charge. Any suggestions?

Thanks,[/QUOE]

that same issue(except that they were being used 3-5 dives daily) occurred on 2 of the 4 colbalts being used on our dive group's recent trip to the philippines(15 divers)(returned 4/4/2011). 1 computer died after being recharged and the other never could take a charge and finally became unusable. the other 2 colbalts performed flawlessly,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


reefman
key largo

 

[Straegen]

But in any case, I'd rather not deal with a "beta with known issues," especially if we're this close to a finished product. My 2 cents.

My 2 cents are they need to get the source from the developer, fire them and give the source to someone who can finish this initial phase, maintain the product and help move it forward. When you start having problems with a developer like this is usually isn't a good sign for the stability of the product nor updates in the future.

If they don't know of a good home for it, I certainly do. I have been developing software for over 20 years now and have a long list of incredibly talented developers/companies who can finish this project. They could probably write a new one from scratch in a few weeks. This stuff isn't complicated.

 

[RonR]

After a couple of months of non use, my battery is totally dead and will not charge. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Plug it into the AC charger (don't use USB- that won't reset the Cobalt if it's completely dead). It should come up to the Set Time/ Date screen within a couple of minutes on the charger. If that does not happen, then a hard reset is required- basically removing and replacing the battery. If this is the case, let me know and I'll provide additional help.

Leading causes of batteries running down after only a couple of weeks are storing the computer in a wet environment, or storing the computer with the AC adapter attached- both these things put the Cobalt into a "ready to dive" mode that draws more power.

We have recently identified the solution for a problem that has affected some Cobalts- basically going blank after charging, and being unable to wake- and this is also associated with running the battery down in storage. There have been a few mentions on the board here, but the problem is rare enough that it was never seen in field testing before product release. The cause is complicated, but the problem is prevented with a firmware update. Check Atomic's site later this week, I'm going to try to get the update posted there soon.

Ron