BEWARE EON Steel POD batteries DOA out of box new! Very Disappointing

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Return Service Suunto Eon Steel Tank POD's Numbers 9, 10, 11, and 12 for Warranty Service. Low Battery Indicator. Suunto Eon Steel Tank POD's Numbers 10, 11, and 12 were Previous Warranty Replacements. They Lasted All of Three (maybe Four) Months Sitting in a Box, Unused. When is this Issue going to be finally Resolved? My Two Years Warranty runs out January, 2017.
 
Return Service Suunto Eon Steel Tank POD's Numbers 9, 10, 11, and 12 for Warranty Service. Low Battery Indicator. Suunto Eon Steel Tank POD's Numbers 10, 11, and 12 were Previous Warranty Replacements. They Lasted All of Three (maybe Four) Months Sitting in a Box, Unused. When is this Issue going to be finally Resolved? My Two Years Warranty runs out January, 2017.

Just out of interest, the last warranty replacements, did they replace the TX or the battery? I ask because when they replace the battery they replace the outside shell too.

The first time I had batteries replaced the service center didn't allow the TX to sit for long enough without the battery and reset, so I was given an incorrect battery life. Suunto have exchanged my transmitters twice, unfortunately when they went back they were sent without the batteries, so they couldn't tell if the batteries were at fault or not. I had maybe 3 visits to my dealer this year. They seem to all be okay now.

You should record all the S/n of the units and send the issue to them, in my experience if they replace a unit your 2 year warranty starts over from that date on those TX

Annoyingly my wife has one of the early TX, its the only one that hasn't had a battery issue nor been replaced.
 
i must have one like your wife's as I've been using mine for for more than a year with no issues
 
Just out of interest, the last warranty replacements, did they replace the TX or the battery? I ask because when they replace the battery they replace the outside shell too.

The first time I had batteries replaced the service center didn't allow the TX to sit for long enough without the battery and reset, so I was given an incorrect battery life. Suunto have exchanged my transmitters twice, unfortunately when they went back they were sent without the batteries, so they couldn't tell if the batteries were at fault or not. I had maybe 3 visits to my dealer this year. They seem to all be okay now.

You should record all the S/n of the units and send the issue to them, in my experience if they replace a unit your 2 year warranty starts over from that date on those TX

Annoyingly my wife has one of the early TX, its the only one that hasn't had a battery issue nor been replaced.

Suunto Service Center has been Exchanging the Eon Steel Tank POD Transmitters.
 
Return Service Suunto Eon Steel Tank POD's Numbers 9, 10, 11, and 12 for Warranty Service. Low Battery Indicator. Suunto Eon Steel Tank POD's Numbers 10, 11, and 12 were Previous Warranty Replacements. They Lasted All of Three (maybe Four) Months Sitting in a Box, Unused. When is this Issue going to be finally Resolved? My Two Years Warranty runs out January, 2017.

My humble apologies about the battery indicator problem. First check that the serial number does not start with 14. The service centers have instructions to replace those with newer pods. But it seems all service points do not always follow instructions. The newer pods tolerate better static electric discharges. They should not reset while in their boxes, according to some tests. But even they are not bulletproof, although they pass industry standard ESD tests. Regulator hoses rubbing about in a regulator bag together with tank pods might generate a lot of static electricity. The pods survive and recover but the processor is reset and so is the battery usage counter. The Lithium Thionyl Chloride battery used has a great capacity and shelf life but it is impossible to measure it's remaining capacity by voltage or impedance.

One resolution to the problem that I have suggested is to remove the Tank Pod battery indicator completely from Eon, as it is not reliable and it is not a required feature. Until then I recommend not looking at the indicator. You should manually keep a logbook and track the use of the tank pods and replace the battery every 2 years or approximately 200-300 dives, whichever comes first. And remember to have a backup pressure gauge or plan in advance how to safely end a dive if your pressure gauge fails for any reason during a dive.

Regards,
Tom from Suunto
 
My humble apologies about the battery indicator problem. First check that the serial number does not start with 14. The service centers have instructions to replace those with newer pods. But it seems all service points do not always follow instructions. The newer pods tolerate better static electric discharges. They should not reset while in their boxes, according to some tests. But even they are not bulletproof, although they pass industry standard ESD tests. Regulator hoses rubbing about in a regulator bag together with tank pods might generate a lot of static electricity. The pods survive and recover but the processor is reset and so is the battery usage counter. The Lithium Thionyl Chloride battery used has a great capacity and shelf life but it is impossible to measure it's remaining capacity by voltage or impedance.

One resolution to the problem that I have suggested is to remove the Tank Pod battery indicator completely from Eon, as it is not reliable and it is not a required feature. Until then I recommend not looking at the indicator. You should manually keep a logbook and track the use of the tank pods and replace the battery every 2 years or approximately 200-300 dives, whichever comes first. And remember to have a backup pressure gauge or plan in advance how to safely end a dive if your pressure gauge fails for any reason during a dive.

Regards,
Tom from Suunto

I'll have two more Suunto Eon Steel Tank POD's to send in. Numbers 13 and 14.

Not having a reliable Battery Status Indicator Defeats the Purpose of Replacing SPG. Mini SPG I can see using, but where do I get 450 Bar version?

Eon Steel Tank POD's shouldn't get Low Battery Indicator sitting in a Box for several Months.
 
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The older Suunto wireless transmitter for D-series, Vyper and HelO2 did not have battery indication. Divers usually have no problem servicing their equipment regularly, like changing the Tank Pod battery every 2 year or 200-300 dives. In doing so and remembering to remove pressure on surface, the risk of running out of Tank Pod battery is rather low. The risk of other failures is much higher. For example, I have seen many Tank Pods starting to leak. The casing itself is very strong but hitting the Tank Pod between tanks or against rocks might cause tiny cracks from the mounting screws. This is why we replace to covers on every battery replacement. The leaking is often just a few drops, not noticeable, but that humidity might corrode the electronics and cause a failure on a later dive.

Due to the combined risk of failure (battery, leaks and others), one must always plan how to proceed should one piece of equipment fail. A perfectly working battery level indicator would not change this fact at all. Using a SPG parallel to the Tank Pod is not mandatory, but then you should really plan how to get to the surface safely without exactly knowing the tank pressure. Usually this means aborting the dive, unless you have a lot of spare tanks with you.

I have been testing old Tank Pod batteries in my Tank Pod Christmas tree and they still have plenty of juice in them :)

Regards,
Tom
 
The dive shop did not have any to swap out for me and they said Suunto wanted my POD shipped to them and I would eventually get it back, being an instructor and going on a trip in less then a week I was really surprised Suunto did not overnight a new POD to the shop for me or at the least commit to having it back before 4/3 when I leave.

Man Suunto has really forgotten how to do customer service. I remember many many years ago I launched a Suunto Solution computer across the room while getting it out of my console. When it impacted the wall it damaged the computer. I called Suunto and they overnighted a brand new computer.

Now I hear of people waiting months for replacement pods from units purchased new.

What a shame.

Wake up Suunto!
 
I bought a SUUNTO EON Steel for my wife for Christmas. Bought it back in Sept when it was on sale. Kept it in my office desk drawer so she wouldn't find it. She was very excited to try it out and we spent the evening setting it up and customizing a view mode, only to find out that the tank pod battery is all but dead. (Not even enough power to see a slight glow while pairing with the Eon Steel).

We don't have a local SUUNTO dealer so it's a 2 hour drive back to where I bought it to see how much time and money it will cost to be able to use this new computer.

Not impressed at all.
 
I bought a SUUNTO EON Steel for my wife for Christmas. Bought it back in Sept when it was on sale. Kept it in my office desk drawer so she wouldn't find it. She was very excited to try it out and we spent the evening setting it up and customizing a view mode, only to find out that the tank pod battery is all but dead. (Not even enough power to see a slight glow while pairing with the Eon Steel).

We don't have a local SUUNTO dealer so it's a 2 hour drive back to where I bought it to see how much time and money it will cost to be able to use this new computer.

Not impressed at all.

Hi, sorry to hear about your problem. Are you sure the battery was really empty? Do not trust the battery indication - I hope it will be removed! Also, myself I can never see the faint LED blinking unless during a night dive or in a completely dark room (Tank Pod must be pressurised too, of course). Just try pairing using any of the two methods and if it works - it is OK.

If you are unable to pair and see your tank pressure, then of course, warranty will help you. Depending on where you are, it might be possible in some locations to arrange a convenient courier pick-up for you, if you are not near a cervice center. Contact our support at suunto.com/support and order a warranty service and our support will let you know the options.

Please reply here if the battery was really empty. I have not heard about an actual empty battery out of the box yet. There might some other hardware failure, but they are very rare.

Sorry again, and I hope you a quick replacement if it will go that way.

Regards,
Tom from Suunto R&D
 

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