Suunto Post Recall Pairing Issue

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gummybun

Contributor
Messages
184
Reaction score
29
Location
Toronto, Canada
# of dives
200 - 499
I have been using a Suunto D6i for many years and had been very happy with it and had no issues - before sending it back for the recent re-call. On return of my Computer and Transmitter I went on a 4 week journey where my newly serviced Computer lost pairing 4 or 5 times, thrice dry and twice under water. Of course I dive with a second gauge set but this new behavior does cause me concern and causes me to loose confidence with the hardware.

While it may not seem like a big issue, it does delay the dive for others while I re-pair (sometimes required multiple attempts) and/or wiping my dive stats as I can not re-pair under water.

The failures occurred at different locations of different boats so it could not be explained away as others using the same pair code. As it had never happened before the service my LDS suggested Suunto look at it, which they did and charged me $$$ for the 'service' after finding nothing, nice customer relations Suunto, thanks for making any loyalty decisions easy.

Has anyone else found that after the re-call service their Computers were acting up or performing differently that prior to the service?
 
I have had one occasion where my transmitter and computer did not sync. Not sure why but I had to clear the code in the computer and turn my tank off and back on to get them to re-sync. It was a pain in the arse because I had to take my rig and gloves off as the computer needs to be closer to the transmitter when doing an initial code sync than normally getting it to sync prior to diving. In the end I got it to work and we started our dive a few minutes later than we had planned. It has not happened again and my computer and transmitter have been working reliably since....touch wood.

-Z
 
May I ask, did this happen after your Recall Service?

My irritation with Suunto is that a new pattern began after their re-call service where they failed to find a cause and charged me for the privilege. Oh yes, and trying to deflect the issue the Suunto tech stated that "...using a strobe when diving using the devices (Computer and Transmitter) the signal could be disrupted by the strobe." "Disrupted" is an understatement, I would say 'terminated'.

This raises a very significant issue to me - If I am sitting beside someone in a boat that is testing a strobe - they could knock out my sync. If my buddy fires a strobe under water, they could knock out my sync, and cause the termination of the dive. As you can not re-sync under water, this is a major problem - less so if you have back-up gauges but still a problem.

So any diver using a strobe, or diving around other divers using strobes can expect to be loosing sync. You know, I do not recall coming across any warnings to this propensity to failure in any of the documentation that was made available to me prior to purchase or after purchase of Suunto products. Did I miss something?
 
Just a quick question: when you lost pairing was anyone using strobes close to you? Of course not having any Suunto document mentioning this potential problem is very annoying, but at least is their explanation correct?
 
Just a quick question...

Sorry for the late response, I seem to have missed any notifications. Firstly, I have only received this comment from Huish Outdoors - who represent Suunto in North America, and more precisely from Huish Outdoors in Beautiful British Columbia Canada. They promised to send info from Suunto 'Mother Ship' but I have got nothing yet (insert sounds of crickets here). The relevance of the strobe explanation is dubious to me as (1) I have always been around people with strobes and have never had an issue before (before the recall service, hence my original inquiry) (2) I have been given no explanation of what 'close to me' is or means - a meter?, 3 meters? without that measure the 'explanation' is meaningless. (3) I can warrant that on at least 1 occasion I am certain there was no 'strobe' equipment within 10 feet of me (while above water), so what do I make of that? Hard to know as I have been left without any further illumination from Suunto. (4) Also what does 'strobe equipment' actually mean? The flash on a Canon g10 or dual professional units?

My position is this, if strobe interference happens, then we consumers need to know what you (Suunto) know or think, so that we can take appropriate measures. Anything less will only lead to anther class action. Also, if you (Suunto) keep it a secret, don't charge us a service charge when we find our equipment malfunctioning - that will only lead to another class action.

Lastly I can only say that my customer loyalty has been sorely tested by this experience (until this I loved my Suunto and promoted it shamelessly) and/but now I am looking for a new computer that does not require locked 'paring' so that if you loose paring it will dynamically re-negotiate paring with the most proximate transmitter. I think I read in another thread that some other manufacturers function in this way.
 
and/but now I am looking for a new computer that does not require locked 'paring' so that if you loose paring it will dynamically re-negotiate paring with the most proximate transmitter. I think I read in another thread that some other manufacturers function in this way.
Pelagic Pressure Systems computers (Aqualung, Sherwood, Oceanic) pair based on the serial number of the transmitter, not on an open "channel" that can be confused by other divers on the same channel pairing.
I never heard of the strobe issue before, so I can't say if they are any more or any less susceptible. Then again, I never heard of it all so that bodes well...
 

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