Aladin pro battery question

[naclydogg]

sad day, :depressed: my aladin pro from 1989 just died on me. Changed the battery on it a few years ago, the battery voltage is still 3.5, so it looks like the electronics have gone. I guess 22 years isn't too bad a life span.

 

[Islandkitchens]

We dived for many happy years with Aladin Pro computers, and when the batteries died, we'd take them to our LDS, who would ship them off for replacement, at what seemed like a reasonable cost. Last year, I tried to have the battery replaced on one, and our LDS quoted us a price of nearly $200, so I gave up and bought a new Aeris, which I never really felt comfortable with. I searched this board to see if anybody had any advice about replacing Aladin batteries, and was happy to see that a poster recommended Brass Anchor Scuba, in Fredericksburg, MD. I contacted them, mailed them my old trusty Uwatec, and had it back in just a few days, working like a charm--for only $50, plus the cost of priority mail. I've now sent them another one, and am looking forward to diving with my Uwatecs again in a couple of weeks. Here's a link to Brass Anchor's website, describing their service: Dive Computer Battery. I highly recommend them! Susan

 

[captainmurph]

:blinking:Here's a near final and very happy outcome of my odyssey with the Beuchat.

I found that the battery was readily available at Batteries Plus and only cost $12.00. That was good news. After I removed the old battery and inspected the red (+) and blue (neg) leads, the red one broke off at the junction of the battery compartment to interior circuit wall. That was bad news! Not wanting to give up just yet, I now had to figure out how to access the inside of the unit. I found that the center portion of the back (curved to fit against your wrist if the unit was mounted that way) simply pops off with the tip of a small screwdriver. Hoping I had not let the magic out into the atmosphere (lame humor), I probed the semi-clear, jelly-like potting compoiund.

I pulled back the very thick, gooey potting compound surrounding the circuitry and saw where the wire was going out through the case wall. I managed to put the remainder out and got the hope going that I would be able to solder a splice and get a new wire out into the battery compartment. I drilled a hole and got a piece of 18 gauge out through the hole and out the end of the battery compartment.

I had wisely pre-tinned the inside end of the wire and, while it required three hands and two from my wife as well, made a connection. I had no problem soldering the negative lead on the bottom of the battery, but found that the increased size aof the new red wire made slipping it in very, very difficult. I got it in far enough to solder the red wire on the + terminal and then crammed it in the rest of the way.

Contrary to what has been seen earlier in the thread, this unit doesn't do anything (no display nor beep) unti you short across two of the three bump terminals on the face with a wetted fingertip. Then (insert drum roll here) three dashes for depth and 0 for dive time showed on the formerly lifeless display (This was apparently HUGELY GOOD NEWS!).

I got a similar "LOG" display when I shorted the other two (horizontally arranged) bumps. It looks like I might have a working computer again!

I've heard that these were a simple and very rugged design. That is apprently true.

I couldn't find anyplace that could sell me some equally nasty, sticky, conformal jelly so I opened up a new tube of silicone RTV, filled the cavity, ran a line around the outside of the case recess and re-installed the back.

It was very hard to put the unit back into the console. This was made harder by the fact that the end had a split in it. After installing it, I ran a couple of bands or black tie-wraps around the top and bottom areas of the case and tied them together in the back.

I have not dived with it yet, but am full of hope! More later.

 

[naclydogg]

sad day, :depressed: my aladin pro from 1989 just died on me. Changed the battery on it a few years ago, the battery voltage is still 3.5, so it looks like the electronics have gone. I guess 22 years isn't too bad a life span.

Turns out it still lives, it was just the battery.

 

[STwill]

Brass Anchor Battery Replacement seems like a good deal, current prices are $38(non oil filled) to $50(oil filled) plus $10 return shipping.

If you have one of the non oil filled models it's quite easy if you have any electrical soldering experience. I can't imagine it being that much harder if you have one of the oil filled models. I would probably mount it gently in a vice just to make sure that you don't spill any of the oil out, or as little as possible. Might need some spray electrical cleaner for the oil filled models. Some searching revealed a place to buy the oil, but it seems that others have used medical grade paraffin oil, or mineral oil. Not sure exactly what type, but maybe brassanchor.com could help. Without knowing exactly what is being used, I would use gloves with the oil filled ones.





There are a few different brands of replacement cells, sadly the ones with tabs are about 2x the price of the tab-less cells. Most seem to be made by Saft, here are a couple of places to find them.
Saft LS14500ST 3.6V/2250mAh Lithium Battery w/ Solder Tabs : Computer backup power | RadioShack.com
Amazon.com: Saft LS 14500 ST 3.6v Standard Capacity "AA" Cell with tabs: Electronics
BATT LITH AA 3.6V AXIAL - TLH-5903/P


PS: I'm looking for a wrist mount for mine, cheap or free, or I might make one

 

[STwill]

Here is the battery kit from Uwatec:


If you live in the EU, it is available from: Uwatec Aladin Pro Computer Battery | Jackson-Sports.com

I ended up ordering just the battery for $10 w/free shipping from Amazon.com: Saft LS 14500 ST 3.6v Standard Capacity "AA" Cell with tabs: Electronics

Shipped out today so I'm just waiting for it to come in.

BTW, does anyone know the size of the o-ring? Mine seems to be in good shape, but I would rather replace it with a new one when I put the new battery in.

 

[STwill]

My new battery came in, so I made a quick video of soldering it in place. I ended up folding the tabs over to make it fit better, but I think axial would be better than tabs.

 

[Slowpoke1]

My experience with Uwatec battery replacement on the older models required that the unit be sent back to the factory. Not only do they replace the battery, but watertight seals are serviced or replaced as needed. The unit is then pressure tested to insure that it doesn't leak. For these reasons it is generally not recommended that the user attempt to replace the battery on older Uwatec models. It cost me $140.00 to have the battery replacement and testing done on my old OMS branded Aladdin Pro Nitrox.

 

[STwill]

$140 is not an insignificant amount of money for most, but then again this is SCUBA. The battery is cheap($10 w/shipping), readily available, and it's not hard to do. I would like to replace the $0.10 o-ring even though mine looked just fine, just need to find the size and source a replacement. I find it crazy, but that entire kit from Uwatec has about $6 worth of parts in it, hardly worth $40-50 just to have it packaged for you.

I plan on using a marked line and compare it to other computers to check the accuracy. I plan on diving it to pressure test it

That Brass Anchor Scuba Center listed above does a 100' pressure test for accuracy and water tightness for $0, or w/performance data for $10.