Atomic Aquatics Cobalt Dive Computer

[RonR]

I am having issues with my up and down buttons on my Atomic Computer. I have to press extra hard on the down button and the up button is acting up now also. Anyone know how to service this problem?
Fritz
The Oceanic Urban Research Center

Check with Atomic and describe the symptoms. You very likely have magnets that are rusting and need a new soft keypad with better sealing. They can do it or send you one. It'a a very simple fix.

Ron

 

[fritzmoore]

Yeah the magnets are all rusted. I cleaned one an worked a great deal better. Going to write to Atomic.
Thank you,
Fritz

 

[RonR]

Yeah the magnets are all rusted. I cleaned one an worked a great deal better. Going to write to Atomic.
Thank you,
Fritz

Once the seal is broken these magnets will rust, so make sure you get a new keypad with the improved sealing.

Ron

 

[dgardyne]

Ron,

I just bought a used cobalt that has 274 dives in the log from the previous owner.

Is is there any way to clear out this log and start fresh from dive #1?

Thanks in advance!

 

[RonR]

Ron,

I just bought a used cobalt that has 274 dives in the log from the previous owner.

Is is there any way to clear out this log and start fresh from dive #1?

Thanks in advance!

Yes, I am sending you instruction in a PM. It's irrevocable, so it's something you need to be sure you want to do.

Ron

 

[dgardyne]

Yes, I am sending you instruction in a PM. It's irrevocable, so it's something you need to be sure you want to do.

Ron

Awesome - it worked perfectly. Thanks for the quick reply.

 

[Cromanin]

Heyas Ron,
Was doing routine check of the equipment today and found that down button not working again. Cleaning the magnet or replacing it with a new one from a spare set did not solve the case. Does it mean the sensor went bad?

 

[RonR]

Heyas Ron,
Was doing routine check of the equipment today and found that down button not working again. Cleaning the magnet or replacing it with a new one from a spare set did not solve the case. Does it mean the sensor went bad?

Possibly, if it will not respond to a known good magnet. That would be very unusual, though. Does your spare magnet work with other buttons? Sometimes reed switches can fail if exposed to a strong magnetic field for a period of time, so they become themselves magnetized. Can you try activating it with a magnet pressed down into the recess? If it won't respond to a magnet that does actuate other buttons, then that would probably need to be repaired by Atomic- not hard, but it involves opening the case, and unfortunately shipping. Hopefully you just need a stronger magnet- they are available in a variety of strengths.

Ron

 

[Cromanin]

Well actually I did not use the replacement keypad yet, so I took off random 2 magnets out of their sockets and used in a computer. None of them worked. I will give it a try with magnet from some other button tho.

Despite button not working is annoying it is very unlikely I will go through the repairs cycle. Brightness I can regulate on the surface and do with up button for menu navigation.

---------- Post added November 27th, 2013 at 11:11 PM ----------

Ok, reporting.
Took off the cover, tried to use magnet from up button. Not working. Tried to use brand new keypad. All keys work except down. Fail.

Next I picked up down button magnet with a tip of a knife and tried to test every sensor by placing magnet inside sensor cavity. All sensors reacted as soon as magnet was inside the cavity, no need to touch the bottom. But the down button sensor was not responding despite me banging with the magnet all accross the bottom of a sensor cavity. Fail.

But: after a dozen tries I noticed the sensor reacted. So I kept trying and OMG!!! it started to work. I assembled the cover back, all works fine. Success.

Resume: definetely a hardware glitch with sensor getting unresponsive. You need to somehow "reset" it and it gets back to work. The process itself is unclear. So I have no idea what I need to do next time to make it work and I definetely do not want to remove cover every month. No offence Ron, you are very helpful and a nice guy, but QC definetely does not do its job here. Weither it is a design oversight, bad components or assembly, but the overall quality of $2k product is "poor". I use Atomics T2 reg, fins, mask and all I can get my hands onto, but for my next comp I will go elsewhere. Sorry.

 

[RonR]

....But: after a dozen tries I noticed the sensor reacted. So I kept trying and OMG!!! it started to work. I assembled the cover back, all works fine. Success. <snip>

Very good diagnostics. From what you say I think you are seeing a "stuck" reed switch that came unstuck by your efforts. That is a board level component, essentially a tiny glass tube with metallic leaves inside it that close the switch when exposed to a magnetic field. These are very reliable- these same parts are used in many very critical applications in medical or aerospace- but like any other mechanical component they do sometimes fail. From what you say the switch may have been the problem all along. Reed switch failures can be caused by environmental issues, like extreme magnetic exposure magnetizing the switch itself, impact (unlikely without obvious damage), or excessive current (pretty well impossible in the Cobalt). It may have been a marginal part from the beginning that worked in testing but later stuck- probably this is most likely. It is really something that needs to be fixed by Atomic replacing the switch, or the computer should be replaced, depending on your situation. Atomic has very good customer service, but I understand you have some challenges due to distance.

It's also possible that this switch will work perfectly from now on- you may have unstuck it for good. But if it seems to have a problem again I would let Atomic take care of it.

Ron