Atomic Aquatics Cobalt Dive Computer

[free_electron]

Here is my experience with the Cobalt.

Bought a brand new cobalt on July 24.
Have done 54 dives with it.

Minor Problems encountered :
divelog software gets stuck in 'bad dive data' . will not download ( 1.11 firmware )

Mayor problems
Beeper is inaudible... you need to hold it to your ear to hear the thing beep when it is tome to switch gas or you reach preset pressure levels

UNACCEPTABLE problems

dive 55 :i put cobalt in dive mode and jump in. i am at 32ft according to my divewatch. Depth reads 0 on the cobalt.... cobalt powers down... i power cobalt back up. it is not in dive mode. i can cycle through all the menus. Tank reading is correct. Depth reading : 0
i abort the dive after 25 minutes ( i'm on nitrox and i have enough gas in the tank to do two dives on one tank )

dive 56: I am at 18 ft according to my divewatch (citizen aqualand ) Depth again reads 0 on cobalt. . cobalt powers down
Compass does not work either. if i activate the compass i can turn the cobalt around. it moves about 4 to 5 degrees , even if i spin it 180 degrees : barely registers any movement. Again i abort the dive. i tried recalibrating the compass : no avail.
Battery is at 78%

I call Atomic. They were friendly and issued an RMA number.

Here is what i am pissed off about:
- i had to abort two boat dives that cost me 90 $ . I had to scrub the nightdive because no computer. I still have a day of diving to do. I will have to rent a computer or scrub the dives(4 dives planned) . I have to spend money to ship this thing to them and get it fixed.

For a barely 3 week old machine that costs 1200$ : that is piss-poor quality !

 

[RonR]

Here is my experience with the Cobalt.

I understand your being PO'd about this. Can you send me a PM with the RMA number? I will follow up with Atomic to see what went wrong. We take any failures in the field very personally.

It does sound as if you had a complete failure of the depth sensor. Once the Cobalt senses depth underwater, you should not be able to access menus and it should not go into display sleep.

The depth sensor used in the Cobalt is the same one used in a large number of other computers, and it's been very reliable over many years, but I realize that is not much consolation if you had one fail in the middle of your dives. I assume that the timing of your dives is such that it's not possible to get a replacement or demo unit to you?

Ron

 

[GaryBDavis]

I have a couple of questions regarding this computer. Does anyone know what percentage air the computer defaults to between nitrox dives and if you can change it? A lot of computers default to 50% unless you turn off the default functions in the settings. So if it does default to a conservative number, I'd like to be able to turn that function off (can do that on my Atmos ai).

Also, is there any place selling the computer for less than the $1200 retail? I was in Scuba Toys shop the other day and they were out of them but the sales guy threw out a number that was quite a bit less than retail. But, I didn't have him check the store computer to verify the price.

Thanks

 

[HIGHwing]

...just for the record, i personally know and have dove with 7 owners of the colbalt; only 1 hasn't been returned to atomic for replacement and or service(1 for malfunctioning button, 5 for recharge/battery issues). having said that, i own an atomic mask, fins and regulators; there all terrific products!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your claimed 85% RMA rate is just slightly ahead of our percentage, but we have more units in the water. IMHO the Cobalt is simply not production ready...and I nearly exclusively dive the AA-branded gear.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

My Colbalt arrived with 1.12.2 firmware on it -- Atomic's webpage still lists 1.11.4 as the most current version. RonR, can you post us on what the changes are between what's shipping on Colbalts now and what's up for download?

Random aside, the alarm tones are clearly audible to me out of the water, though not loud, and are definitely noticeable in the pool. Not sure they'll get my attention 100% of the time while diving, but I prefer that to being the guy everyone can hear from the other side of the reef.

 

[RonR]

I have a couple of questions regarding this computer. Does anyone know what percentage air the computer defaults to between nitrox dives and if you can change it?

The Cobalt will keep your gas mix settings until you change them. It won't change until you tell it to.

 

[RonR]

My Colbalt arrived with 1.12.2 firmware on it -- Atomic's webpage still lists 1.11.4 as the most current version. RonR, can you post us on what the changes are between what's shipping on Colbalts now and what's up for download?

Random aside, the alarm tones are clearly audible to me out of the water, though not loud, and are definitely noticeable in the pool. Not sure they'll get my attention 100% of the time while diving, but I prefer that to being the guy everyone can hear from the other side of the reef.

The only difference in the 1.12 is a change in the audible tone frequencies, designed to make the alerts easier to hear. Hopefully your reaction is typical, though I think they are still pretty quiet. I'm sure this version will go up on the website soon, but I believe Atomic is waiting to also post an updated Windows program that will automatically download the flash file- lots of support time went to helping people sort out unzipping, finding the file, etc., and lots of folks didn't find the right file and had trouble. Having the software load it automatically should work much better.

 

[scubamask]

I have a couple of questions regarding this computer. Does anyone know what percentage air the computer defaults to between nitrox dives and if you can change it? A lot of computers default to 50% unless you turn off the default functions in the settings. So if it does default to a conservative number, I'd like to be able to turn that function off (can do that on my Atmos ai).

Also, is there any place selling the computer for less than the $1200 retail? I was in Scuba Toys shop the other day and they were out of them but the sales guy threw out a number that was quite a bit less than retail. But, I didn't have him check the store computer to verify the price.

The gas mixture and tank size stay the same as your last dive. You can very simply change either one. One of the very best features of the Cobalt is the simplicity of the menu system and the ease of making any changes in settings. Click on Settings menu, then Gas/Tank Settings ... Then you can pick one of your 3 preconfigured gas mixtures to be the primary gas or you can change any of the pre-configured tanks (%O2, cu ft, psi) on that screen. Very simple; don't need the manual to figure out which button or combination of buttons leads you to the right screens.

Depends on how anxious the LDS is to sell one. Just like any equipment, the LDS can insist on the full retail price or can charge less if they want to. (I suspect that Atomic Aquatics must have an agreement that dealers can't advertize lower than retail prices.) If you are a tough negotiator and you have a couple dealers in your local region, you should be able to get the price down maybe to around $1000.

 

[Lotusdive]

Hey, guys, I maybe writing in the wrong place, but I don't know how to start new discussion. So, here it is, I bought Atomic Aquatics Cobalt Dive Computer in June of this year and I used it for every dive and it worked fine until today. It was fully charged and I took it to Canada for a wreck dives. To my surprise when I pushed enter button nothing happend. Screen was black. I thought that somehow battery lost charge and after dives I returned in hotel and plugged it into my computer. A minute later I pressed button again-nothing. Then 15 and them 30, not a thing. Does anyone can help me with this problem? I appreciated.

 

[RonR]

Hey, guys, I maybe writing in the wrong place, but I don't know how to start new discussion. So, here it is, I bought Atomic Aquatics Cobalt Dive Computer in June of this year and I used it for every dive and it worked fine until today. It was fully charged and I took it to Canada for a wreck dives. To my surprise when I pushed enter button nothing happend. Screen was black. I thought that somehow battery lost charge and after dives I returned in hotel and plugged it into my computer. A minute later I pressed button again-nothing. Then 15 and them 30, not a thing. Does anyone can help me with this problem? I appreciated.

I've PM'd you with instructions for a hard reset, and my contact info for help if needed.

For all Cobalt users, if you suspect the battery had gone completely dead for some reason, don't plug it into USB. Plugging it into a USB connection will not generate a reset pulse and won't restart the Cobalt- it needs to be plugged into the AC charger to restart. Unfortunately, keeping it plugged into a USB for a while will in fact charge the battery, and a charged battery will then prevent a reset pulse from being generated from the AC charger. At that point the only option is a hard reset, removing and reinstalling the battery.

Storing the computer wet will cause the battery to run down more rapidly, as will storing it with the adapter plugged in. Otherwise, a fully charged battery should last on standby for six months or more.