Denied to dive for 48 hours

[Unibrook]

I had a similar experience with my new Suunto Gekko. It was my last dive of the week, and I felt I was pushing the limits of this conservative computer as I began the ascending portion of the dive. At one point it was telling me I should both descend... and ascend to do a deco stop! Anyway, it told me I needed an 8 minute deco stop with a 10' ceiling. I did 6 minutes at 15' and then slowly ascended and got on the boat. I got the Error lockout deco violation from my Gekko. DM told me I wouldn't be allowed to dive for 48 hrs. The Gekko told me not to fly for 48 hours, but that is its default response...not geared to how much of the deco stop I actually did. I had a solid 24 hr block of time b4 my flight, so I figured I would be ok (I was fully aware I was taking a calculated risk). And I am ok, and experienced no bad symptoms.
Just reporting this as a data point really. I love the Gekko, I will not adjust it, or try to get around its algo just to increase my bottom time. I like that it is conservative, and I will plan/execute my future dives (especially the late week dives) to abide by its conservative algo. I have a wife and kid I love and want to see after every dive trip!

Actually, I have seen this, in 2008. A diver on a wall dive made a too-fast ascent from about 90 feet to 60 feet to see something, dropped down the wall again and repeated the quick ascent to 60 or 50 feet.

His Suunto Cobra (the original version) was very upset when he didn't hold a safety stop but instead surfaced (nice and slow this time). The RGBM side of its algorithm had decided the safety stop was now mandatory* because of the micro bubbling he had probably encouraged. At least that was my take after some research.

When he didn't pay attention to the constant beeping after boarding, the Cobra shut down for 48 hours. If he had gone back in the water within five minutes and held the stop, the Cobra would have been happy. But that's not usually something a charter operator will allow you to do. They did, however, remove and replace the battery to reset the computer, but only after a full 24 hours. Good? Bad?

-Bryan

* Please remember that we've beaten the "mandatory" versus "safety" stop terminology to death in other threads.

 

[newman_diver]

There was an article in Alert Diver magazine not too long ago about this subject.

Safety stops are not mandatory. They are recommended. Decompression stops however are mandatory. I have not heard of a computer that locks out on a missed safety stop (not to say there isn't one) but I know there are computers that will lock you out after missed deco. Some newer computers will not lock you out at all but will penalize you once you return to the water.

I am not saying that safety stops are not a good idea. They are an added safety measure, much like the conservatism adjustments on a computer.

A computer is not something you should throw on your wrist and jump in. You should be comfortable in how it works and what it is telling you. You should also have a backup (commercial tables or computer generated plan & backup timer) in case the computer packs it in early.

Bottom line is that the OP learned from the incident and wasn't seriously injured. Hopefully others who read this will pick something up and prevent the same mistake from happening.

Tyler

 

[Damselfish]

I had a similar experience with my new Suunto Gekko. It was my last dive of the week, and I felt I was pushing the limits of this conservative computer as I began the ascending portion of the dive. At one point it was telling me I should both descend... and ascend to do a deco stop! Anyway, it told me I needed an 8 minute deco stop with a 10' ceiling. I did 6 minutes at 15' and then slowly ascended and got on the boat. I got the Error lockout deco violation from my Gekko. DM told me I wouldn't be allowed to dive for 48 hrs. The Gekko told me not to fly for 48 hours, but that is its default response...not geared to how much of the deco stop I actually did. I had a solid 24 hr block of time b4 my flight, so I figured I would be ok (I was fully aware I was taking a calculated risk). And I am ok, and experienced no bad symptoms.

How was it telling you to both ascend and descend?

Curious, if you only had 2 minutes left on the deco stop, why not finish it? Out of air, DM making rude gestures, or ...?

 

[Unibrook]

That part made me smile, but I think the Gekko was telling me I should go up and do a deco stop with a 10' ceiling, but I must have been ascending too quickly for its algo, because it also gave me a down arrow (to slow down really, not descend...so I misspoke before).

By no means do I recommend following my example, but from previous diving experience, and knowing the Gekko is conservative, and from my mental map of my dive profile, and getting low on air (though I did have enough to finish the additional 2 minutes), I estimated that I was ok to come up. It was an estimated risk taken on my part from experience (much of it pre-computer). Let me say again, I do not advise it, and I certainly plan to follow my computer's advice going forward. I like that the Gekko is a conservative computer. My diving is strictly recreational, so I don't need one programmed to the edge.

 

[MMM]

My old Suunto Cobra showed an upward and downward facing triangle to show when I was in the ideal range for a deco obligation. Might that be what you were seeing Unibrook? I don't believe it ever showed a downward pointing arrow when my ascent was too fast - it just said "ASC". I've thrown out the manual since I no longer have the computer so am going from memory.

 

[chiara93]

"If he had gone back in the water within five minutes and held the stop, the Cobra would have been happy"

I was told the same thing after the fact by other divers, but at the time I didn't know that was one option I could have done to prevent the lockout.

Thank you for all the responses.