Mares icon HD net - odd transmitter problem

[zoranb]

Hello,

After getting my new icon and the transmitter in August I was very happy with it, but I had a weird problem this weekend which is still not solved.

I'm not superstitious, but I checked my logbook and the problem happend in the middle of my 13th dive with the transmitter.

I started the dive with 200 bar and the transmitter stopped sending tank data at 150 bar. I surfaced with 120 bar, but the logbook in the icon remebers 150.

I thought it was a battery problem, but I tried repairing the icon with the tramsitter and that works, so there's power in the transmitter battery. However, the icon is not recieving any pressure data from the reciever. The pressure reads either "--" or just nothing at all.

Anyone has an idea what to try before sending it to the repair shop?

The manual recomends the transmitter be mounted on the side where the icon is worn, but my 1st stage has only 2 HP ports, and I have the manometer on the left one and the transmitter on the right one. I do, however, have the icon on my left hand as I am right-handed. Maybe that drained the battery too much.

After it is repaired I will switch the hands, however awkward it is, as I had a surfacing excercise, and it's hard to look at the icon and operate the AT switch with the same hand.

Any ideas?

Z

 

[rafal1676]

I had same problem with my transmitter but after replacing battery everything is fine.

 

[zoranb]

@rafal1676
Thanks for the tip. I changed the battery today and will test it with a full tank tonight. I must say that the o-ring on the cap and the screws are not very reassuring leak-wise. The cap is plastic and it's hard to say how much force is necessary to screw the cap tightly without the groves breaking. I hope I closed the thing properly.

The icon box has a designated spot for the transmitter, but reading about the high/low power switching, it seems the transmitter shouldn't be left in the vicinity (1,5m/5ft) of the icon as this will drain both batteries quickly. And the new transmitter doesn't fit in the existing groove anyway, as the mold for it was made with the "original" transmitter which should have worked with the initial icons, but got scrapped (supposedly due to royalties/licesnig/copyright issues).

@My Mares dealer
This post is pure theory. I haven't opened the transmitter at all, and my warranty is still valid

@mares icon SW dev team
If the battery is drained to the point the transmitter can't send full data to the icon, but still has power to pair with the icon, it would be nice that the icon displays the weak battery warning after pairing. Otherwise the user might think the transmitter is not working as it should be.

Z

 

[Pumuckel57]

I guess there is a weak battery warning on the Display

 

[zoranb]

Yes there is. But only in dive mode. So if you're getting ready to dive, you can't see the battery in the transmitter is weak. Would be nice if it showed in a menu somewhere, or just on the main screen That way you can change the battery before the dive.

There're talks of a new firmware in the transmitter itself which increases battery life by switching the transmitter off until there's 10-15bar pressure on it. Then it switches on. Upside - longer battery life. Downside - pairing only when attached to presssurized tank. If you ask me I'll go with longer battery life.

 

[mark260165]

Hi All, Perhaps I can shed some light on this for you, I am an active instructor & avid diver, I used my Icon HD net & transmitter on around seven hours of proper dives, but also used my regulators in the pool when teaching ( so transmitter is sending info but not using wrist unit) for around five hours & again in confined water for another five.
Then I spent a week diving in the maldives on dive three of the holiday I got the "G1 Low Battery warning" so after around twenty hours of transmitting, on dives four & five it was fine then got the warning again on dives six, eight and ten, at this point I sourced a new battery (no easy task in the Maldives & fitted it, no more warnings!
On my return I contacted the dive centres customer service dept & explained, they rung Mares who told them to send it back to them as the first batches of senders (NO SERIAL NUMBER ON THE SENDER) did not turn off so run the battery out in around twenty hours & were expecting the new design in a week or so.
The following week I received my replacement sender (these have the serial number on the outside of the casing), I tried to pair it the old way but it would not pair, as I have owned senders from Suunto, Uwatec & Uemis I thought I would fit it to my first stage & pressurize it, sure enough it paired with in seconds!
The new sender deff powers down after a few mins of no pressure or the pressure doesnt drop for a few mins.
It doesnt seem to send the info as often as the old one but to be honest I could be imagining it and its every twenty to thirty seconds or so, so will be fine!
I can post pictures of the new type if needed although its just the serial number on the end where the threaded part is.

Hope this helps!

Any questions, just ask!

 

[zoranb]

After changing the battery, I was curious how much voltage was left in the old battery (rated at 3V), and behold! The voltage in the old battery is 2,85V.

Now isn't that odd? I'm begginig to suspect the battery is not drained, but that there is a mistake in the hardware. The changing of transmitter by Mares in Europe tells me Mares is eager to change the old transmitters without any questions asked...

 

[zoranb]

I just got my replacement transmitter today. I will test it this weekend, and let you know how it works.

The difference between the old one and the new one is the new one has letterings on the bottom (CE certification, Serial #, etc.) Everything else looks the same.

 

[Naboodiver]

I just got my replacement transmitter today. I will test it this weekend, and let you know how it works.

The difference between the old one and the new one is the new one has letterings on the bottom (CE certification, Serial #, etc.) Everything else looks the same.

Zoranb,

Did your new transmitter perform better around battery life. I just sent mine back for exchange today. I was in the water around Grand Caymen two weeks ago and the transmitter battery crapped out the third day. Luckily I brought a spare 123A battery knowing the problem. I maybe had 8 dives on it when it died. That is ridiculous; so I am sending back for exchange. I had a first generation transmitter (early AI adopter) with no serial number. I hope the new one has better battery performance. Let me know what you think.

Naboodiver

 

[zoranb]

Hello everyone.

A strange thing happened to me two weeks ago while diving. Basically one day the transmitter just stopped responding/sending tank data. My icon did not recieve any tank pressure data during the dive. I imidiately remembered the story from the first post, but now I see that happened with the old transmitter... I guess it's not the battery in the transmitter, or the transmitter itself but a bug in the icon itself as it is the only component left from the first post.

The solution:
(Find the necessary tools)
Open the transmitter.
Remove the battery.
Reinsert the battery.
Close the transmitter.

Kind of a low-tech solution, but hey, if it's stupid and it works - it's not stupid

@Mares
Any idea what is going on?