Oceanic Geo 4.0 Rust Damage?

[HeavyMouthBreather]

Wondering if anyone else has ran into this issue:

I have 7 Oceanic Geo 4.0 dive computers in use, and all 7 of these units are showing the same signs of rust around the screws. What could be causing this rusting?

Background: These units all had annual battery replacements in the last year. They get about 100 dives per year on them in warm water (Caribbean). They are regularly rinsed in fresh water at the end of every dive day.

 

[undrwater]

The screws are not stainless, or a poor quality stainless.

 

[Rbolton6]

could be worse, at least it's not flooded!

 

[HeavyMouthBreather]

The screws are not stainless, or a poor quality stainless.

Ah interesting. I was thinking something along these lines. Is it possible the repair shop swapped out the original SS components when they replaced the battery? I know the Oceanic Battery kits do not come with new screws, so maybe a technician swapped them out on service... seems like a really bad choice to me.

 

[HeavyMouthBreather]

could be worse, at least it's not flooded!

Update: it is now flooded!

 

[scubadada]

Hi @HeavyMouthBreather

I missed this thread when it was first posted. The screws in the body are unrelated to the battery change. It appears the screws are not stainless steel and rusted. The battery replacement is through the twist off hatch. You posted you have 7 of these computers, how many flooded?

What did Oceanic/Huish have to say when you reported the rusting problem to them? I have found their service to be very good.

Not that it is necessarily pertinent to your problem, however, Oceanic/Huish have recently discontinued both the Geo 4 and the OCi

Me: I noticed that the OCi and the Geo 4.0 are not on the Oceanic website. Several online retail stores list them no longer available or simply don't list them. Has one or both of these computers been discontinued?

Huish: Yes, you are correct both of these computers have both been phased out and discontinued.

 

[CT Sean]

Update: it is now flooded!

Terrible - my Geo 2.0 flooded a while back and I had no choice but to replace it with a Shearwater - just awful.

FWIW - which is pretty much nothing - those screws on my 2.0 are definitely stainless. It's dead body is still in my drawer with corrosion free screws

 

[HeavyMouthBreather]

Hi @HeavyMouthBreather

I missed this thread when it was first posted. The screws in the body are unrelated to the battery change. It appears the screws are not stainless steel and rusted. The battery replacement is through the twist off hatch. You posted you have 7 of these computers, how many flooded?

What did Oceanic/Huish have to say when you reported the rusting problem to them? I have found their service to be very good.

Not that it is necessarily pertinent to your problem, however, Oceanic/Huish have recently discontinued both the Geo 4 and the OCi

Me: I noticed that the OCi and the Geo 4.0 are not on the Oceanic website. Several online retail stores list them no longer available or simply don't list them. Has one or both of these computers been discontinued?

Huish: Yes, you are correct both of these computers have both been phased out and discontinued.

Hi Dada,

Only one has flooded so far. It looks like the rust ultimately caused some integrity issues with the body of the computer, and maybe that's where water got in. I imagine this will be a problem for the other 6 rusty units... And I agree with the assessment these screws are not stainless, nor related to the battery change. This seems like a poor materials choice by the manufacturer, for an item that should be designed for repeated salt water immersion. Maybe this is why it is getting discontinued.

Oceanic/Huish usually has fantastic CSR, but in this case I was told it was diver error not washing the computers thoroughly after dives. I'm skeptical, as these units are being handled by 7 different divers... They are all putting in 200-300 dives a year, but washing daily.

-HMB

 

[HeavyMouthBreather]

Terrible - my Geo 2.0 flooded a while back and I had no choice but to replace it with a Shearwater - just awful.

FWIW - which is pretty much nothing - those screws on my 2.0 are definitely stainless. It's dead body is still in my drawer with corrosion free screws

Hey Sean,

That's an interesting data point. It seems they switched to non-SS on the 4.0, I wonder if they will be switching back to SS on the 5.0

How do you like the Shearwater? A more expensive option, but now I am in the market for replacements...

-HMB

 

[CT Sean]

Hey Sean,

That's an interesting data point. It seems they switched to non-SS on the 4.0, I wonder if they will be switching back to SS on the 5.0

How do you like the Shearwater? A more expensive option, but now I am in the market for replacements...

-HMB

I went with a Perdix non-ai (I like my analog SPG). It's fantastic - absolutely lives up to the hype. I don't get to dive anywhere near as much as I'd like to and I still think it's worth every penny. Takes regular AA batteries and would be very difficult to mess up a battery change compared to a Geo. 2 year transferable warranty and a company that stands firmly behind their product is nice as well.