SDA failure

[ARK]

Hi,

This is the second day me and my UEMIS dealer are trying to get somebody to respond with advice how to proceed. My SDA failed after total of 9 dives and does not turn on. The unit was charged before the dive. I cannot express my disapointment. The single most important quality in the dive computer in my opinion is reliability. I do not know if I can ever trust this company again. Lack of support just compounds the issue.

 

[DiverLaura]

PM sent.

 

[ijdod]

My first one failed on dive #13, going completely dead, during a diving trip to Egypt. Was replaced by Uemis under warranty. The new computer performed solidly, with about 130 dives on it. I can only say I feel your pain.

 

[ARK]

Thank you, for your response. Were you able to get some support in Egypt? It took 3 days and a post here ( USA) before sombody called my local distributor. How long it took before you got new unit? Also, my new unit had one dive on it, is it normal?

 

[SeaLevelScuba]

Alex, after speaking with you this morning I've compiled a list of the emails and forwarded them on to all whom should be active in resolving this as well as Uemis Switzerland. Hopefully someone decides to move on this for you today.

 

[ijdod]

I was able to contact them in Egypt, and they offered to send one out to me. I decided against that (only had a few days left, and had my old Suuntu Vyper with me, too), and took care of that when I got home. Think turnover was 2 weeks, door to door. I wouldn't calla failure after the 1st dive normal, but I've found that most technology either fails pretty quickly, or towards the end of it's lifespan.

 

[ARK]

Thank you, ijdod. In my case lifespan was 9 dives. It's quite pathetic that my first computer lasted 15 years and costed $100. It stil works however LCD is quite weak.

 

[Scubacastor]

Mine is on its way for repair/exchange since tuesday. Seems like it will reach its destination tomorrow morning (France>Germany trip). I hope to get my unit exchanged for a new one. USB support failed after 3 dives. I suspect one pin stays on as one pine was quite discolored in 5 dives. My Suuntos in hundreds of dive have never exhibited such a problem.

My feeling is that the new generation of dive computer allowing firmware update is possibly less stable than the previous one. I had suunto for years (Companion, Vyper, Vytec, D6) and I've never had any trouble with them.

The latest generation including UEMIS, OSTC, Galileo, Icon HD has possibilities of firmware update and in comparison to previous dive computer, it's not uncommun to read stories about erratic behavior, bugs to total crash during the dive. I don't think at all the SDA is a bad series but I do feel that this new generation of dive computer is less bulletproof than the previous one possibly because the designers (wrongly) assumed that everything could be solved by correcting firmware or because those beasts are actually real and complex computers rather than simple microcontrollers. Therefore, we'll probably reach sooner or later the point where having a backup dive computer will become a failsafe option.

 

[ARK]

Thanks, Castor. I believe that companies are rushing to sent new products to the market before all the bugs are fixed. This would be o.k. if they would provide support and "no questions asked" warranties. We have several companies here standing by their products and I love doing business with them. This does not seem to be the case with UEMIS in the USA. I wonder if they realize ( or care ) how many potential customers they loose by not providing timely and appropriate remedy to the problem.

 

[doctock993]

My SDA "died" on my first dive trip with it. I contacted the AD who sold it to me and contacted UEMIS directly. Through the AD I was able to:
- send my SDA for repairs to Switzerland
- obtain a loaner SDA for a dive trip in the interim

As it turned out there was a defect in the battery compartment which was replaced at no cost to me.

Other than my thread related to merging my dive log from the 2 different SDA I have used, I have NO issues with UEMIS or the SDA.