Suunto Eon Sidemount Setup

[Diving Dubai]

i don't see the need for analog gauges on tanks with transmitters, but that's just me.

I understand and respect tbone's pint of view here.

Mine is different.

I have conventional SPG's on all my reg sets. My rational is as follows:

1. I generally set my kit up (on a boat) way ahead of donning my wetsuit, so I use the SPG's to check gas contents as the computer is normally in it's case

2. I was originally taught, using an SPG, thus I refer to the SPG's when doing my "idiot breaths" pre splash (an SPG reacts faster than an AI computer too) I'm not changing an ingrained habit.

3. Most importantly. I'm just too lazy to take off the SPG's and even if I decided to do so, would have to hunt and find the HP port plugs. If an SPG fails, I might reconsider rather than investing in a new one.

So, how do you set it up and use it then (- switch screens...- see my post just prior on my "wonderings")?

You can find the gas contents for each TX in the gas screen (where you select the gasses). The Eon only calculates on the selected gas. For instance your gas time remaining is only on the currently selected gas, not on all the gasses it has pressures for.

Having additional transmitters is a "nice to have" Sure it provides data, but as @tbone1004 rightfully says, on deco you've either got enough gas or you haven't.

If you have AI and are low on deco gas then your computer is just going to bitch and scream at you, making your last lucid moments miserable

 

[Doby45]

Redundancy is for me personally a requirement. Computers fail, tank pods fail, these are all electronics taken into water. Doesn't matter if it's designed for diving or not, analog redundancy should be a requirement for safety.

Again though I'm not trying to argue my setup vs yours or others. I am simply asking I feel others use the Eon for the purpose of sidemount or for deco bottles. Since I already have one, I want to know how they set it up, switch gasses and if it's more confusing than it's worth. If so I may purchase the perdix AI for sidemount since you can monitor both tanks.

You had me with your personal requirements, until you said it should be a blanket requirement for safety. I disagree. Unless you are doing some specific exploratory task that does not need to be interrupted or something of that nature, who cares if you have a transmitter fail. It would be no different than having an SPG fail. You simply thumb the dive.

 

[Schwob]

Thank you for your response. That is exactly what I am trying to convey in a response. Not criticism of the Eon I already own or how I have my setup. Just want to know if anyone else uses for the same purpose I am asking. Thanks for the clarification of my post.

 

[Schwob]

I understand and respect tbone's pint of view here.

Mine is different.

I have conventional SPG's on all my reg sets. My rational is as follows:

1. I generally set my kit up (on a boat) way ahead of donning my wetsuit, so I use the SPG's to check gas contents as the computer is normally in it's case

2. I was originally taught, using an SPG, thus I refer to the SPG's when doing my "idiot breaths" pre splash (an SPG reacts faster than an AI computer too) I'm not changing an ingrained habit.

3. Most importantly. I'm just too lazy to take off the SPG's and even if I decided to do so, would have to hunt and find the HP port plugs. If an SPG fails, I might reconsider rather than investing in a new one.



You can find the gas contents for each TX in the gas screen (where you select the gasses). The Eon only calculates on the selected gas. For instance your gas time remaining is only on the currently selected gas, not on all the gasses it has pressures for.

Having additional transmitters is a "nice to have" Sure it provides data, but as @tbone1004 rightfully says, on deco you've either got enough gas or you haven't.

If you have AI and are low on deco gas then your computer is just going to bitch and scream at you, making your last lucid moments miserable

Thanks.

No contest, tbone knows his sh.. and I see him as a very, very valued contributor. Just can't buy a new computer right now... and don't need to.

Except I still have not decided yet on a low price backup for solo diving, when not borrowing my son's computer for that. The good news in that sense is that for me, I am not seeing a compelling reason to get that second transmitter for the Eon. And like you, I see a lot of reasons to keep an SPG on a tank even if there is a transmitter on it.

Funnily enough, I had an SPG (less than a year old) fail on me stuck at 70 bar in the Red Sea last year on a second week of LOB luxury and the transmitter was just fine. Turns out that having your regs and SPG hanging on the BCD on the cylinder for two weeks in a row without rinsing is maybe rather dumb... (duh!, ... but nobody rinsed that stuff, except for after the last dive of the week). Anyway, leaving the SPG (with permission) dangling on the hose in the rinse tank over night seems to have "fixed" it. Works ever since.

 

[stuartv]

Redundancy is for me personally a requirement. Computers fail, tank pods fail, these are all electronics taken into water. Doesn't matter if it's designed for diving or not, analog redundancy should be a requirement for safety..

Analog SPGs fail, too. Are you saying you dive with redundant SPGs? Or do you somehow think it's only electronic devices that require redundancy, but analog devices that can fail do not require redundancy?

I agree with @Doby45. If my SPG fails on a recreational (no deco) dive, it is just not a big deal. Especially if the failure does not involve any leaking gas. Depending on the dive, I might not even thumb it.

I have had one SPG failure, so far. Fortunately, it blew the O-ring on the spool while I was gearing up and not when I was in the water. Also fortunate was that I had a spare O-ring for a spool and was able to replace it on the spot and still dive. If I had had that failure during the dive I would have HAD to thumb the dive.

I have had wireless AI since I started diving, 2 1/2 years ago and have taken it on virtually every dive I've done and it has never had a single issue.

There is only 1 O-ring on my AI that could blow and result in lost gas. An SPG has 2 or 3 (?) O-rings that could blow and result in lost gas. The AI has one threaded connection that needs to be tight. The SPG has 2.

Funnily enough, I had an SPG (less than a year old) fail on me stuck at 70 bar in the Red Sea last year on a second week of LOB luxury and the transmitter was just fine. Turns out that having your regs and SPG hanging on the BCD on the cylinder for two weeks in a row without rinsing is maybe rather dumb... (duh!, ... but nobody rinsed that stuff, except for after the last dive of the week). Anyway, leaving the SPG (with permission) dangling on the hose in the rinse tank over night seems to have "fixed" it. Works ever since.

Your SPG stuck and you have determined that letting it soak in water fixed it? Is that because the water was soaking into the inside of the SPG? If it was not, then how could it have fixed it?

SPGs are cheap enough. I don't think I would be trusting that one again.

 

[Schwob]

...
Your SPG stuck and you have determined that letting it soak in water fixed it? Is that because the water was soaking into the inside of the SPG? If it was not, then how could it have fixed it?

SPGs are cheap enough. I don't think I would be trusting that one again.

I wouldn't say I "determined". But yes, it was stuck. And after soaking it over night in the rinse tank, with the hose on, it was unstuck and it's display matches the DC's display (from the sender on the same first stage). That's the observation.
Do I really, really know why? Not really.
Do I trust it as my only SPG on a tank? No.
I am watching it, while scratching my head in the process. I am definitely agreeing with you there.

It's a reason to have redundancy... I might have have found a spare SPG on the boat. But if not, it would have sucked with most of the dive week ahead of us. I did not need to ask, because between my son and I (both with air integrated computer and SPG) we had redundancy - at least in the SPG department (and some other, but not all aspects).

 

[tbone1004]

Redundancy is for me personally a requirement. Computers fail, tank pods fail, these are all electronics taken into water. Doesn't matter if it's designed for diving or not, analog redundancy should be a requirement for safety.

Again though I'm not trying to argue my setup vs yours or others. I am simply asking I feel others use the Eon for the purpose of sidemount or for deco bottles. Since I already have one, I want to know how they set it up, switch gasses and if it's more confusing than it's worth. If so I may purchase the perdix AI for sidemount since you can monitor both tanks.

why? pods fail, you end dive. you either have enough gas to end the dive, or you don't. Having an analog gauge doesn't change that problem. You can use analog gauges if you need to complete a dive come hell or high water, but for a dive that doesn't absolutely require completion, I'd save the complexity. Remember that adding an analog SPG adds 2 o-rings that are both arguably the two o-rings I see the most failures of aside from yoke valve o-rings, and also the HP hose which is the hose that I see the most failures of. Pros and cons

I can't argue with @Diving Dubai on his first two points, however for #1 I'd use a button gauge, and I don't do the #2 checks, so won't comment on those. That said, a button gauge with surface pre-breathes will verify all of that.

 

[Patoux01]

I understand and respect tbone's pint of view here.

Mine is different.

I have conventional SPG's on all my reg sets. My rational is as follows:

1. I generally set my kit up (on a boat) way ahead of donning my wetsuit, so I use the SPG's to check gas contents as the computer is normally in it's case

2. I was originally taught, using an SPG, thus I refer to the SPG's when doing my "idiot breaths" pre splash (an SPG reacts faster than an AI computer too) I'm not changing an ingrained habit.

I'll take a leap and answer this..
1. Buy a surface SPG. Well worth it imo.
2. "idiot breaths" don't work, I'm pretty confident if your tank is closed, the computer is gonna react just fine. If it's a quarter turn open, neither will show any issue.

 

[jcbrown]

Has anyone used the Suunto Eon Steel with 2 transmitters for sidemount?

I use Two Suunto Eon Steel Dive Computers. I don't need to Switch Screens with One Suunto Eon Steel Dive Computer. Second Suunto Eon Steel Dive Computer is Backup. Both Suunto Eon Steel Dive Computers can be Paired with the Same Multiple Transmitters.