scubaozy
Contributor
Most of the pressure sensors are piezoelectric and they are voltage sensitive. Modern dc normally are designed not to switch to dive mode when battery level is not sufficient. In my case it was a suunto stinger that I replaced the battery the day before diving. During the dive I noticed that depth readings were off, I actually thought I damaged the sensor during battery replacement. At the surface I noticed that battery level was shown low. Problem was, the battery had been waiting too long in the shelf. I picked up a new battery that day and put it in and all was resolved.i don't see how a 'low' battery would affect the readings of any computer! in my 26yrs of using dcs, they operate pretty binary...either on or off based on the battery. so i'd be careful about making it a blanket statement vs *that particular* dc was acting strange. if it were me - and i had bought it new and noticed that abnormal behavior - i'd immediately return it for a replacement. that's a pretty strong indication of a defect (most likely with the sensor...which is, ime, what fails most often with dcs).
i mean, if dcs were that glitchy based on battery level, we'd hear about it far far more often. a 4mtrs diff is a significant error and would surely be causing DCS hits. get a new computer man.
This all happened in freezing temperatures, so, if you have not been diving in those conditions, it is unlikely you can reproduce this, but does not mean it does not happen. I wrote it here so that others are not surprised when experiencing similar situation.
As I wrote earlier, algorithm chosen for 2 DC might be same in terms of compartments and half times but each manufacturer would have to implement a multilevel logic. They might choose 1hz resolution or 1minute, 0.1 resolution for depth vs full meters, differences in rounding etc. There is enough playroom there to make a difference in your ndl.