Vision Electronics Crashing

ilauder · 23rd July 2007, 02:29

I've been reading through some other reports of similar problems. Here are the details of what happened with mine last week.

Using the latest version of the firmware. The lid worked fine for almost 100 dives. Not sure what information below will be relevant or not, but I'm sending in as complete an explanation as possible with the lid back to AP.

Starting with a trimix training class about 3 weeks ago I started configuring the lid a little differently than the prior almost 100 dives. We were changing both the high and low setpoints and changing the diluent. In the past dives only the high setpoint would be something that changed frequently. I didn't think much of it during the trimix class but a Missed Deco warning showed up on one of the dives even though we hadn't missed any stops, I was told by the local shop it was just a software bug and it went away. We were only doing 2 dives a day that week.

A few days later I left to Cocos Island, 6 dives into a 2 week trip in the middle of the ocean my Visio started giving Missed Deco warnings again. This time I was changing the high and low setpoints on each dive and had changed the diliuent setting back to air on the first dive of the trip.

I was also using a fresh set of Energizer Photo lithium batteries at the start of the trip.

What happened next was that I was only able to get 2 dives out of the Vision electronics before it failed completely (after the first 6 good dives).

The first dive the electronics turn on and immediately flash Missed Deco and the TTS countdown disappears, it is replaced by the ETS countdown (at the start of the dive). So I was relying on a backup cochran for the dive planning. After a 2hr surface interval the unit turns on again okay (except for the missed deco warnings). After the end of the 2nd dive when the unit is turned off, it turns itself back on again and shows both batteries dead and C2 is gone (the batteries are not dead, they are new). Each time I power down it turns itself back on again. Have to remove the batteries. Testing the unit every few hours results in seemly random behaviors, sometimes the display flashes when turned off, sometimes when turned on the lcd is blank and the alarm flashes, sometimes you see the underbars when pushing the buttons (but nothing else).

Swapping between 3 sets of fresh Energizer photo lithum batteries doesn't work, same results. The batteries were reading between 5.9 and 6.2 volts.

Only thing that works is when the unit is left alone overnight. The next day the unit turned on okay (except for missed deco warnings), and did the exact same thing. It works for 2 dives then when turned off, turns itself back on with empty batteries and bars in the po2 readings.

Luckily there was a spare Dolphin rebreather on board I was able to use so the Evo crash didn't completely ruin my 2 week Cocos trip. I did keep playing with the Evo just to see if the problems were reproducable.

Sure enough, after letting it sit for a day unused, it always worked for 2 dives and crashed again the same way throughout the whole trip.

Also, another Evo on board crashed the same way towards the end of the trip.

I have a hard time believing this is a battery related issue since I've gone through 4 sets of new batteries that I took with me on the trip. The problems did start after I was changing the way the electronics were configured for the type of diving we were doing in that timeframe.

The problem is reproducable (on the same set of batteries too) over the course of many days, multiple evos on the trip crashed the same way. At first we throught it was a loose wire or water in the lid and that drying each day was the fix (note we didn't have access to this forum to look up the issue at the time).

Hope that helps someone figure out what is going on. I don't particularly trust the Evolutions anymore on long remote trips until AP figures out what is going wrong.

We did send a help request to the dealer by satellite to see if they could shed some light on the problem (from Cocos Island, Costa Rica - 40 hours boat ride from land). They did answer promptly "send the unit back to AP".

Dave Faye · 23rd July 2007, 03:00

I have the newest version of the trimix software loaded. After 100s of dives, I have had only one software glitch. Like the above post, I got a missed deco warning after a dive. It was an air dil dive 70 minutes on the bottom at 130'. I had no actual missed deco time or stops. I realized while descending on the dive I had forgot to change my dil on the computer from the previous day. I switched it from a mix to air dil on the descent at about 30 feet. This may have been the cause of the glitch for me. I got the missed deco for the next day but had my vr3 as a backup and still did a dive with the est. deco without incident. I'm thinking this is a bug in the software. After 24 hours it cleared the missed deco warning and has been fine since. I did not have the ongoing problems you had. I hope AP or SDS can sort it for you. I will try switching my dil on a test dives and see if it happens again.

Dave

23rd July 2007, 02:29	#1 (permalink)
ilauder New Member Current Rebreather/s: Evolution Dolphin Other Rebreather/s: Dolphin Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 3	Vision Electronics Crashing I've been reading through some other reports of similar problems. Here are the details of what happened with mine last week. Using the latest version of the firmware. The lid worked fine for almost 100 dives. Not sure what information below will be relevant or not, but I'm sending in as complete an explanation as possible with the lid back to AP. Starting with a trimix training class about 3 weeks ago I started configuring the lid a little differently than the prior almost 100 dives. We were changing both the high and low setpoints and changing the diluent. In the past dives only the high setpoint would be something that changed frequently. I didn't think much of it during the trimix class but a Missed Deco warning showed up on one of the dives even though we hadn't missed any stops, I was told by the local shop it was just a software bug and it went away. We were only doing 2 dives a day that week. A few days later I left to Cocos Island, 6 dives into a 2 week trip in the middle of the ocean my Visio started giving Missed Deco warnings again. This time I was changing the high and low setpoints on each dive and had changed the diliuent setting back to air on the first dive of the trip. I was also using a fresh set of Energizer Photo lithium batteries at the start of the trip. What happened next was that I was only able to get 2 dives out of the Vision electronics before it failed completely (after the first 6 good dives). The first dive the electronics turn on and immediately flash Missed Deco and the TTS countdown disappears, it is replaced by the ETS countdown (at the start of the dive). So I was relying on a backup cochran for the dive planning. After a 2hr surface interval the unit turns on again okay (except for the missed deco warnings). After the end of the 2nd dive when the unit is turned off, it turns itself back on again and shows both batteries dead and C2 is gone (the batteries are not dead, they are new). Each time I power down it turns itself back on again. Have to remove the batteries. Testing the unit every few hours results in seemly random behaviors, sometimes the display flashes when turned off, sometimes when turned on the lcd is blank and the alarm flashes, sometimes you see the underbars when pushing the buttons (but nothing else). Swapping between 3 sets of fresh Energizer photo lithum batteries doesn't work, same results. The batteries were reading between 5.9 and 6.2 volts. Only thing that works is when the unit is left alone overnight. The next day the unit turned on okay (except for missed deco warnings), and did the exact same thing. It works for 2 dives then when turned off, turns itself back on with empty batteries and bars in the po2 readings. Luckily there was a spare Dolphin rebreather on board I was able to use so the Evo crash didn't completely ruin my 2 week Cocos trip. I did keep playing with the Evo just to see if the problems were reproducable. Sure enough, after letting it sit for a day unused, it always worked for 2 dives and crashed again the same way throughout the whole trip. Also, another Evo on board crashed the same way towards the end of the trip. I have a hard time believing this is a battery related issue since I've gone through 4 sets of new batteries that I took with me on the trip. The problems did start after I was changing the way the electronics were configured for the type of diving we were doing in that timeframe. The problem is reproducable (on the same set of batteries too) over the course of many days, multiple evos on the trip crashed the same way. At first we throught it was a loose wire or water in the lid and that drying each day was the fix (note we didn't have access to this forum to look up the issue at the time). Hope that helps someone figure out what is going on. I don't particularly trust the Evolutions anymore on long remote trips until AP figures out what is going wrong. We did send a help request to the dealer by satellite to see if they could shed some light on the problem (from Cocos Island, Costa Rica - 40 hours boat ride from land). They did answer promptly "send the unit back to AP".
(Offline)

23rd July 2007, 03:00	#2 (permalink)
Dave Faye Know the wreck below? Current Rebreather/s: Evolution Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Evolution Megalodon Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Boston Posts: 169	Re: Vision Electronics Crashing I have the newest version of the trimix software loaded. After 100s of dives, I have had only one software glitch. Like the above post, I got a missed deco warning after a dive. It was an air dil dive 70 minutes on the bottom at 130'. I had no actual missed deco time or stops. I realized while descending on the dive I had forgot to change my dil on the computer from the previous day. I switched it from a mix to air dil on the descent at about 30 feet. This may have been the cause of the glitch for me. I got the missed deco for the next day but had my vr3 as a backup and still did a dive with the est. deco without incident. I'm thinking this is a bug in the software. After 24 hours it cleared the missed deco warning and has been fine since. I did not have the ongoing problems you had. I hope AP or SDS can sort it for you. I will try switching my dil on a test dives and see if it happens again. Dave __________________ Dave http://www.Bostondeepwrecks.com http://www.Fayelaw.com
(Offline)

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode