battery management on vision electronics

windymiller

has anyone had any problems with the battery management on the vision electronics.

firstly, after about 15-20 hours I was down to 1 bar on the C1 battery but battery for C2 was 3 bars.. As a result I was unable to calibrate as not enough juice to fire the solenoid..After restarting I was able to calibrate and the unit worked fine on the pre breathing. Whilst diving, the unit decided to not do the auto set point switch and on a couple of occasions the solenoid did not fire without a wake up from pressing the manual 02 on the counter lung.

I cut the dive short and replaced the battery on returning home.

I was lead to believe that the vision would switch to the other battery in such an occasion? am i wrong?

worked fine after replacing the battery although now the handset is flashing low battery on c2 even though the indicator is showing 3 bars.

any opinions?

thanks

Alby scubakitmarket

the new update from ap mentions something about batteries if i can remember it it now balances the batteries might be wrong but check it out

alby

www.scubakitmarket.co.uk

Gill Envy

we recently had a battary issue where B1 showed two bars at the beginning of the dive, but dropped precetously with solenoid firing dropping down to one bar during the dive and then switched over to B2...we had a bogus 100% OTU allarm at the end of that dive, not sure if they are related.

I'm definitely getting the impression that even though the vision electronics has a sophisticted energy management system for sharing batteries, it will allow the voltage to drop below normal levels before it switches to the reserve battery. I'm concluding that it's best to swich out the battery when it first starts droping to one bar to avoid any functional anomalies and that it's best to look at it while still under use towards the end of each dive and assume that is the most acurate reading, even if it bounces back between dives. It's nice to know it can switch over if it has to but i'm not confident that it's a smooth process and i think it should generally should be avoided. the rating of 17 hours seems to relate to actual dive time, not overall time that the computer is on I just put in my third battery with about 35 hours on the unit. it seems that just with the temp stick the reading you get is "ball park" and should be factored in with bottom time.

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Gill Envy

...Because I wasn't born with gills!
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CharlieT

What batteries are you using?

AP recommend Fujitsu's and having recently experienced a low battery warning after only 7.5 hrs on a Panasonic, this recommendation is a sound one.

I had bought a single Panasonic while waiting for a delivery of 12 Fujitsu's from www.batterymasters.co.uk who sell the Fujitsu's at £2.94 each on a minimum delivery of 12 batteries.

I also back the other advice to change the batteries a little earlier as they are such a crucial part of the electronics management of the Vision.

Charlie

windymiller

just changed from the fujitsus to panasonic power..see how long they last..always performed well in my inspiration

if not, be back to try some other makes

cheers

Pugwash

I had the unit switch batteries automatically yesterday, with no issues. 31 mtr dive, 61 minutes, water 28'C.

I started the dive with B1 at 3 bars, dropping to 2 on O2 injection. Flew fine through the dive, then on ascent with the greater drain on the battery from the solenoid it dropped from 2 bars to 1 and then auto switched the primary battery to B2 (@ 4.78 volts).

It is a new unit and I wanted to see the battery swicth while the unit is in operation. Running trimix software 02.01.02 and Fujitsu batteries. I only managed 10.5 hours on B1 before replacement, but that was as shipped from the factory and has also been subject to quite a lot of skills practice.

Dan

Depth-junkie

TBH

I tend to switch mine out as soon as on start-up the B1 bar shows only 2 bars left. As i know that upon ascent it will dip to 1 bar and give me a battery worning on ascent.

Works for me, i have never had a battery worning by using this method. And I tend to get about 9-10hrs out of a battery using this method. I use the B2 into B1 and fresh battery in B2 routine.

I am possibly dropping a battery out 2 dives or so early but for me i would rather that than a total battery failure if it does not switch as expected (I have heard rumours of classic & vision's not going over to slave and B2 as voltage was to low on ascent to even power the buzzer and screens just went blank instead of beeping/switching.

I use Panasonic CRP2's and have no probems using the above method. I pay £2.40 a battery and will use around 7-8 this year. So all in all i will spend about £19 in batterys. Not to bad really for a years diving.

ATB
Gareth

camerone

Bah - just got back from a long four-day weekend of diving my Evo out at Neah Bay (Northwesternmost point in the continental US) and the wreck of the Diamond Knot. I am not pleased with the 2.01.02 software's battery revision. I'm _assuming_ it's the new software, as I've not seen these problems before, and I'm using the same Fujitsu batteries I've always used. These were my first dives on the new software upgrade.

I was getting around 20-ish hours out of a primary battery, and the secondary was around 50-60 hours before replacement.

After the first day, I turned it on and was getting about 1 bar on the primary, 3 on the secondary, so that night, I replaced the primary with a new battery.

The next day, I turned it on, and got the _same_ 1 bar primary, 3 bar secondary indicator, and the "Dive Now / BATTERY" warning. I turned off the handset, restarted it, and both batteries came up full-tilt, three bar. Every time I shut down and restarted the unit between dives, I had the same exact problem...it'd come up on one bar, warn me, I'd shut down, restart, and get three bars back the next cycle through.

I replaced the secondary for s***s and grins, even though it was full on, and it seemed to help the problem out, but that indicator never left three bars at any time.

Irritating...

Tim Cashman

These CRP2 batteries are too small in my opinion. With the backlight and lots of new functions going on I would like a few more amp hours. The battery management is trying to get more amps from too limited a supply. Pity AP didn't fit bigger (and more readily available) batteries in the new vision. (I did ask 'em to). Those camera batteries are damned expensive and you can't always be mail ordering them from your nearest tax haven. I'm out of warranty now so can feel a sealed lead acid spasm coming on!
Tim