Hammerhead in open water

Monsta

Hi Folks,

this weekend i went wreckdiving in the adriatic sea in croatia. It was the first time the unit was in saltwater in the open sea.

What i noticed was that the lower Deco stops (9m, 12m, and below) went very well. The upper stops 6m and 3m became a huge problem for the unit. Even with both eyes on the display - and having the correct depth displayed all the time - I couldn´t get rid of my deco obligation. At 6m i had to spend more than twice the time displayed before this stop disappeared, at 3m i stayed four times longer than on the display before i "manually" ended this deco stop.

As i have in mind the Optima was more or less invented and tested by cave divers (who of course do not have to face waves and saltwater) - might this be the problem, or can i change any setting in the handset which would help me?

Any open water Optima Divers here?

Cheers Martin

__________________
--------------------------------------------

teksimple

I have the same "problem" on my Hammerhead, though it seems to keep me closer to my HS Explorer that way. I saw a thread just a little while back that these things were corrected in a new firmware. Anyone else want to comment on that?

What do you have selected for your gradient factor?

__________________
----

_____________
"I don't know the percentage of the Internet that's valid, do you? Jesus, it's scary." - Hunter S. Thompson

Monsta

GF is 30/75

Actually i do not want to dive a more aggressive GF just to get this thing done. I do have the strong impression that something like a new firmware might be a better idea as i was thinking already myself that it´s more or less a software issue!

Cheers Martin

__________________
--------------------------------------------

Mark Chase

Its an error in the unit, I had 3min stops that lasted 5mins?? all very odd. I dont know if its a clock error or a depth sensor error but its a PITA. I had three HH's and it only hapened on one. I had the depth sensors replaced and It didnt hapen again on the next couple of dives but I have switched to a KISS and havent used a HH since.

ATB

Mark Chase

__________________
Is it supposed to make that noise ?

I took my unit to the dive shop and demanded they bolt on every thing that would fit.

Join my elite diving teem and get a Tshirt

"Doing It Chasey"Hammerhead Eccr Advanced Diving System

Monsta

Hi Mark,

actually for me it´s very unlikely that it is a defect in one of the handsets as we were diving two optimas on those dives and both of us had the same deco obligation and both hh-handsets switched "too late" to the next stop but more or less both at the same time. So it seemed they both worked the same way wrong

For me it seems very unlikely that we both had a bad handset with the same defect. But actually: You never know!

Yes, it´s been a PITA

Martin

__________________
--------------------------------------------

Tecdiverfl

The one minute left of the Deco will not clear until you go to that depth. When I am at 20 feet it will always show me one minute left at 10 feet. As soon as I go to 10 feet it will clear. You could spend days down there and the one minute will not clear. Hope that helps

Jordan

Yep, TecdiverFl is correct. Once you do clear the stop and it shows 1 min remaining, just do the one minute and then go up above the ceiling. It will immediately clear and go to the next stop...you just have to force it. This has nothing to do with the fact that you're in salt water -- it's the same in fresh water. I heard that JM has fixed this and there should be a fix available soon for people like you and myself who have this revision of HH's (along with some other improved stuff).

Cheers

__________________
Is it clear? No. Well, let's go anyways.

"Those who would sacrifice a little freedom for a little order, will lose both, and deserve neither." Thomas Jefferson

Tecdiverfl

Basically when you have one minute left you are done and time to make a slow accent and you are done.

Monsta

Hmmm, i don´t think that this is my problem

For example: I´m at 9m - finished my stop - the unit switches to 4Min @6m - i go to 6m stay there for 10 Minutes, the HH-display always showed 6m, and this stop stays there, for sure the minutes count down but veeeeeery slow. It takes approx 3-4 Minutes to get one minute counted down. For now i´m pretty sure that after some time all deco can/will be cleared.

@tecdiverfl: Thats what i did, but it only helps at the 3m stop. My problems start already on the 9m or 6m stop So if i would quit that stop with still one or more Minutes on the clock it wont switch to the next stop (tried this already )

Martin

__________________
--------------------------------------------

jradomski

Martin,
TTS prediction is based on current loop content, so when you are deeper than the actual ceiling the deco is being calculated on a leaner gas than you woul attain..

for example say the ceiling was 3m, but you were at 9m and your sp is 1.3..
at 9m you have 68% oxygen in the loop.. so your 3m TTS will also be calculated with having only 68% o2, not the "100%" you would have if you had a 1.3 at 3m.. its the same as calculating the deco with a po2 of .89

__________________
Joe Radomski
CCR Trimix Instructor Trainer
ANDI Instructor Trainer Director #10

All posts are personal opinions and DO NOT reflect any affiliated agency unless specifically stated.