Continuous VR3 Issue

osiris

I have had nothing but "excellent" service out of those guys at DeltaP so I can't understand what's happening in your case. Have you gto a dialogue going with one of the guys there? I've Pm'd you with the email address of the guy who goes out of his way to help out with explanations etc - but you've got to ask them first. Maybe a call to him and a discussion about the problem might be the way to go (assuming you haven't already done this of course).

SimonK

I have had a my VR3 switch off at depth a couple of times.

When I got the VR3 it was very difficult to get the battery cap off, tool was no use and I ended up using pliers. The threads had been distorted, it looked like the sort of bodge people were doing to Hammerhead battery caps to get the battery to work. I cleaned up the thread so that I could open and close the cap with the supplied tool.
On a couple of dives sometime later the unit switched off at depth (20m). I could reproduce this on the surface by pressing hard on the battery cap. My conclusion was that the cap was not screwed down to its stop so when pressure was applied the two halves of the cap screw thread separated breaking the circuit ( it is a very coarse and loose thread).
I have now cleaned up the threads as best I can and applied some lubrication to make sure the cap can be easily screwed in and out. I always ensure that the cap is screwed all the way in so that the plastic part of the cap is hard up against the computer body, this ensures that the cap does not move under pressure.

Since then no more problems, except that its a spectrum and eats batteries but that's another story.

Simon

colinj

Osiris,
thanks for the contact details, I had been in touch with DP personally, they asked that I left them to deal exclusively with Stoney as they were the senders of my unit, I agreed. Once it had been returned to Stoney without the report I told Stoney to send it back, they phoned this morning and not to put too fine a point on it DP had tried to fobb them off to avoid its' return. However DP asked me to ring if I wasn't happy, I wasn't happy, rang and said test it and send me a full report. Waiting now to see what happens.

Regards, Col

colinj

SimonK,
every product has it's Friday afternoon unit, I'm glad you got yours sorted, maybe it is something similar on mine. The first battery change I did seemed to go perfectly, threads were fine but the early battery failure meant I wanted it checked, that's why it went back to DP. Three down the line I will have to see what they say this time!

colinj

OK, the unit is back, I have a test report, it says that there is nothing wrong with the unit and that it has passed each test DP have put it through!
So, the final conclusion (DP) is that I leave the battery in the unit between dives, (I dive infrequently, lucky to get 1 a month the last two years which sucks, but I have a mortgage, whatever!) the battery drains between dives.......the unit fails.
I give up, off means off right? no battery drain if the unit actually does turn off when it says it does?

osiris

Even though the screen has gone off, a small trickle current keeps the clock and volatile memory up and running etc. If you have hard copies of your logs, not worried about resetting the clock each time you use it, or resetting your gases, then take the battery out; You won't lose your PINs or personal data. Otherwise, for a bit more life try digital camera batteries (I use Kodak batteries for my VR3s), or lithium batteries. I get quite a bit of life out of Kodak camera batteries though. The vR3 has got a really simple battery change procedure, low cost (using AAs) so I think that's an advantage instead of a disadvantage.....

Depth-junkie

May be i am one of the lucky ones (but i doubt it), i have owned and used my VR3 solidly since the back end of 2003. Never failed, never got me bent and takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

As for the battery cap issue, from the 1st time i changed a battery i dumped the crap tool as it would not unscrew the cap and just warped and twisted itself.

Got a piece of wood (2x2) measured the correct gap between the batter cap holes and drilled in 2 screws with heads that fitted nicely into the battery cap holes. Job done, unscrews the cap 1st time everytime. I found that my battery cap is welded shut after use and the only way to get it open was to use my home made tool to get the leverage needed to crack it open



ATB
Gareth

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Alpine low rider of the P.D.D.T

Mike448

Ordered my Shearwater today.

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Cheers
Mike

mike448 @ mac.com
www.shadowdivers.net

colinj

Mike, they are paying you far too much to enjoy yourself on that gin palace!!! I guess I'll go with a 3.6v Lithium battery to see what difference that makes. Don't care what it costs just wish they were the stated prefferred battery. (probably wouldn't have had to ask all this then!) Must admit that taking the battery out between dives and losing stored gasses and logged dives sucks, just how much is running behind the scenes, a clock? how big a drain can it be?

osiris

Yeah, clock and anything in volatile memory. I have pretty good life out of my batteries as I said on both my VR3s they just chug along happily no probs. Keep a log on your batteries and lets' compare notes.