VR3/Explorer/Shearwater units on Rebreather World

GKAM · 20th September 2006, 15:20

The VR3, and the HS Explorer are arguably the most popular Dive Computers for rebreather divers and OC tech divers at the moment. The Shearwater units are also becoming increasingly popular. Sure, there are others but my main criteria for setting up this poll are:

Unit has to be:
- wristmounted
- suitable for OC/CCR
- able to process feed from an O2 sensor

I am interested to see what is most favoured in Rebreather World, factoring geographical distribution. I apologize in advance or the coarse granularity. I know the world does not comprise just of "USA", "Europe" and "the rest" but hey, I can only enter max 10 options in this poll.

mverick · 20th September 2006, 16:41

What if,

You own a VR3 without VPM? And you think the alogrythm is to conservative so you let your buddy dive it OC till he can afford to buy a new one with the color screen he wants.

You own a HS explorer for 4 years I think now and i've gotten about 7 dives total on it cause it always dies. Or gives bad deco. Or floods. Or looses half the screen. Or won't turn on for second or consecutive dives. Or eats batteries. And Gene doesn't want anything to do with me cause last time I told him what I thought of the unit and I wanted my money back. Now he doesn't even answer emails. Won't fix it either. I'm not going to kiss someones ass to get something fixed that has had so many problems. And, you also have to pay shipping to him even when it's a manufactured flaw. After sending it back 3 or 4 times. And, it not working right from when I receive it. Happy I ain't. Great customer service. Only if you kiss his butt..

$1400 Piece of S....

You have a Old Shearwater on your Meg and it's worked great since you bought it and your happy with it's deco schedule.

And, tables and bottom timer....

Oh, don't forget the Cochran.

If you like more conservative Deco, the VR3 is nice. For me it isn't what I was looking for. The Shearwater is nice. I like it a lot.

I would never support anything that Gene does with the HS Explorer. With all the problems I had. Not to mention when I saw he was in on a ReBreather. I figured he'd kill someone with it. That is just a nightmare waiting to happen with all the problems he's had with the Explorer. And, can't fix.

And, there are a lot of people who support Gene and his customer service. One is big on here and I sent out my unit to him when it was giving bad deco for me. For him, it lost half the numbers on the screen but the deco was right. Total I think they got 10 dives or so on it. So, I tried it again in the Great Lakes. It died first dive and wouldn't turn on. It flooded. So, I ain't making this stuff up. Sent back to Gene to fix again. Now, turns on for first dive and everything fine. Second dive it won't turn on. All I wanted was something that works for my $1400. Gene hasn't ever been able to do that for me in 4 years. I've been told when he returned it he upgraded it. Well, how about fixing it. Never been any damage to the unit either. When I received it. I dove it like I got it. Then, couldn't get the battery cap open. Not even with a Quarter, it stripped the quarter slot. I didn't install the battery, I bought it brand new and had a battery in it. Last replacement after the flood he told me he had replaced everything. Well, couldn't have replaced everything. Since my clear plastic was still stuck to the screen that protects the clear screen on it.

I went against some people I knew and listened to all the positives from people from the forums, well respected people.. Should have listened to the people I knew. And also after the problems with Abysmal getting sued over it. Should have known better.

silentscuba · 20th September 2006, 16:45

The Shearwater has not been out long enough for your poll to truly indicate favorability by numbers.

Why don't you ask the people that have owned and used the VR3 and HSE and now own a Shearwater which they like best. This will give you an indication how they compare based on each person's experience on all three computers.

My vote is for the Shearwater!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and I have now owned all three plus some others.

J. V. · 20th September 2006, 17:00

I own an Explorer O and I'm in Europe.
I own a Cochran EMC20H too, and stay in Europe.

Kyza · 20th September 2006, 18:00

Quote: (Originally Posted by mverick)

What if,

You own a VR3 without VPM? And you think the alogrythm is to conservative so you let your buddy dive it OC till he can afford to buy a new one with the color screen he wants.

You own a HS explorer for 4 years I think now and i've gotten about 7 dives total on it cause it always dies. Or gives bad deco. Or floods. Or looses half the screen. Or won't turn on for second or consecutive dives. Or eats batteries. And Gene doesn't want anything to do with me cause last time I told him what I thought of the unit and I wanted my money back. Now he doesn't even answer emails. Won't fix it either. I'm not going to kiss someones ass to get something fixed that has had so many problems. And, you also have to pay shipping to him even when it's a manufactured flaw. After sending it back 3 or 4 times. And, it not working right from when I receive it. Happy I ain't. Great customer service. Only if you kiss his butt..

$1400 Piece of S....

You have a Old Shearwater on your Meg and it's worked great since you bought it and your happy with it's deco schedule.

And, tables and bottom timer....

Oh, don't forget the Cochran.

If you like more conservative Deco, the VR3 is nice. For me it isn't what I was looking for. The Shearwater is nice. I like it a lot.

I would never support anything that Gene does with the HS Explorer. With all the problems I had. Not to mention when I saw he was in on a ReBreather. I figured he'd kill someone with it. That is just a nightmare waiting to happen with all the problems he's had with the Explorer. And, can't fix.

And, there are a lot of people who support Gene and his customer service. One is big on here and I sent out my unit to him when it was giving bad deco for me. For him, it lost half the numbers on the screen but the deco was right. Total I think they got 10 dives or so on it. So, I tried it again in the Great Lakes. It died first dive and wouldn't turn on. It flooded. So, I ain't making this stuff up. Sent back to Gene to fix again. Now, turns on for first dive and everything fine. Second dive it won't turn on. All I wanted was something that works for my $1400. Gene hasn't ever been able to do that for me in 4 years. I've been told when he returned it he upgraded it. Well, how about fixing it. Never been any damage to the unit either. When I received it. I dove it like I got it. Then, couldn't get the battery cap open. Not even with a Quarter, it stripped the quarter slot. I didn't install the battery, I bought it brand new and had a battery in it. Last replacement after the flood he told me he had replaced everything. Well, couldn't have replaced everything. Since my clear plastic was still stuck to the screen that protects the clear screen on it.

I went against some people I knew and listened to all the positives from people from the forums, well respected people.. Should have listened to the people I knew. And also after the problems with Abysmal getting sued over it. Should have known better.

Glad I'm not the only one who has had problems. I'm also glad I only paid $1300

**RichClark** · 20th September 2006, 18:29

I own a VR3 from my OC trimix days. I like it a lot and I don't mind the extra deco. I dive it set to 0 and then pad the assent to reflect a VPM/GF (i.e. a stop for one min every 3m but in reality, it's just a slow assent between VR3 stops) I find this works for me, and after the 1st deep stop the VR3 credits me for slow assent.

I haven't really done enough deco to know how it will work out with my KISS - I don't have it integrated BTW.

I have just bought a Shearwater and HUD though

so the VR3 may be up for sale soon.

[EDIT: obviously I carry back up tables, but this thread is about computers]

Cheers

Rich

decoweenie · 20th September 2006, 19:01

I have owned 2 different versions of the Explorer HS units, 2 different versions of the VR-3 units and 2 different versions of the Shearwater units.

Out of all of them, the only 3 that never gave me any problem were:

color version of the VR3, but I don't like the deco profile.
both of the Shearwater versions.

If Bruce could shrink it down a tad more, it would be the perfect computer for me since:

the buttons work reliably
the menu is very intuitive
customer service is almost instantenous - never had it like that
the deco profile works - very important! :-)

Mark Chase · 20th September 2006, 19:15

I own two VR3s and i want a Shearwater

does this help?

ATB

Mark Chase

DaveC · 20th September 2006, 19:19

I've owned a VR3 for about 16 months and wasn't really impressed with it to completely rely on it. I traded it for an Explorer and done about a dozon dives on it and really like it. Stable, doesn't eat batteries like I've heard they can do. Like the deco schedule abut then I usually pad the last 3 stops anyway. Like the ease of switching between profiles and I live in Canada so this unit is usually in cold water.

Dave

***jradomski*** · 21st September 2006, 01:49

Here is my 2 cents.. Over the years I have sold about 15 explorers (mostly eary on, none recently, but that will probably start again).. wIth the exception of 1 (It was resold early on so I dont know the status) all are still in use today.. of this group only 1 had a problem (that was immediately after the first case upgrade which turned out to be a bad idea) which flooded and was repaired and still working..

I have had many explorers (personal and test units) since I did alot of testing for gene, There have been some software bugs (but I expected that) and a few hardware failures..

I started with serial #3 from abyss so I've had the units from the beginning and have hundreds of dives on them trouble free, but the troubes I had were..

lost pressure transducer on 1.. It was fine at home but when I reached my desitnation fro a trip, and woke up the unit, the depth immediately maxed out t over 600 fsw (somehow it got damaged in transit)
1 flood after case upgrade (I was one of the first [ this is when he put a stop to the upgardes until probem was determned) replacement worked until it was swapped for a model O (with a big 104 fischer connector). this worked without problems for along time, until zerog in 2004 (could have been 2003) in GC, it ended up under my rebreather which was bouncig on it for about a 1.5 hours rough boat ride.. This jarred the display loose since it would go in or out (for grins I dove with it, deco and depth were correct when the display was visable), Gene fixed and it worked fine.. Later it was time to get a realease version of RGBM, when this was sent in for upgrade gene gave me a model o ith a 103 connector at my request and I have had no problems since then (I did get an upgrade to the current RGBM at the beginning of the this year, I had the original RGBM cde in it)

I have seen probems with some computers as well, for most of the product life it seems If you got one that worked, it worked forever, then there are those that have had multiple computers with issues...
I think gene has finaly worked out the case issues (speaking with the distributor he hasnt heard of any new probems for several months now).

So only time will tell...

My experiences with the VR3 did not go as well. I never got more than 3 dives in a row without a probem and I never liked the deco profile it generated...

My experiences with cochran units since 2000 have been pleasant with no problems...

View Poll Results: Which dive computer do you own and where in the world are you?
I own a VR3 and I am in Europe	93	34.57%
I own a VR3 and I am in the USA	48	17.84%
I own a VR3 and I am not in Europe nor USA	39	14.50%
I own an HS Explorer and I am in Europe	18	6.69%
I own an HS Explorer and I am in the USA	21	7.81%
I own an HS Explorer and I am not in Europe nor USA	2	0.74%
I own a Shearwater and I am in Europe	23	8.55%
I own a Shearwater and I am in the USA	17	6.32%
I own a Shearwater and I am not in Europe nor USA	8	2.97%
Voters: 269. You may not vote on this poll

20th September 2006, 15:20	#1 (permalink)
GKAM digital nomad Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Other CCR Join Date: May 2005 Location: Greece Posts: 252	VR3/Explorer/Shearwater units on Rebreather World The VR3, and the HS Explorer are arguably the most popular Dive Computers for rebreather divers and OC tech divers at the moment. The Shearwater units are also becoming increasingly popular. Sure, there are others but my main criteria for setting up this poll are: Unit has to be: - wristmounted - suitable for OC/CCR - able to process feed from an O2 sensor I am interested to see what is most favoured in Rebreather World, factoring geographical distribution. I apologize in advance or the coarse granularity. I know the world does not comprise just of "USA", "Europe" and "the rest" but hey, I can only enter max 10 options in this poll. __________________ Stay #
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20th September 2006, 16:41	#2 (permalink)
mverick ScubaPimp Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other CCR Home Build Other Rebreather/s: Other CCR Home Build Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 545	Re: VR3/Explorer/Shearwater units on Rebreather World What if, You own a VR3 without VPM? And you think the alogrythm is to conservative so you let your buddy dive it OC till he can afford to buy a new one with the color screen he wants. You own a HS explorer for 4 years I think now and i've gotten about 7 dives total on it cause it always dies. Or gives bad deco. Or floods. Or looses half the screen. Or won't turn on for second or consecutive dives. Or eats batteries. And Gene doesn't want anything to do with me cause last time I told him what I thought of the unit and I wanted my money back. Now he doesn't even answer emails. Won't fix it either. I'm not going to kiss someones ass to get something fixed that has had so many problems. And, you also have to pay shipping to him even when it's a manufactured flaw. After sending it back 3 or 4 times. And, it not working right from when I receive it. Happy I ain't. Great customer service. Only if you kiss his butt.. $1400 Piece of S.... You have a Old Shearwater on your Meg and it's worked great since you bought it and your happy with it's deco schedule. And, tables and bottom timer.... Oh, don't forget the Cochran. If you like more conservative Deco, the VR3 is nice. For me it isn't what I was looking for. The Shearwater is nice. I like it a lot. I would never support anything that Gene does with the HS Explorer. With all the problems I had. Not to mention when I saw he was in on a ReBreather. I figured he'd kill someone with it. That is just a nightmare waiting to happen with all the problems he's had with the Explorer. And, can't fix. And, there are a lot of people who support Gene and his customer service. One is big on here and I sent out my unit to him when it was giving bad deco for me. For him, it lost half the numbers on the screen but the deco was right. Total I think they got 10 dives or so on it. So, I tried it again in the Great Lakes. It died first dive and wouldn't turn on. It flooded. So, I ain't making this stuff up. Sent back to Gene to fix again. Now, turns on for first dive and everything fine. Second dive it won't turn on. All I wanted was something that works for my $1400. Gene hasn't ever been able to do that for me in 4 years. I've been told when he returned it he upgraded it. Well, how about fixing it. Never been any damage to the unit either. When I received it. I dove it like I got it. Then, couldn't get the battery cap open. Not even with a Quarter, it stripped the quarter slot. I didn't install the battery, I bought it brand new and had a battery in it. Last replacement after the flood he told me he had replaced everything. Well, couldn't have replaced everything. Since my clear plastic was still stuck to the screen that protects the clear screen on it. I went against some people I knew and listened to all the positives from people from the forums, well respected people.. Should have listened to the people I knew. And also after the problems with Abysmal getting sued over it. Should have known better.
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20th September 2006, 16:45	#3 (permalink)
silentscuba rEvo CCR Driver Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss rEvo Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic rEvo Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Mill Creek, WA USA Posts: 587	Re: VR3/Explorer/Shearwater units on Rebreather World The Shearwater has not been out long enough for your poll to truly indicate favorability by numbers. Why don't you ask the people that have owned and used the VR3 and HSE and now own a Shearwater which they like best. This will give you an indication how they compare based on each person's experience on all three computers. My vote is for the Shearwater!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and I have now owned all three plus some others. __________________ Curt McNamee rEvo CCR Diver KISS CCR Diver www.silentscuba.com
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20th September 2006, 17:00	#4 (permalink)
J. V. Custom Title Allowed! Current Rebreather/s: rEvo Other Rebreather/s: Not Bought Yet rEvo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Lot & Savoie Posts: 239	Re: VR3/Explorer/Shearwater units on Rebreather World I own an Explorer O and I'm in Europe. I own a Cochran EMC20H too, and stay in Europe. __________________ -------------------- Jacques NPSFQQA-EDS IT # 007 (remué non agité)
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20th September 2006, 18:00	#5 (permalink)
Kyza New Member Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Evolution Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Cleveland Posts: 22	Re: VR3/Explorer/Shearwater units on Rebreather World Quote: (Originally Posted by mverick) What if, You own a VR3 without VPM? And you think the alogrythm is to conservative so you let your buddy dive it OC till he can afford to buy a new one with the color screen he wants. You own a HS explorer for 4 years I think now and i've gotten about 7 dives total on it cause it always dies. Or gives bad deco. Or floods. Or looses half the screen. Or won't turn on for second or consecutive dives. Or eats batteries. And Gene doesn't want anything to do with me cause last time I told him what I thought of the unit and I wanted my money back. Now he doesn't even answer emails. Won't fix it either. I'm not going to kiss someones ass to get something fixed that has had so many problems. And, you also have to pay shipping to him even when it's a manufactured flaw. After sending it back 3 or 4 times. And, it not working right from when I receive it. Happy I ain't. Great customer service. Only if you kiss his butt.. $1400 Piece of S.... You have a Old Shearwater on your Meg and it's worked great since you bought it and your happy with it's deco schedule. And, tables and bottom timer.... Oh, don't forget the Cochran. If you like more conservative Deco, the VR3 is nice. For me it isn't what I was looking for. The Shearwater is nice. I like it a lot. I would never support anything that Gene does with the HS Explorer. With all the problems I had. Not to mention when I saw he was in on a ReBreather. I figured he'd kill someone with it. That is just a nightmare waiting to happen with all the problems he's had with the Explorer. And, can't fix. And, there are a lot of people who support Gene and his customer service. One is big on here and I sent out my unit to him when it was giving bad deco for me. For him, it lost half the numbers on the screen but the deco was right. Total I think they got 10 dives or so on it. So, I tried it again in the Great Lakes. It died first dive and wouldn't turn on. It flooded. So, I ain't making this stuff up. Sent back to Gene to fix again. Now, turns on for first dive and everything fine. Second dive it won't turn on. All I wanted was something that works for my $1400. Gene hasn't ever been able to do that for me in 4 years. I've been told when he returned it he upgraded it. Well, how about fixing it. Never been any damage to the unit either. When I received it. I dove it like I got it. Then, couldn't get the battery cap open. Not even with a Quarter, it stripped the quarter slot. I didn't install the battery, I bought it brand new and had a battery in it. Last replacement after the flood he told me he had replaced everything. Well, couldn't have replaced everything. Since my clear plastic was still stuck to the screen that protects the clear screen on it. I went against some people I knew and listened to all the positives from people from the forums, well respected people.. Should have listened to the people I knew. And also after the problems with Abysmal getting sued over it. Should have known better. Glad I'm not the only one who has had problems. I'm also glad I only paid $1300
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20th September 2006, 18:29	#6 (permalink)
RichClark Classic KISS No. 226 Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Hove, UK Posts: 778	Re: VR3/Explorer/Shearwater units on Rebreather World I own a VR3 from my OC trimix days. I like it a lot and I don't mind the extra deco. I dive it set to 0 and then pad the assent to reflect a VPM/GF (i.e. a stop for one min every 3m but in reality, it's just a slow assent between VR3 stops) I find this works for me, and after the 1st deep stop the VR3 credits me for slow assent. I haven't really done enough deco to know how it will work out with my KISS - I don't have it integrated BTW. I have just bought a Shearwater and HUD though so the VR3 may be up for sale soon. [EDIT: obviously I carry back up tables, but this thread is about computers] Cheers Rich __________________ The more I learn about women, the more I want to go diving... just don't tell my wife I said that To taste something a little different, try http://www.thechillikitchen.co.uk Last edited by RichClark : 20th September 2006 at 18:50.
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20th September 2006, 19:01	#7 (permalink)
decoweenie Crash Test Dummy Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Other CCR Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Cairo Posts: 5,487	Re: VR3/Explorer/Shearwater units on Rebreather World I have owned 2 different versions of the Explorer HS units, 2 different versions of the VR-3 units and 2 different versions of the Shearwater units. Out of all of them, the only 3 that never gave me any problem were: color version of the VR3, but I don't like the deco profile. both of the Shearwater versions. If Bruce could shrink it down a tad more, it would be the perfect computer for me since: the buttons work reliably the menu is very intuitive customer service is almost instantenous - never had it like that the deco profile works - very important! :-) __________________ "...after a while you get bored offering advice to a bull that like to keep butting the fence with its head rather than walking through the open gate..." - Rebreather World PM Last edited by decoweenie : 21st September 2006 at 03:43.
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20th September 2006, 19:15	#8 (permalink)
Mark Chase I go down for ages Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Kent Posts: 2,700	Re: VR3/Explorer/Shearwater units on Rebreather World I own two VR3s and i want a Shearwater does this help? 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
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20th September 2006, 19:19	#9 (permalink)
DaveC New Member Current Rebreather/s: Sport Kiss Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Prism Topaz Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ontario. Canada Posts: 192	Re: VR3/Explorer/Shearwater units on Rebreather World I've owned a VR3 for about 16 months and wasn't really impressed with it to completely rely on it. I traded it for an Explorer and done about a dozon dives on it and really like it. Stable, doesn't eat batteries like I've heard they can do. Like the deco schedule abut then I usually pad the last 3 stops anyway. Like the ease of switching between profiles and I live in Canada so this unit is usually in cold water. Dave __________________ Dave Any day in the water is better then any day in the office.
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21st September 2006, 01:49	#10 (permalink)
*jradomski* Moderator Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Sport Kiss Optima rEvo Other CCR Home Build Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Vision Evolution Megalodon Classic Kiss rEvo Other CCR Home Build Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: "Da" Bronx Posts: 3,011	Re: VR3/Explorer/Shearwater units on Rebreather World Here is my 2 cents.. Over the years I have sold about 15 explorers (mostly eary on, none recently, but that will probably start again).. wIth the exception of 1 (It was resold early on so I dont know the status) all are still in use today.. of this group only 1 had a problem (that was immediately after the first case upgrade which turned out to be a bad idea) which flooded and was repaired and still working.. I have had many explorers (personal and test units) since I did alot of testing for gene, There have been some software bugs (but I expected that) and a few hardware failures.. I started with serial #3 from abyss so I've had the units from the beginning and have hundreds of dives on them trouble free, but the troubes I had were.. lost pressure transducer on 1.. It was fine at home but when I reached my desitnation fro a trip, and woke up the unit, the depth immediately maxed out t over 600 fsw (somehow it got damaged in transit) 1 flood after case upgrade (I was one of the first [ this is when he put a stop to the upgardes until probem was determned) replacement worked until it was swapped for a model O (with a big 104 fischer connector). this worked without problems for along time, until zerog in 2004 (could have been 2003) in GC, it ended up under my rebreather which was bouncig on it for about a 1.5 hours rough boat ride.. This jarred the display loose since it would go in or out (for grins I dove with it, deco and depth were correct when the display was visable), Gene fixed and it worked fine.. Later it was time to get a realease version of RGBM, when this was sent in for upgrade gene gave me a model o ith a 103 connector at my request and I have had no problems since then (I did get an upgrade to the current RGBM at the beginning of the this year, I had the original RGBM cde in it) I have seen probems with some computers as well, for most of the product life it seems If you got one that worked, it worked forever, then there are those that have had multiple computers with issues... I think gene has finaly worked out the case issues (speaking with the distributor he hasnt heard of any new probems for several months now). So only time will tell... My experiences with the VR3 did not go as well. I never got more than 3 dives in a row without a probem and I never liked the deco profile it generated... My experiences with cochran units since 2000 have been pleasant with no problems... __________________ 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.
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