Suunto Cobra depth and time wrong

[Skred]

On a recent dive, my wife's Suunto Cobra wigged out and forced us to abort. When we surfaced, the computer read that she had been at 6 feet for 5 minutes...obviously wrong since the max depth on the dive was 75ft.

She employed backup measures for a subsequent dive but took the Cobra down again just to see if it would behave. Not only was it wrong again, but it continuously rebooted at depth.

We sent the computer off to Suunto and I have my fingers crossed that it won't cost more than it's worth to repair. Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, can you relate your experience so I might get an idea on repairability?

Thanks.

[CC1020]

I was diving in Bahamas on Blackbeard's boat, and had mine reading 0 feet when I was at about 12 feet. There does seem to be a bad batch of depth sensors, and mine had to be sent back to the factory for repair. It worked fine for the rest of the trip, which was lucky for me. Good luck

[DMWiz]

Originally Posted by Skred

On a recent dive, my wife's Suunto Cobra wigged out and forced us to abort. When we surfaced, the computer read that she had been at 6 feet for 5 minutes...obviously wrong since the max depth on the dive was 75ft.

She employed backup measures for a subsequent dive but took the Cobra down again just to see if it would behave. Not only was it wrong again, but it continuously rebooted at depth.

We sent the computer off to Suunto and I have my fingers crossed that it won't cost more than it's worth to repair. Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, can you relate your experience so I might get an idea on repairability?

Thanks.

I've seen this happen before, but those repairs have always been covered under warranty.

How old is your Cobra?

[Skred]

It's about 5 years old and this is the first issue I've had with it. Before I sent it to Suunto, I checked the contacts on the depth sensor to make sure they weren't corroded and that there was no salt buildup on them. They looked pretty good so I'm guessing that the sensor itself may be bad.

[Mtrewyn]

That sounds like a warranty issue to me! 5 years or 2 days I think that should be covered, that does not sound like something that they could pass off as "user error" or "abuse"

[CPTOZZY]

Originally Posted by Skred

On a recent dive, my wife's Suunto Cobra wigged out and forced us to abort. When we surfaced, the computer read that she had been at 6 feet for 5 minutes...obviously wrong since the max depth on the dive was 75ft.

She employed backup measures for a subsequent dive but took the Cobra down again just to see if it would behave. Not only was it wrong again, but it continuously rebooted at depth.

We sent the computer off to Suunto and I have my fingers crossed that it won't cost more than it's worth to repair. Has anyone had a similar experience? If so, can you relate your experience so I might get an idea on repairability?

Thanks.

Was that when we were in the Keys ??

[Skred]

Originally Posted by CPTOZZY

Was that when we were in the Keys ??

Yes, it was. The computer went out on a dive on Conch Wall the 2nd day we were there and she dove the rest of that week with a backup unit.

[nuibe]

The first Cobra failed after 56 dives. I sent it off to Suunto for repair, outside the warranty. They verified it was bad and pro-rated the cost of repair. I had to pay $350. While the first Cobra was at Suunto, I purchased another Cobra so I could continue diving. It took Suunto 4 weeks to put another Cobra in my hand. 53 dives later and the replacement failed (reading 30ft off. At 65 ft, it was reading 35 ft)! So far it appears my Second Cobra is still working with 30 dives on it. I must say I've been pretty underwhelmed with Suunto customer service and even more frustrated with the Cobra. I love it when it functions but hate it when it aborts my dive. BTW, I baby my dive gear. No film, grit, scale or anything on my gear after cleaning.

Not a battery problem. I replaced the battery even though the Cobra read 4 bars. Same depth error.

So all in all, I'm on my 3rd Cobra and will purchase a different computer as a back up.

Hope nobody has the same bad luck as me.

[mitsuguy]

this is actually somewhat of a common issue with some Suunto computers...

just had a friend in the shop that was doing a deco dive, using his D9 as a backup to his bottom timer - one glance showed 189 feet on both, next glance showed 189 feet on the bottom timer, 265 feet on the Suunto... next dive 189 on the bottom timer, 320 feet on the Suunto... He aborted the dive just to be safe, but even on the surface, there was clearly a depth issue with his computer...

Not saying any other manufacturer is better though - dive computers are great little devices until you have to actually take them diving a lot...