Petrel problem solved

[shellmoundal]

Last Saturday my Petrel blinked and blanked out during the dive. I have noticed that my batteries were not lasting very long.
I installed a 3.6 volt battery in my Petrel about 2 months ago. I got about 16 dives on the battery.
I called Petrel today and was informed as to what the problem is. The battery contacts are being corroded by off gas of different manufactures of batteries. I was told to mail it back and they are replacing the metal battery connectors with gold ones to eliminate the problem.
Again, great service from the Shearwater Manufacturer.
The telltale sign of the problem is a flickering when you turn on your computer. A quick fix in the field is to use a pencil eraser to clean the contacts both negative and positive in the battery compartment.
Shearwater had no idea that different battery manufactures emited different gases.

[mwenner]

Thanks for the tip! I've gotten 16 dives out of regular AA's in a Petrel, and plenty remains.

[PsychDiver]

Hmm, interesting. Never had that problem but I did once install a fresh AA and the petrel rebooted several times during the next dive. Replaced the battery and it's never happened again. Just a bad battery I guess.

[kensuf]

I kind of like the Duracell Quantums as opposed to the SAFT's. The quantums are dirt cheap (less than $1 each) and I get about a month out of them, and that's spending about 30 hours a month underwater.

[FW]

I kind of like the Duracell Quantums as opposed to the SAFT's. The quantums are dirt cheap (less than $1 each) and I get about a month out of them, and that's spending about 30 hours a month underwater.

How much were you getting out of the SAFTs?

[shellmoundal]

No more than 25 hours. My battery showed full and "BAM" it died. Shearwater said that the gas that emits from some manufactures are causing the problem. Having it repaired gives me one more thing not to have to think about while diving.

How much were you getting out of the SAFTs?

[nakatomi]

No more than 25 hours. My battery showed full and "BAM" it died. Shearwater said that the gas that emits from some manufactures are causing the problem. Having it repaired gives me one more thing not to have to think about while diving.

Did they mention any safe manufacturers? This sounds like one issue I'd prefer not to have. After going through a couple Duracell copperhead batteries, I'm now about to switch to AW rechargeable batteries.
Certainly I wouldn't want them to corrode my Petrel...

[kensuf]

How much were you getting out of the SAFTs?

I only used one SAFT and got about two months out of it. But it was 4 or 5x the cost of the quantums.

[shellmoundal]

They are asking to let them know what brand of battery you are using. So far all of this seems to be a mystery to them. The only fix seems to be to make the contacts out of gold rather than the metal they are presently using. I am sending mine in for the simple repair.
This has been an ongoing issue for them. If you are only getting a few months of battery life you are having the same issue. Get it repaired.

[scott&sara]

I have been exclusively using Saft batteries in 2 Predators (mine) and 2 Petrels (wife) and have never had an issue. So I think it is safe to say Saft brand batteries are ok to use.

Scott