Petrel Clearing Decompression Status Mid Dive???

[Jon Nellis]

When my Predator was new, it gave me a low battery warning after two or three dives. I knew it was not low, so I took the battery holder out and just rolled the battery inside the holder for a few revolution to make a better contact. Worked untill that battery died and I do that with all the batteries I have put in since and have not had a problem.

I have seen this with other electronics that draw really low current. A small amount of resistance at a battery contact can cause intermittent problems, so just make sure you rub the battery against the contact when you install it, to give the electrons a better path.


Edit: Regarding gold plated contacts, most of the batteries have nickle plated terminals and when you put a battery with nickle terminals into a holder with gold contact, you have a dissimilar metal situation that can lead to corrosion and hurt you in the long run. Ask any audiophile/stereo junkie if they mix the contact materials on their connectors. The answer will be NO.

[lv2dive]

I have had a Petrel for a couple+ years and have had zero issues. Only run SAFT batteries tho. LOVE it, encouraged several friends to buy one, all of them love them too.

[Superlyte27]

Gold reacts with almost nothing. There's no issue with Nickel terminals and gold contacts. 9, 12, 14, and 18k gold all have Nickel as part of their content. The lower the Karat the higher the nickel content in a lot of gold - especially White Gold

[Jon Nellis]

Gold reacts with almost nothing. There's no issue with Nickel terminals and gold contacts. 9, 12, 14, and 18k gold all have Nickel as part of their content. The lower the Karat the higher the nickel content in a lot of gold - especially White Gold

Gold doesn't oxidize easily, but it does cause a reaction with less noble metals (like nickel) causing them to corrode faster. Gold in contact with tin plated electronics should always be avoided, as the corrosion problem is well documented.

Gold plated contacts are typically coated with 99.5% or better pure gold. White gold is alloyed with nickel and Palladium and not used in electronics. The colored golds (those with a Karat #) are mainly alloyed with silver, copper and tin.

[floridabob]

I have had a Petrel for a couple+ years and have had zero issues. Only run SAFT batteries tho. LOVE it, encouraged several friends to buy one, all of them love them too.

This one's not to be trusted....

Shearwater is rock solid, minimal issues. Everything has something: when the buttons were changed from metal they repaired/replaced no charge.

Its all you can ask: Fix issues and upgrade w/a smile. To ask for no issues is, well...I dont know. Impossible?

Bob

[Greenwood_60]

It would be reasonably simple to store the tissue load in non-volatile memory, to prevent the clearing under this sort of failure.

[JBaldwin]

I have one of the orginal petrels and I had the the same issues.they had an issue with the battery terminals and contacts if you contact Kurt who does all the servicing here he will get it fixed and turned around to you really fast.he replaced my battery terminals and also replaced a super capacitor in mine and I haven't had an issues since.their customer service is awesome I sent my computer out on a Monday and had it back the following monday.

[Superlyte27]

Gold doesn't oxidize easily, but it does cause a reaction with less noble metals (like nickel) causing them to corrode faster. Gold in contact with tin plated electronics should always be avoided, as the corrosion problem is well documented.

Gold plated contacts are typically coated with 99.5% or better pure gold. White gold is alloyed with nickel and Palladium and not used in electronics. The colored golds (those with a Karat #) are mainly alloyed with silver, copper and tin.

You've missed my point. My point was not that gold plated contacts are or are not made with nickel, or pure gold. My point was, that electrolysis isn't occurring in White Gold... which is Gold and Nickel. No electrolysis issue there, no electrolysis issue between nickel contacts and the gold spring on a petrel.

[lv2dive]

I'm not to be trusted? Bah! At least I usually know left from right when taking jumps!

This one's not to be trusted....

Bob

[Jon Nellis]

...My point was, that electrolysis isn't occurring in White Gold... which is Gold and Nickel. No electrolysis issue there, no electrolysis issue between nickel contacts and the gold spring on a petrel.

If physics was only that simple life would be sooo easy...

White gold is an alloy and electrolysis does not occur in alloys because there is no electrolyte in the atomic interstitial spaces. Two metals in contact do not create an atomic bond and the humidity in the air can act as an electrolyte in the corrosion process.

By your logic, gold touching tin would not result in oxidation because 14kt gold has tin in it, but science has proven that to be wrong as well.