Dive computers. DIY battery change.
Many dive computer manufacturers offer models where the battery change is user-friendly. Even if the operation is apparently within the reach of any average user, we do not recommend “do it yourself”. Let’s see why.
The battery replacement in a dive computer should always be carried out at a technical assistance center, by qualified technician and with the right (and necessary) equipment.
Apparently changing a battery is a trivial operation, within everyone’s reach, but there are considerations that lead us to strongly advise against experimenting independently.
That will never be: I open the battery compartment, change the battery, put some grease on the new o-ring and close it all. Done
n reality some aspects must be considered, let us see which:
1. The batteries are not all the same, even if they have the same code. Exactly those indicated by the manufacturer must be used. A technical assistance center always uses original spare parts.
2. Static electricity is always there waiting for us, invisible and insidious. During the battery change, everything must be “discharged” from the static charge, so the technician always uses an antistatic work area, antistatic tools, antistatic gloves, and he himself has previously discharged from any electrostatic charge. Static electricity is very insidious and can make us throw away the computer even if we have not touched anything: the passage of static electricity does not only happen by contact but also by approximation, which means that the passage of current occurs even when two elements are “too close”. A technical assistance center has a work area and all the appropriate tools available.
3. After each intervention it is mandatory to carry out a leaking test, to check that there are no infiltrations, cause of flooding of the computer during the dive. A technical center normally carries out a test between -30 and -50m. depth. Hardly a user has at his disposal a bell for tightness tests, an obligatory investment instead for each technical assistance center.
4. A technical assistance center, in addition to having qualified personnel authorized by the manufacturers, is insured and guarantees the work carried out.
Is it really worth taking the risk of throwing away your dive computer to save a few euros, doing the “do it yourself” job? The considerations are yours.
We are authorized technical assistance center for dive computers Apeks, Aqualung, Cressi, Mares, Scubapro, Seac, Suunto.
