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What To Do In Case Of A Dive Computer Failure

What To Do In Case Of A Dive Computer Failure

Written by Nevin
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Published on July 16, 2010

Dive computers are rapidly becoming an integral part of recreational Scuba diving equipment, and most divers will seldom dive without one. However, like any piece of diving equipment dive computers too can sometimes fail, and if a failure occurs in the middle of a dive, this can often cause divers to panic.

In the unlikely event of a dive computer failure during a dive and you have no backup means of calculating your decompression times, the best piece of advice is the same as for any equipment failure which is; abort the dive.

If the computer malfunctions, and you are only diving an NDL (No Decompression Limit) profile, and you know that you are well within your NDL, simply abort the dive. Even though your dive buddy may be wearing a dive computer, there is no way of being sure that your profile was the same as his. Also ensure you make your safety stop at 10ft/3m. You may use your buddies dive computer to monitor your ascent and time your safety stop if you aren’t wearing a watch.

If it was your first dive of the day and you know you were within NDL, then referencing a dive table, look-up the surface interval for the maximum pressure group (i.e. Z in the PADI RDP) and observe the maximum surface interval before planning your next dive using the Dive Table.

If you were unsure whether you were within NDL before the dive computer conked-off, then it is recommended that you do not dive again for at least 24 hours and allow your body to reset and allow all the microbubbles to dissolve.

It is always a good practice to plan your maximum bottom times using a dive table before a dive and write down the depth & times allowable on a dive slate if you do not carry a copy of the dive tables in your BCD pocket. Wearing a water-resistant or dive watch in addition to your dive computer will help a diver fall back on his dive tables in case of a computer failure, provided he remembers to turn on his stopwatch or record the entry time at the start of the dive. In the same manner an analog SPG or depth gauge with a maximum depth needle will help you keep track of how deep you went when your computer failed.