Reliability of the OSTC 3

[Fabrice]

Hi,

I own one of the first OSTC 3 (#52) and I'm considering switching to something else as I don't trust any more this computer.

Last year (with firmware 0.93), I did 10 ok dives with no particular problem and then the OSTC failed on the 11th dive, refusing to move into diving mode. It was then bricked for some days (startup sequence ended by a black screen). Then out of the blue it accepted to reboot correctly but went directly into dive mode (on my office table...). I sent it back to HW where some tests were run with the conclusion that the computer was fine. It was sent back to me (quickly and with a brand new battery and new screen protections, perfect service as expected from HW).

I put the battery back observing no particular problems. But I made the mistake of leaving the battery inside. It was drained in a few weeks. If I remember correctly, it was a know issue with an older firmware. So I decided to do other dives with my old computer from another brand until I can test further the behaviour of the OSTC 3.

That I did last week. I dived in Iceland with a brand new classical 1.5 energizer battery with the firmware updated to 1.24. On my first dive there, the battery showed only 24% (or something) before the dive. After a few minutes in the 2°C water, it showed 13% level and after 25 minutes the computer died. Back to a normal outside temperature (in my apartment), the battery shows 42% and the logbook is dead (as in empty), probably because some corruption (as explained in another post).

So in summary: random failures under and above water, enormous battery drain, very problematic cold water behaviour (my buddy used a very old computer from another manufacturer with a lcd display: he can do dozens of dives in this Icelandic water without changing the battery), problematic battery level monitoring that leads to corrupted memory, what else?

I know there has been discussion in January about battery life, that some divers have experimented failures and similar troubles as mine, but I'm starting to feel a bit cursed. Any advice about a best course of actions regarding this computer? Would you trust it?

Fabrice

[heinrichsweikamp]

Fabrice Wrote:
> problems. But I made the mistake of leaving the
> battery inside. It was drained in a few weeks. If
> I remember correctly, it was a know issue with an
> older firmware.

This is not normal (And never was with older firmwares) and may be the cause of the other problems your're reporting.

I'd recommend we give your computer a check at our place. Please contact us directly: info@heinrichsweikamp.com for details. Especially the St-By. current is very low with the OSTC3...

Regards,
Matthias

[Fabrice]

Thanks for the fast answer. Shall I test it myself before with a new battery? I'll be leaving to Egypt on the 24th of May, it might be difficult to have a round trip till then. I'll contact you for details.

Fabrice

[Fabrice]

Hi all,

It turns out that my OSTC 3 had some hardware problem. This is now fixed and I'm back from a series of 15 dives in which it worked flawlessly. This was handled very efficiently by HW. So guys, my advice: don't complain on the forum like me , but rather contact directly HW, they provide an amazing service.

Fabrice