Aeris scuba diving

The reports, as CPSC published them

1. No one hurt

   Made Sep 29, 2017 · , sent to the company Oct 11, 2017 · , published by CPSC Oct 25, 2017

   The product, in the report: Aeris A300 CS Dive computer (similar to Oceanic VTX)

   The incidents concern an Aeris A300 CS scuba diving computer. This computer has now failed in 3 separate incidents (in a potentially life-threatening manner) since I purchased it June 28, 2016. The first time (Sept. 2016), on changing the battery, all information concerning previous dives was erased, contrary to the statements in the manual that this information is remembered. This means the computer no longer has nitrogen saturation information which is used to determine allowable dive parameters such as how long one can safely stay at particular depths. The only remedy is to not dive for 24 hours, but even this may not fully account for this issue. I returned the unit for warranty service. At this time, Aeris had been merged with Oceanic (both companies were owned by American Underwater Products) and the merger announcement stated that all Aeris warranties were now honored by Oceanic and, indeed, they repaired the unit under warranty.

   The second and third incidents occurred about a year later (August 2017). Again, a battery issue caused the computer to lock up in the middle of a dive while I was at a depth of approximately 60 feet. The unit is supposed to give a “low battery” warning but in this case it simply died with no warning in the middle of a dive. Again, this is potentially life threatening since one relies on the logged information to safely ascend without risking decompression sickness (DCS). I determined that the problem was the battery had died, but with no warning. The third incident occurred a few days later and this time, the computer screen suddenly cracked in the middle of a dive (again at about 60 ft), carrying the same life threatening implications. The danger of both of these failures is compounded because the computer also indicates how much air is remaining in the tank.

   I returned the unit to the manufacturer but now, Oceanic has been purchased by another company (Huish) and they claim that they no longer warrant Aeris products. They claim that Huish bought Oceanic, but without any involvement with Aeris, despite the previous statement that Oceanic would honor Aeris warranties.

   The actual computer is manufactured by a company called Pelagic Pressure Systems and Oceanic appears to market the same computer under their brand name (model VTX). I spoke with representatives of both Oceanic and Pelagic and neither company would honor the warranty or even offer a paid repair option. Further, when I described the 3 incidents above, neither company responded to the potential safety issues I have mentioned, nor did they show any interest in examining the unit in light of these failures. Recall that Oceanic did service the unit under warranty for the first incident just a year ago.

   I feel there are two issues:

   1. There is a possible safety issue with this dive computer which, under the right circumstances could be life-threatening. 2. Refusing to honor the warranty seems unfair and irresponsible under these circumstances. It seems particularly irresponsible not to examine the unit for information concerning the failures. Many units are in service.

   Model

   A300 CS

   Bought from

   Gigglin Marlin Dive, Texas

   Bought

   Jun 28, 2016

   Where

   HOUSTON, Texas: Other

   Who was involved

   Age 65, Male

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand Aeris, made or sold by Pelagic Pressure Systems

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Incident, No Injury

CPSC’s disclaimer

Sources