Spring Forward…….here in the Midwest I don’t think you could find a larger mass of people so ready to welcome Spring. It has been a long hard winter for most of us. When we change our clocks by moving them forward we also change our smoke detector batteries and this got me thinking about the fact that most all of the dive computers today have user changeable batteries. This is a great feature since we don’t have to send them back to the manufacturer any longer and wait weeks for their return. Let’s face it most of us ignored the little battery symbol that told us it was weak or put off checking it until the day before the dive, so score one for the procrastinator with the advent of the user changeable battery.
We did some checking with our manufacturers about what we needed to know in order to make this process easy and successful and here are some of the tips that they passed on to us.
1. Make sure you have clean hands before starting and try to be indoors in a climate controlled environment.
2. Use a lint free cloth to avoid trapping fibers in the housing or O-rings.
3. Most computers come with a special tool designed to remove the back safely. Use that tool to avoid damaging the back or case.
4. Always purchase a battery kit. They come with the battery, grease and a new o-ring. Don’t make the mistake of just changing the battery and lubricating the old o-ring and here’s why: When you lubricate an o-ring it will absorb some of the grease, causing it to swell and fill the space thus helping to create a waterproof seal. This process only works once so if you open the case to replace the battery you can’t re-lubricate the same o-ring. The o-ring is an integral part of the process so don’t try to cut corners and just pick up a new battery. Every time you replace your battery, replace the o-ring.
5. Carry a spare battery kit with you when you travel and if you have a wireless computer don’t forget the battery kit for the transmitter. It is a small price to pay to save a dive whether you are half way around the world or just out at the quarry.
So come on Spring, we are ready our clocks are set and batteries are changed……..Let’s Go Diving!
