Electronics
The big expensive outboard motor of my boat was very sophisticated but for some unknown reason one day it simply stopped working. Three different mechanics came to look at it consecutively, one Spanish, one German and one British. In consequence I learned the term 'black box' in three different languages. The electronics were replaced and everything was fine. Many of us have experienced similar failures of electronics in our cars.
PCBs are mainly now sourced in the Far East. They are remarkably cheap.
It's almost impossible to buy electronic goods these days without a PCB in it. Even modern toasters have them. What electronics do we use in diving? Our diving computers.
When these were first introduced in the early 1980s, they were made in Switzerland and would have cost around £3000 each at today's prices. They were certainly a luxury item. Today we can buy a diving computer for a few hundred pounds.
They are incredibly useful items and can be credited for the millions of man-dives made without any accident due to decompression illness. Of course, no manufacturer can guarantee that you personally will be always safe even if you manage your dive perfectly the way the computer demands but that's because the dive computer was not made for you exclusively. Everyone is physiologically different so the manufacturers try to build in an element of safety to their mathematical calculations to account for that - but you might be one of the very few outside those parameters. Nobody knows.
That said, diving computers are fantastic tools for leisure divers and I thoroughly recommend that every diver have one - or at least one. The problem arises when the black box strapped on your arm ceases to work. It could be battery failure or it could be worse.
You don't expect your toaster to last forever so why would you computer? You may say that your computer gets less use but remember that for every dive you do it continues to recalculate during your surface interval so that if you did 100 dives in a year it would almost be the equivalent of your computer working for 100 days.
PCBs are cheap. The major cost of a diving computer is in the research and development. Manufacturers want you to be a happy customer. They back up their warranties by simply replacing the unit from stock although some say they will try to repair if they can. It all depends on the resources of the company in the country you are in. In Britain, there are few actual manufacturers although one importer is the wholly owned subsidiary of its principal and has the resources to match.
So what am I saying? Buy a dive computer, understand what it does and use it for your dives. Appreciate the good value it represents and be happy to get some good years out of it. Be also aware that computer technology moves on apace. For example, computers that were oil-filled to keep them watertight cost a fortune to make and the same thing applied when it comes to changing the battery. They are no longer made.
Your dive computer could be considered in the same way as that single electronic component in your car. If it stops working, you replace it. This blog was inspired by a letter I read from someone in America who complained that the very inexpensive computer watch he bought seven years ago had ceased to work and was no longer repairable under warranty. That's the way of the world.
By the way, reading the instruction book while decompressing is not a good way to use your dive computer. Safe diving - John Bantin
