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6. CARE AND MAINTENANCE

The Suunto SOLUTION

 á

 diving computer is a sophisticated precision instrument.

Remember to treat it as such! It has been designed to withstand the rigors of scuba
diving. It can be installed in a durable thermoplastic console boot and its display can
be protected by a replaceable display shield.

The user should wash and rinse the unit in fresh water after every use. Protect it
from shocks, extreme heat or direct sunlight and chemical attack. The SOLUTION

 á

cannot withstand the impact of heavy objects like scuba cylinders, nor chemicals like
acetone and alcohols (ethanol, isopropanol).

NOTE: Keep the water contacts clean to assure correct operation of the SOLUTION

á

. Store the SOLUTION

 á

 in a dry place.

NOTE: Frequently check the battery compartment for moisture trough the
transparent battery cover of the SOLUTION

 á

.

The SOLUTION

 á

 should be serviced every two years or after 200 dives (whichever

comes first) by an authorized dealer. This service will include a general operational
check and the battery replacement. The service requires special tools and training.
Therefore, it is advisable to contact an authorized Suunto dealer for biennial
service. Do not attempt to do any service that you are not sure about how to do.

The SOLUTION

 á

 will display a battery symbol as a warning when the power gets

too low. When this happens, the SOLUTION

 á

 should not be used until the battery

has been replaced (see also chapter 3.2.1 /Battery warning).

6.1 MAINTENANCE

If left without care for an extended period, a thin film (often invisible to the eye) will
cover the unit. Much like the buildup on the glass of an aquarium, this film is the
result of organic contaminates found in both salt and fresh water. Suntan oil,
silicone spray and grease will speed up this process. As a result of this buildup,
moisture will be trapped next to the contacts and will not allow your SOLUTION

 á

 to

operate properly.

The water contacts can be cleaned with a soft pencil eraser.

IMPORTANT: The SOLUTION

 á

 should be soaked, then thoroughly rinsed with

fresh water after each dive.

If the unit is mounted in a console boot, the entire console should be soaked in fresh
water and then rinsed. Make sure that all salt crystals and sand particles have been

Summary of Contents for Solution Alpha

Page 1: ...n serious injury or death CAUTION is used in connection with a procedure or situation that will result in damage to the product NOTE is used to emphasize important information WARNING READ THIS MANUAL Carefully read this instruction manual in its entirety including Section 1 For Your Safety Make sure that you fully understand the use displays and limitations of the SOLUTION á WARNING NO DIVE COMPU...

Page 2: ...sk of decompression sickness Therefore Suunto specifically recommends that the SOLUTION á be not used for commercial or other severe diving activity WARNING PERFORM PRECHECKS Always check the SOLUTION á before diving in order to ensure that all LCD segments are completely displayed that the SOLUTION á has not run out of battery power and that the altitude personal adjustment mode is correct WARNIN...

Page 3: ...Data 3 3 2 Ascent Meter 3 3 3 Audible and Visual Alarms 3 3 4 Decompression Dives 3 4 AT SURFACE 3 4 1 Surface Interval 3 4 2 Flying After Diving 3 5 HIGH ALTITUDE DIVES AND PERSONAL ADJUSTMENT 3 6 ERROR CONDITIONS 4 MENU BASED MODES 4 1 LOGBOOK AND DIVE PROFILE MEMORY 4 2 DIVE HISTORY MEMORY 4 3 ALTITUDE PERSONAL ADJUSTMENT SETTING 4 4 DIVE SIMULATOR 4 5 SETTING TIME AND DATE 5 PC INTERFACE 6 CAR...

Page 4: ...es and dive simulation The instrument can be adjusted for diving at different altitudes or to add an extra level of conservativeness if desired The screen is protected against scratches and damage by a replaceable shield The SOLUTION á is available either as a wrist unit or mounted in two gauge or three gauge console or in a hose mounted boot The modular construction allows for the separate compas...

Page 5: ...ial units are shown in brackets The SOLUTION á is also available with imperial units i e feet and F WARNING VERIFY THAT THE UNITS OF MEASURE WHETHER METRIC OR IMPERIAL ARE CORRECT BEFORE STARTING TO DIVE Any confusion resulting from improper selection of units may cause the diver to commit errors that may lead to serious injury ...

Page 6: ...in that you use back up instrumentation including a depth gauge submersible pressure gauge timer or watch and have access to decompression tables whenever diving with the SOLUTION á Sharing the SOLUTION á WARNING THE SOLUTION á SHOULD NEVER BE TRADED OR SHARED BETWEEN USERS WHILE IT IS IN OPERATION Its information will not apply to someone who has not been wearing it throughout a dive or sequence ...

Page 7: ...tude limit of the SOLUTION á exceeds or is equal to the altitude of the dive site The altitude mode indicator must show either A1 or A2 depending on the altitude More information about this is given in Section 3 5 High Altitude Dives and Personal Adjustment Decompression Dives WARNING DO NOT USE THIS INSTRUMENT TO CONDUCT DECOMPRESSION DIVES Suunto does not recommend this instrument to be used to ...

Page 8: ...of DCS increases when depth and the number of repetitive dives increase and when the surface intervals are decreased MULTIDAY DIVES repetitive dives performed for several consecutive days DECOMPRESSION DIVES any dive during which the no decompression limit has been exceeded or the diver is advised by the computer that he may not return directly to the surface WARNING DIVE PRACTICES WHICH INCLUDE T...

Page 9: ...heir diving activities Suunto supports these practices and strongly recommends that the diver make the deepest portion of the dive near the beginning of the dive and gradually progress into shallower depth allowing time for a 3 to 5 minutes safety stop at a depth range of 3 to 6 meters 10 to 20 ft This is believed to be effective in further reducing the risk of decompression sickness Furthermore t...

Page 10: ...d dive planning contact TIME MODE time display and mode selection contact On the surface the SOLUTION á is operated by simultaneously touching the COM contact and one or two of the other contacts When doing this your finger tips should be wet or moist to establish the necessary electric contact When submerged these contacts are automatically connected by the conductivity of the water 2 2 ACTIVATIO...

Page 11: ...DIVE PLANNING display will rapidly cycle through the no decompression limits for various depths Diving simulation To simulate a dive use the three contacts as follows To descend touch the ON PLAN and COM contacts for as long as you want to descend To ascend touch the TIME MODE and COM contacts You will have to lift your fingers momentarily to avoid an excessive ascent speed rate We are now ready t...

Page 12: ...his is most easily done by first covering the TIME MODE and ON PLAN contacts with your right thumb and then touching the COM contact with your left thumb As usual it helps if your fingers are wet or moist This procedure will bring you back to the normal READY mode The SOLUTION á is now ready for a dive It will automatically switch off in about 10 minutes of surface time in case you do not use it a...

Page 13: ... CONTACTS As described in Section 2 1 Water Contacts the SOLUTION á is controlled with the COM common ON PLAN and TIME MODE contacts as follows Activation touch the ON PLAN and COM contacts Dive planning once the SOLUTION á has been activated touch the ON PLAN and COM contacts Clock touch the TIME MODE and COM contacts for a second The time is then displayed for four seconds When the TIME MODE and...

Page 14: ...ed However it is necessary to turn it on before diving to check the altitude personal adjustment setting battery warning etc This is done either by immersing it in water for a couple of seconds or by connecting the ON PLAN and COM contacts with fingertips A short beep is heard All display elements will turn on showing mostly figure 8 s and graphical elements A few seconds later the serial number o...

Page 15: ...ection 3 5 High Altitude Dives and Personal Adjustment Battery warning If the battery symbol is displayed the SOLUTION á should not be used It indicates that the battery is too low to operate the SOLUTION á If the low battery symbol appears during a dive you should abort the dive and begin ascent to the surface NOTE Temperature affects the battery voltage If the SOLUTION á is stored at temperature...

Page 16: ...n on the display is clearly marked During a no decompression dive the following information will be shown the available no decompression time in minutes is shown as NO DEC TIME It is calculated based on the five factors listed in Section 7 1 OPERATING PRINCIPLES your present depth is shown in meters ft In addition to the digital display the present depth is also displayed graphically with a depth ...

Page 17: ...p at this depth and wait until the warning disappears WARNING RAPID ASCENTS INCREASE THE RISK OF INJURY Do not exceed the maximum recommended ascent rate You must never surface with the SLOW warning on If you do this the warning will continue to flash until the unit deactivates itself in the normal manner This may take up to 48 hours WARNING DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DIVE FOLLOWING A SURFACE INTERVAL DURI...

Page 18: ... Er appears You should immediately descend to or below the ceiling The SOLUTION á will otherwise enter a permanent error mode in three minutes indicated by a non blinking Er 3 3 4 Decompression dives WARNING DO NOT USE THIS INSTRUMENT TO CONDUCT DECOMPRESSION DIVES Suunto does not recommend this instrument to be used to conduct decompression dives However if through carelessness or emergency a div...

Page 19: ...rder to avoid doing so by accident you should stay slightly below the ceiling Ceiling Floor and Decompression Range When in decompression it is important that you understand the meaning of ceiling floor and decompression range The ceiling is the shallowest depth to which you should ascend when in decompression At this depth or below you must perform one or several decompression stops All decompres...

Page 20: ...art your ascent immediately Display Above Floor When you ascend above the floor the ASC TIME display stops blinking and the two upward pointing arrows disappear Decompression will now begin but is very slow You should therefore continue your ascent Display At Ceiling When you reach the ceiling the display will show you two arrows pointing toward each other Do not ascend above this depth As describ...

Page 21: ... The temperature in C F is shown in the lower left corner The no flying warning is indicated by a blinking airplane The desaturation no flying time in hours and minutes is shown next to the non blinking airplane in the center window of the display If you start a new dive in less than 10 minutes at the surface the SOLUTION á interprets this as a continuation of the previous dive The DIVING display ...

Page 22: ...mmercial jetliner altitude up to 2400 m 8000 ft Divers who plan to make daily multiple dives for several days or make dives that require decompression stops should take special precautions and wait for an extended interval beyond 12 hours before flight Suunto recommends that flying be avoided until both the DAN guidelines and the SOLUTION á wait to fly conditions are satisfied 3 5 HIGH ALTITUDE DI...

Page 23: ...ginning to dive at altitude WARNING DO NOT USE THIS INSTRUMENT TO CONDUCT DECOMPRESSION DIVES Suunto does not recommend this instrument to be used to conduct decompression dives However if through carelessness or emergency a diver is forced to exceed the no decompression limits on a dive the SOLUTION á will provide decompression information required for ascent After this the SOLUTION á will contin...

Page 24: ...tinue to function normally if the diver descends below the ceiling within three minutes After this the SOLUTION á will enter a permanent ERROR MODE In the permanent ERROR MODE the SOLUTION á will not show no decompression or ascent times Only a permanent Er warning is shown in the center window However all the other displays will function as before to provide information for ascent At the surface ...

Page 25: ...25 to very low battery poor battery contacts or leakage to the battery compartment ...

Page 26: ...bar segment on the right hand side of the display will indicate the scrolling sequence Note that the menu based modes can be activated only when 10 minutes have elapsed after the dive Make sure that the contacts and the instrument itself are dry and clean before trying to use the menu based modes All menu based modes can be deactivated by the RETURN command i e by connecting all three contacts sim...

Page 27: ... The memory will always retain approximately the last 25 hours of dive time The contents of the memory will remain even when the battery is changed assuming that the replacement has been done according to the instructions Dive Profile Memory The detailed profile of each dive shown in the logbook at that moment is accessed by touching the ON PLAN and COM contacts Two LCD bar segments in the upper r...

Page 28: ...RY The Dive History is activated by touching the TIME MODE and COM contacts until HIS appears This mode will show the maximum depth ever reached the total accumulated dive time in hours the total number of dives 999 dives and 999 hours of diving can be registered When these maximum values are reached the counters will start again from 0 4 3 ALTITUDE PERSONAL ADJUSTMENT SETTING The current altitude...

Page 29: ... SOLUTION á will return to the surface mode WARNING ALWAYS RECHECK THE ALTITUDE PERSONAL ADJUSTMENT SETTING TO ENSURE THAT IT IS NOT SET FOR AN ALTITUDE LESS THAN THAT OF THE DIVE SITE 4 4 DIVE SIMULATOR The simulation mode can be used to plan dives in advance for demonstrational or educational purposes or just for pleasure The SOLUTION á has complete dive simulating capabilities including repetit...

Page 30: ...de separately for both digits as shown by the blinking digit In case of the hours and month the complete number is changed simultaneously 4 Repeat steps 3 and 2 to change any additional values 5 Restart the clock with the RETURN command i e by connecting all three contacts at the same time First make contact between the ON PLAN and TIME MODE contacts and after that with the COM contact If somethin...

Page 31: ...ON á The following data is transferred to the PC depth profile of the dive dive time dive number altitude personal adjustment setting temperature at maximum depth surface interval time dive entry time year month day and time additional dive information e g violations serial number It is also possible to manually add comments and other personal information to the PC based dive data file ...

Page 32: ...he battery replacement The service requires special tools and training Therefore it is advisable to contact an authorized Suunto dealer for biennial service Do not attempt to do any service that you are not sure about how to do The SOLUTION á will display a battery symbol as a warning when the power gets too low When this happens the SOLUTION á should not be used until the battery has been replace...

Page 33: ...sed air to blow water off the unit do not use solvents or other cleaning fluids that might cause damage do not test or use the SOLUTION á in pressurized air 6 2 BATTERY COMPARTMENT INSPECTION Frequently check for leaks in the battery compartment This is important specially after the battery replacement If you find moisture inside the transparent battery compartment lid there is a leak A leak must ...

Page 34: ...TIRE OWNER S MANUAL The SOLUTION á must be activated before diving and operated correctly to provide accurate and correct information No Decompression Limits The no decompression limits displayed by the SOLUTION á upon activation are for most dives to a single depth slightly more conservative than those permitted by the U S Navy tables Tables 7 1 2 TABLE 7 1 NO DECOMPRESSION TIME LIMITS min FOR VA...

Page 35: ...ch longer than those that would be allowed by the U S Navy tables WARNING THE USER SHOULD BE AWARE THAT ANY DIVE INCLUDING ONES WITHIN THE U S NAVY OR SOLUTION á LIMITS DOES CARRY SOME RISK OF DECOMPRESSION SICKNESS Compartments and Half Times When you dive with the SOLUTION á it measures and displays depths and times as your dive progresses It shows you available no decompression time and possibl...

Page 36: ...ompartments for all phases of diving including surface intervals and repetitive dives The SOLUTION á s half times range from 2 5 to 480 minutes Altitude Diving The atmospheric pressure is lower at high altitudes than at sea level After traveling to a higher altitude the diver will have additional nitrogen in his body compared to the equilibrium situation at the original altitude This additional ni...

Page 37: ... fresh water the readings are about 3 smaller Depth display range 0 to 99 m 325 ft Accuracy 1 0 to 60 m 200 ft Resolution 0 1 m 1 ft Temperature display Resolution 1 C 1 5 F Display range 20 50 C 40 122 F Accuracy 2 C 3 6 F within 20 minutes of temperature change Calendar Clock Accuracy 2 s 24 h 24 h display 12 h display in imperial version Other displays Dive time 0 to 999 min Surface time 0 to 4...

Page 38: ...oom temperature NOTE Do not leave the SOLUTION á in direct sunlight Battery One 3 6 V lithium battery Saft LS 14250 size 1 2 AA ANSI or 1 2 R6 IEC spare part number K5504 O ring 26 7 mm x 1 78 mm 70 ShA spare part number K5508 Battery life typically 2000 hours at 20 C 68 F ...

Page 39: ...no charge and returned in what your Suunto Dealer determines a reasonable amount of time provided all necessary parts are in stock All repairs made not covered under the terms of this warranty will be made at the owner s expense This warranty is non transferable from the original owner All implied warranties including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a p...

Page 40: ... which a diver must stop for some time during ascent Decompression sickness Any of a variety of maladies resulting either primarily or secondary from the formation of nitrogen bubbles in tissues or body fluids as a result of inadequately controlled decompression Commonly called bends or DCS Dive series A group of repetitive dives between which the SOLUTION á indicates some nitrogen loading is pres...

Page 41: ...t any time NO DEC TIME Abbreviation for no decompression time limit Repetitive dive Any dive whose no decompression time limits are affected by residual nitrogen absorbed during previous dives Residual nitrogen The amount of excess nitrogen remaining in a diver after one or more dives SURF TIME Abbreviation for surface interval time Surface interval time Elapsed time between surfacing from a dive ...

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