Your dive computer is your essential underwater guide, ensuring safe and enjoyable dives. Caring for your dive computer properly before and after each dive keeps it reliable and ready for your adventures. In this guide, we’ll share simple steps to help you maintain your dive computer and make the most of your underwater journeys.

What Is A Dive Computer?

In modern times, it’s considered a rare thing to find a SCUBA diver who is ready to go out for a dive trip without a dive computer. And the reason is clear. Dive computers have transformed the SCUBA diving sport by allowing divers to be completely alert and in control of their environment while being submerged.

So, learning the proper way for caring for your dive computer is essential to ensure it functions properly.

Caring for Your Dive Computer

The proper caring for your dive computer is essential to ensure its reliability and longevity. By following simple maintenance steps, you can keep this vital piece of equipment functioning smoothly for every dive. Learn with us how to make that properly in these situations:

• Predive.
• Post-dive.
• Replacement.

Predive

• Check the battery indicator on the dive computer and follow the instructions of the manufacturer to know the best time and how to replace the battery.
• Set up the basics on your new dive computer, including units (feet or meters), temperature (Fahrenheit or Celsius), time, and date.
• Most dive computers allow you to adjust conservatism through factors like conservative settings, altitude settings, or personal settings. Some dive computers use bar graphs to adjust safety by reducing NDL loading pixels.

Post-dive

• Rinse your dive computer thoroughly with freshwater, then dry it using a soft towel.
• Focus on cleaning metal contacts occasionally with a soft toothbrush and mild detergent.
• Manufacturers typically recommend to make service checkups every 1–2 years for calibration, seal, and function checks to prevent issues before scuba diving trip.

Replace Your Dive Computer When…

• Replacement parts are unavailable, as that makes it hard to fix an older dive computer with a missing button, broken strap, or dead battery.
• Delving into a new diving type, like tec diving with mixed-gas, you will need a computer that handles more complex data than those used for recreational diving.
• It’s too conservative. All computers can be adjusted to be more conservative by using safety factors or backing off on bar-graph pixels, but you can’t make most more liberal.
• Seeking for an air-integrated model. In case of cutting down on gear, switch to an air-integrated dive computer instead of a pressure gauge.