Hyper Aqualand watch, wrong depths

"Eric P." <no.email@no.spam> wrote in message
news:41abcedd$0$16336$626a14ce@news.free.fr...
> Hi all,
>
> A friend lent me his Citizen Hyper Aqualand watch (1994 model) as he
> don't dive much. He very recently had the battery changed and the water
> resistance tested (for 90 euros!) in France. Since this intervention,
> there is a 15% negative error in depth measurement. I.e., the watch says
> 17 m at 20 m and 47 m at 55 m (in normal sea water). Quiet dangerous and
> frustrating for a watch of this price! I think the technician (not sure
> he was a Citizen technician, because Citizen isn't distributed in France
> anymore and the watch has been mailed to a location that is unknown for
> me presently) missed something in the process of opening and closing the
> watch. I read somewhere that there is a very special procedure when
> changing the battery on this watch, probably including a calibration of
> the depth gauge. In addition, since the battery change, the alarm sound
> isn't audible anymore...
>
> Any idea or advice?
> Thanks in advance!

Return the watch to the service technician.

Report your findings.

Demand satisfaction.

On Tue, 30 Nov 2004 02:36:57 +0100, "Eric P." <no.email@no.spam> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>A friend lent me his Citizen Hyper Aqualand watch (1994 model) as he
>don't dive much. He very recently had the battery changed and the water
>resistance tested (for 90 euros!) in France. Since this intervention,
>there is a 15% negative error in depth measurement. I.e., the watch says
>17 m at 20 m and 47 m at 55 m (in normal sea water). Quiet dangerous and
>frustrating for a watch of this price! I think the technician (not sure
>he was a Citizen technician, because Citizen isn't distributed in France
>anymore and the watch has been mailed to a location that is unknown for
>me presently) missed something in the process of opening and closing the
>watch. I read somewhere that there is a very special procedure when
>changing the battery on this watch, probably including a calibration of
>the depth gauge. In addition, since the battery change, the alarm sound
>isn't audible anymore...
>
>Any idea or advice?
>Thanks in advance!

I have a later model (maybe 1997) than yours and have had very accurate
results compared to a mechanical SPG and to my current air-integrated dive
computer. At depths up to 120 fsw there was less than +/- 1 foot error
between them when used side by side. These were also compared with another
Hyper Aqualand and a different model computer owned by my dive buddy. I
have replaced the battery at the local Citizen authorized repair center
near me at least two times since purchasing it. I wear it almost all the
time since it's about as rugged as they come and I can glance at it and
fantasize about diving when I am at work. :)

Clearly there is a calibration error in your unit. Since the depth reading
is going to be proportional to the differential pressure inside the watch
and the ambient pressure outside, there could be an excess pressure inside
due to the pressure of the ambient gas when they sealed the watch after
changing the battery. I don't know if there is a calibration adjustment
inside the watch or not. I do know the proper battery replacement procedure
includes a dry gas ambient at closure and pressure testing afterward. Your
report of inaudible alarm sound makes me very suspicious of that repair
shop.

I should also mention that I can hardly hear it myself, but my buddies
always tell me it keeps chirping when I ascend too fast for the watch but
not too fast for the computer. The Citizen has half the ascent rate
threshold of the computer. If I strap it to my BC collar or a D-ring I can
hear it fine. The sounder seems to be extremely directional in the water.

"Eric P." wrote

> A friend lent me his Citizen Hyper Aqualand watch (1994 model) as he
> don't dive much. He very recently had the battery changed and the water
> resistance tested (for 90 euros!) in France. Since this intervention,
> there is a 15% negative error in depth measurement. I.e., the watch says
> 17 m at 20 m and 47 m at 55 m (in normal sea water). Quiet dangerous and
> frustrating for a watch of this price! I think the technician (not sure
> he was a Citizen technician, because Citizen isn't distributed in France
> anymore and the watch has been mailed to a location that is unknown for
> me presently) missed something in the process of opening and closing the
> watch. I read somewhere that there is a very special procedure when
> changing the battery on this watch, probably including a calibration of
> the depth gauge. In addition, since the battery change, the alarm sound
> isn't audible anymore...
>
> Any idea or advice?
> Thanks in advance!

Send it to Citizen or an authorized Citizen repair facility.

Personally, I had the alarms on my Citizen HA watch disabled when it went in
for battery replacement. I paid quite a bit less for it than your friend
did. As I recall, the Citizen watches are calibrated for fresh water. If
so, they should show more, not less, than the actual depth in salt water.

Lee

First, thanks to Firewalker, Geoff and Lee Bell for their answers.

I did a reset by pressing the 4 buttons at the same time, and dove once
more with the watch. The negative error decreased from 15% to 2.3%
(relative to the true depth in sea water)!!! Not perfect but better!
Ideally, in sea water, it should show a bit more (ca. 2.5%) than the
true depth (Lee suggested that the watch is calibrated for fresh water).
So the watch still has a ca. 4.8% negative error (relative to its
original "factory setting")... No need to expatiate upon this. Just
wanted to post that a reset might help in such a situation.

Have nice dives!

--
Eric P.

Eric P. a écrit dans le message
<41abcedd$0$16336$626a14ce@news.free.fr>...
>Hi all,
>
>A friend lent me his Citizen Hyper Aqualand watch (1994 model) as he
>don't dive much. He very recently had the battery changed and the water
>resistance tested (for 90 euros!) in France. Since this intervention,
>there is a 15% negative error in depth measurement. I.e., the watch
says
>17 m at 20 m and 47 m at 55 m (in normal sea water). Quiet dangerous
and
>frustrating for a watch of this price! I think the technician (not sure
>he was a Citizen technician, because Citizen isn't distributed in
France
>anymore and the watch has been mailed to a location that is unknown for
>me presently) missed something in the process of opening and closing
the
>watch. I read somewhere that there is a very special procedure when
>changing the battery on this watch, probably including a calibration of
>the depth gauge. In addition, since the battery change, the alarm sound
>isn't audible anymore...
>
>Any idea or advice?
>Thanks in advance!
>
>--
>Eric P.
>http://www.chez.com/eponcelet/cannes-jeunesse-plongee/

Hi all,

A friend lent me his Citizen Hyper Aqualand watch (1994 model) as he
don't dive much. He very recently had the battery changed and the water
resistance tested (for 90 euros!) in France. Since this intervention,
there is a 15% negative error in depth measurement. I.e., the watch says
17 m at 20 m and 47 m at 55 m (in normal sea water). Quiet dangerous and
frustrating for a watch of this price! I think the technician (not sure
he was a Citizen technician, because Citizen isn't distributed in France
anymore and the watch has been mailed to a location that is unknown for
me presently) missed something in the process of opening and closing the
watch. I read somewhere that there is a very special procedure when
changing the battery on this watch, probably including a calibration of
the depth gauge. In addition, since the battery change, the alarm sound
isn't audible anymore...

Any idea or advice?
Thanks in advance!

--
Eric P.
http://www.chez.com/eponcelet/cannes-jeunesse-plongee/

"Eric P." <no.email@no.spam> wrote in message
news:41abcedd$0$16336$626a14ce@news.free.fr...
> Hi all,
>
> A friend lent me his Citizen Hyper Aqualand watch (1994 model) as he
> don't dive much. He very recently had the battery changed and the water
> resistance tested (for 90 euros!) in France. Since this intervention,
> there is a 15% negative error in depth measurement. I.e., the watch says
> 17 m at 20 m and 47 m at 55 m (in normal sea water). Quiet dangerous and
> frustrating for a watch of this price! I think the technician (not sure
> he was a Citizen technician, because Citizen isn't distributed in France
> anymore and the watch has been mailed to a location that is unknown for
> me presently) missed something in the process of opening and closing the
> watch. I read somewhere that there is a very special procedure when
> changing the battery on this watch, probably including a calibration of
> the depth gauge. In addition, since the battery change, the alarm sound
> isn't audible anymore...
>
> Any idea or advice?
> Thanks in advance!

Return the watch to the service technician.

Report your findings.

Demand satisfaction.

On Tue, 30 Nov 2004 02:36:57 +0100, "Eric P." <no.email@no.spam> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>A friend lent me his Citizen Hyper Aqualand watch (1994 model) as he
>don't dive much. He very recently had the battery changed and the water
>resistance tested (for 90 euros!) in France. Since this intervention,
>there is a 15% negative error in depth measurement. I.e., the watch says
>17 m at 20 m and 47 m at 55 m (in normal sea water). Quiet dangerous and
>frustrating for a watch of this price! I think the technician (not sure
>he was a Citizen technician, because Citizen isn't distributed in France
>anymore and the watch has been mailed to a location that is unknown for
>me presently) missed something in the process of opening and closing the
>watch. I read somewhere that there is a very special procedure when
>changing the battery on this watch, probably including a calibration of
>the depth gauge. In addition, since the battery change, the alarm sound
>isn't audible anymore...
>
>Any idea or advice?
>Thanks in advance!

I have a later model (maybe 1997) than yours and have had very accurate
results compared to a mechanical SPG and to my current air-integrated dive
computer. At depths up to 120 fsw there was less than +/- 1 foot error
between them when used side by side. These were also compared with another
Hyper Aqualand and a different model computer owned by my dive buddy. I
have replaced the battery at the local Citizen authorized repair center
near me at least two times since purchasing it. I wear it almost all the
time since it's about as rugged as they come and I can glance at it and
fantasize about diving when I am at work. :)

Clearly there is a calibration error in your unit. Since the depth reading
is going to be proportional to the differential pressure inside the watch
and the ambient pressure outside, there could be an excess pressure inside
due to the pressure of the ambient gas when they sealed the watch after
changing the battery. I don't know if there is a calibration adjustment
inside the watch or not. I do know the proper battery replacement procedure
includes a dry gas ambient at closure and pressure testing afterward. Your
report of inaudible alarm sound makes me very suspicious of that repair
shop.

I should also mention that I can hardly hear it myself, but my buddies
always tell me it keeps chirping when I ascend too fast for the watch but
not too fast for the computer. The Citizen has half the ascent rate
threshold of the computer. If I strap it to my BC collar or a D-ring I can
hear it fine. The sounder seems to be extremely directional in the water.

"Eric P." wrote

> A friend lent me his Citizen Hyper Aqualand watch (1994 model) as he
> don't dive much. He very recently had the battery changed and the water
> resistance tested (for 90 euros!) in France. Since this intervention,
> there is a 15% negative error in depth measurement. I.e., the watch says
> 17 m at 20 m and 47 m at 55 m (in normal sea water). Quiet dangerous and
> frustrating for a watch of this price! I think the technician (not sure
> he was a Citizen technician, because Citizen isn't distributed in France
> anymore and the watch has been mailed to a location that is unknown for
> me presently) missed something in the process of opening and closing the
> watch. I read somewhere that there is a very special procedure when
> changing the battery on this watch, probably including a calibration of
> the depth gauge. In addition, since the battery change, the alarm sound
> isn't audible anymore...
>
> Any idea or advice?
> Thanks in advance!

Send it to Citizen or an authorized Citizen repair facility.

Personally, I had the alarms on my Citizen HA watch disabled when it went in
for battery replacement. I paid quite a bit less for it than your friend
did. As I recall, the Citizen watches are calibrated for fresh water. If
so, they should show more, not less, than the actual depth in salt water.

Lee

First, thanks to Firewalker, Geoff and Lee Bell for their answers.

I did a reset by pressing the 4 buttons at the same time, and dove once
more with the watch. The negative error decreased from 15% to 2.3%
(relative to the true depth in sea water)!!! Not perfect but better!
Ideally, in sea water, it should show a bit more (ca. 2.5%) than the
true depth (Lee suggested that the watch is calibrated for fresh water).
So the watch still has a ca. 4.8% negative error (relative to its
original "factory setting")... No need to expatiate upon this. Just
wanted to post that a reset might help in such a situation.

Have nice dives!

--
Eric P.

Eric P. a écrit dans le message
<41abcedd$0$16336$626a14ce@news.free.fr>...
>Hi all,
>
>A friend lent me his Citizen Hyper Aqualand watch (1994 model) as he
>don't dive much. He very recently had the battery changed and the water
>resistance tested (for 90 euros!) in France. Since this intervention,
>there is a 15% negative error in depth measurement. I.e., the watch
says
>17 m at 20 m and 47 m at 55 m (in normal sea water). Quiet dangerous
and
>frustrating for a watch of this price! I think the technician (not sure
>he was a Citizen technician, because Citizen isn't distributed in
France
>anymore and the watch has been mailed to a location that is unknown for
>me presently) missed something in the process of opening and closing
the
>watch. I read somewhere that there is a very special procedure when
>changing the battery on this watch, probably including a calibration of
>the depth gauge. In addition, since the battery change, the alarm sound
>isn't audible anymore...
>
>Any idea or advice?
>Thanks in advance!
>
>--
>Eric P.
>http://www.chez.com/eponcelet/cannes-jeunesse-plongee/