Mares SMART AIR Instruction Manual

Instruction Manual

Smart Air Dive Computer

Smart Air Dive Computer

2

• TABLE OF CONTENTS

IMPORTANT WARNINGS 3

DISCLAIMER 3

1. INTRODUCTION 3

1.1. GLOSSARY 3

1.2. OPERATING MODES 4

1.3. USERREPLACEABLE BATTERY 4

1.4. CONNECTING SMART AIR TO A PC OR MAC 4

1.5. BUTTON OPERATION 4

1.6. WATCH DISPLAY 6

1.7. MOUNTING AND PAIRING OF THE TANK MODULE
OPTIONAL 6

2. MENUS, SETTINGS AND FUNCTIONS 7

2.1. CHRONO 7

2.2. PRE DIVE 7

2.3. MODE 7

2.4. SET 8

2.4.1. SET DIVE 9

2.4.1.1. LIGHT BACKLIGHT 9

2.4.1.2. P FACT P FACTOR 9

2.4.1.3. ALT ALTITUDE 9

2.4.1.4. WAtR WATER 9

2.4.1.5. GAS INTEGR GAS INTEGRATION 9

2.4.1.6. UNItS 10

2.4.1.7. FASt FAST ASCENT 10

2.4.1.8. ALAR ALARMS 10

2.4.1.9. ERASE ERASE DESATURATION 10

2.4.2. SET TIME 10

2.5. LOG LOGBOOK 10

2.6. PLAN DIVE PLANNER 11

2.7. PC 11

2.8. INFO 11

3. DIVING WITH SMART AIR 11

3.1. A FEW WORDS ABOUT NITROX 11

3.2. ALARMS 12

3.2.1. ASCENT RATE 12

3.2.2. MOD/PPO2 12

3.2.3. CNS = 100% 12

3.2.4. MISSED DECOMPRESSION STOP 12

3.2.4.1. MISSED DECO STOP MODE 13

3.2.5. LOW TANK PRESSURE
IF OPTIONAL TANK MODULE IS USED 13

3.2.6. LOW BATTERY 13

3.3. DISPLAY INFORMATION 13

3.4. AFTER THE DIVE 14

3.5. DIVING WITH MORE THAN ONE GAS MIXTURE 15

3.5.1. SETTING MORE THAN ONE GAS 15

3.5.2. SWITCHING GAS 15

3.5.3. SPECIAL SITUATIONS 16

3.5.3.1. SWITCHING BACK TO A GAS MIXTURE WITH
LOWER OXYGEN CONCENTRATION 16

3.5.3.2. SUBMERGING BELOW THE MOD AFTER A GAS
SWITCH 16

3.6. BOTTOM TIMER MODE BT 16

3.6.1. DIVE VIOLATION INDUCED BOTTOM TIMER MODE 16

3.7. APNEA MODE 16

3.7.1. SETTINGS 16

3.7.2. USING SMART AIR ON AN APNEA DIVE 17

3.7.2.1. SURFACING BETWEEN IMMERSIONS 17

3.7.3. LOGBOOK IN APNEA MODE 17

3.7.4. SWITCHING FROM APNEA TO SCUBA 18

4. TAKING CARE OF SMART AIR 18

4.1. TECHNICAL INFORMATION 18

4.2. MAINTENANCE 18

4.2.1. REPLACING THE BATTERY IN SMART AIR 18

4.3. WARRANTY 19

4.4. WARRANTY EXCLUSIONS 19

4.5. HOW TO FIND THE PRODUCT SERIAL NUMBER 19

5. DISPOSAL OF THE DEVICE 19

3

• IMPORTANT WARNINGS

No part of this document may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form without the written permission of
Mares S.p.A.

Mares adopts a policy of continuing
improvement, and therefore reserves the right
to make changes and enhancements to any of
the products described in this manual without
notice.

Under no circumstances shall Mares be held
responsible for any loss or damage sustained
by third parties deriving from the use of this
instrument.



WARNING

A dive computer is an electronic
instrument and as such it is not immune
to failure. To protect yourself against the
unlikely event of a failure, in addition to the
dive computer, also use a depth gauge, a
submersible pressure gauge, a timer or
watch, and dive tables.



WARNING

Do not dive if the display appears unusual
or unclear.



WARNING

The dive computer must not be used in
conditions that preclude its use (e.g.: low
or no visibility, making it impossible to
read the gauge).



WARNING

The dive computer cannot ensure against
possible decompression sickness.

DISCLAIMER

This manual describes how to operate an
instrument and it describes the information
provided by the instrument during a dive.
Neither this manual nor the instrument are a
substitute for dive training, common sense and
good diving practices.

How the information provided by the
instrument is interpreted and put to use by
the diver is not the responsibility of Mares.
Read the manual carefully and make sure you
understand completely how the instrument
works and the information it provides during
a dive, including information on depth, time,
decompression obligations and all warnings
and alarms. Unless you fully understand how
the instrument works and the information
it displays and unless you accept full
responsibility for using this instrument, do not
dive with it.

• 1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. GLOSSARY

AIR: Air dive

:

Symbolizes decompression stop violation.

:

Symbolizes uncontrolled ascent and uncontrolled ascent violation.

ASC:

Total ascent time, the time it takes to perform the ascent from your current depth to the surface in a decompression dive,
including all decompression stops and assuming an ascent rate of 10m/min or 33ft/min.

AVG: Average depth, calculated from the beginning of the dive.

CNS: Central Nervous System. CNS% is used to quantify toxic effects of oxygen.

DESAT: Desaturation time. The time needed for the body to eliminate the nitrogen taken up during diving.

Gas switching: The act of changing from one breathing gas to another.

Max depth: Maximum depth attained during the dive.

MOD:

Maximum Operating Depth. This is the depth at which the partial pressure of oxygen (ppO

2

) reaches the maximum allowed

level (ppO2max). Diving deeper than the MOD will expose the diver to unsafe ppO2 levels.

Multigas: Refers to a dive in which more than one breathing gas is used (air and/or Nitrox).

Nitrox: A breathing mix made of oxygen and nitrogen, with the oxygen concentration being 22% or higher.

NO FLY: Minimum amount of time the diver should wait before taking a plane.

No deco time:

This is the time that you can stay at the current depth and still make a direct ascent to the surface without having to perform
mandatory decompression stops.

O

2

: Oxygen.

O

2

%: Oxygen concentration used by the computer in all calculations.

P Factor:

Personalization factors, which allow the user to select between the standard decompression algorithm (P0) and an
increasingly more conservative one (P1, P2).

ppO

2

:

Partial pressure of oxygen. This is the pressure of the oxygen in the breathing mix. It is a function of depth and oxygen
concentration. A ppO2 higher than 1.6bar is considered dangerous.

ppO

2

max: The maximum allowed value for ppO2. Together with the oxygen concentration it defines the MOD.

Switch depth: The depth at which the diver plans to switch to a higher oxygen concentration mix while using the multigas option.

S.I.: Surface interval.

Smart Air Dive Computer

4

1.2. OPERATING MODES

The functions of the Smart Air computer
can be grouped into two categories, each
corresponding to a specific mode of operation:

• watch mode: Smart Air is dry on the surface.
In this mode you can use it as a normal
watch. You can also change settings,
review your logbook, use the dive planner,
see remaining desaturation after a dive,
download to PC and much more;

• dive mode: Smart Air monitors depth,
time, temperature and performs all
decompression calculations; dive mode
itself can be broken down into 4 sub
categories:

- pre-dive (Smart Air is on the surface but

actively monitoring ambient pressure, so
that it can begin to calculate a dive the
instant it is submerged below 1.2m/4ft);

- dive;

- surfacing (Smart Air is on the surface at

the end of a dive; dive time calculation
is halted but if the diver submerges
within three minutes the dive is resumed
including the time spent on the surface);

- post-dive (after the three minutes of

surfacing mode, Smart Air closes the
logbook and reverts to a display showing
desaturation time, no-fly time and surface
interval; this lasts until the desaturation
and the no-fly time both have been
reduced to zero).

1.3. USER-REPLACEABLE BATTERY

Smart Air uses a CR2450 user-replaceable
battery. See section 4.2.1 for instructions on
how to replace it. Good quality batteries should
suffice for approx 100-150 dives, depending on
the usage of the backlight and the temperature
of the water. Diving in cold water, usage of the
backlight and of the beeper increases battery
consumption.

The display alerts you of the status of the
battery. The three possible situations are
described as follows:

- battery symbol not visible: the remaining
battery charge is adequate for diving;

- steady battery symbol on the display: there
is enough charge for a few more dives, but
you should consider replacing the battery at
the next opportunity;

- blinking battery symbol on the display
(surface only): the battery is too weak for
diving. Smart Air will not function as a dive
computer and will not turn on if submerged.

The level of the battery charge can also be
found on the “INFO” page (see section 2.8).

1.4. CONNECTING SMART AIR TO A
PC OR MAC

To connect Smart Air to a PC or Macintosh
computer, use the optional clip and the USB
cable and Dive Organizer to download your
dives to a PC or Divers’ Diary to download your
dives to a Mac. Both software programs can be
downloaded from www.mares.com.

1.5. BUTTON OPERATION

Smart Air has 2 buttons, labelled UP/ENTER
and DOWN/ESC. Each button can be pressed
and released to perform one function (up and
down) and pressed and held for one second to
perform a different function (enter and esc).
We’ll refer to them as UP and DOWN button in
the remainder of this manual.

On the surface pressing and releasing either
button allows to scroll through menus, settings
and values. Pressing and holding the UP button
enters into a menu or confirms a setting, while
pressing and holding the DOWN button exits
from a menu and goes up one level.

During the dive, the UP button modifies the top
row (depth information) whereas the DOWN
button modifies the lower right corner of the
display. From the main watch display and in
dive mode, press and hold the UP button
(

) to activate the backlight.

The function of the DOWN button during the
dive deserves a particular mention already
at this stage of the manual (it is described in
more detail in section 3.3).

Smart Air shows the tank pressure as an
arc spanning the upper half of the display
perimeter, in a fashion similar to an analog
gauge with a needle pointing to a position
along the arc. The arc is composed of 36
of the 60 dots representing the seconds in
normal watch operation. A 200bar/3200psi
tank is represented with all 36 dots lit, which
gradually turn off as the tank is breathed down
during the dive, mimicking the movement of a
needle in the analog gauge.

In addition to this graphic representation,
Smart Air can show the tank pressure also as
a numeric value. In NO DECO mode, this forces
the dive time and no deco time to share the
center row, with a slight reduction in size for
the no deco time. In DECO mode the dive time
cannot be moved to the center row, so that
the numeric value of the tank pressure on the
display replaces the dive time.

To switch between the two options, whether
in NO DECO or in DECO, press and hold the
DOWN button.

NO DECO

DECO

1s 1s

1s 1s

An overview of the button function both in
surface mode and during a dive is presented
here below.

PRESS PRESS AND HOLD

WATC H

Scroll down or
decrease by 1

Go back one level

DIVE

Modify bottom row

Switch between dive time and tank
pressure in lower left corner.
(Multigas only:

- Activate gas switch process

- Confirm gas switch)

PRESS PRESS AND HOLD

WATC H

Scroll up or
increase by 1

From time of day display: backlight
From all others:
enter a submenu or confirm a setting

DIVE

Modify top row Backlight

PRESS PRESS AND HOLD

WATC H

Scroll up or
increase by 1

From time of day display: backlight
From all others:
enter a submenu or confirm a setting

DIVE

Modify top row Backlight

PRESS PRESS AND HOLD

WATC H

Scroll down or
decrease by 1

Go back one level

DIVE

Modify bottom row

Switch between dive time and tank
pressure in lower left corner.
(Multigas only:

- Activate gas switch process

- Confirm gas switch)

5

SURFACE MODE

press

press and hold

C

DIVE MODE

press

press and hold

SMART AIR - DIVE SCHEME

D

Smart Air Dive Computer

6

1.6. WATCH DISPLAY

The watch display is the “home” display
of Smart Air. In this mode, the time of day
is shown in the middle row of the display
while date, temperature, seconds, wake-up
time and second time can be displayed by
pressing the DOWN button. Note that the
temperature reading will be affected by your
body heat while you are wearing the watch. A
growing or diminishing ring of 60 dots around
the perimeter of the display represents the
seconds.

When the wake-up time is displayed, pressing
and holding the DOWN button turns the wake­up alarm on or off.

When the second time is displayed, pressing
and holding the DOWN button switches main
time and second time.

1.7. MOUNTING AND PAIRING OF

THE TANK MODULE (OPTIONAL)

Smart Air can communicate with up to 3 tank
modules regarding tank pressure and gas
consumption information. Each tank module
needs to be mounted on a high pressure port
of a first stage regulator.

HP

HP

HP

HP

HP

HP

In order for Smart Air to display tank pressure
and gas consumption information, you must first
establish a channel of communication between
the tank module and Smart Air. This is called
pairing. This operation needs to be performed
only once and ensures a permanent and
interference-free link between the two devices.

NOTE

To perform the pairing operation, the tank
module must be pressurized to at least
15bar/220psi. Hence it must be mounted
on a first stage regulator, which is itself
mounted on a full scuba tank and the valve
opened.

To mount the tank module on the first stage
regulator, first remove the high pressure port
plug, then screw in the tank module gently by
hand until you feel a minimum of resistance,
then use a 19mm wrench to tighten it.

NOTE

- Do not force the tank module while
holding it by the plastic cap.

- Do not overtorque while using the
wrench: the o-ring seal is assured as
soon as you feel the first resistance. The
only reason for using a wrench to tighten
a bit more is to prevent the tank module
from unscrewing itself over time.

The Mares tank module communicates via
radio frequency with Smart Air. For best
transmission, we recommend positioning the
tank module as described in the next figures.

To pair the tank module with the Smart Air,
proceed as follows:

- Open the tank valve to pressurize the tank
module. You now have two minutes to

perform all steps listed below;

- Go into SET/SET DIVE/GAS INTEGR/PAIR.

- The display will show G1 in the lower right
corner and the word PAIR in the middle. The
lower left corner shows the letters nP (Not
Paired) or P (Paired) to indicate the current
status of that channel. Use the UP and
DOWN buttons in case you are trying to pair
channel G2 or G3.

- Place Smart Air onto the tank module so
that there is contact between tank module
and Smart Air as shown below.

- Press ENTER and wait until OK appears
on the display, in which case you have
successfully established a connection. If OK
does not appear on the display you need to
repeat the operation, but you must turn off

the valve and depressurize the first stage
completely, then wait 20 seconds before
attempting again.