Mares Smart Dive Computer Instruction Manual

Instruction Manual

Smart Dive Computer

Smart 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 TO A PC OR MAC 4

1.5. BUTTON OPERATION 4

1.6. WATCH DISPLAY 5

2. MENUS, SETTINGS AND FUNCTIONS 5

2.1. CHRONO 6

2.2. PRE DIVE 6

2.3. MODE 6

2.4. SET 6

2.4.1. SET DIVE 7

2.4.1.1. LIGHT BACKLIGHT 7

2.4.1.2. P FACT P FACTOR 7

2.4.1.3. ALT ALTITUDE 7

2.4.1.4. WATR WATER 7

2.4.1.5. UNITS 8

2.4.1.6. FAST FAST ASCENT 8

2.4.1.7. ALRM ALARMS 8

2.4.1.8. ERASE ERASE DESATURATION 8

2.4.2. SET TIME 8

2.5. LOG LOGBOOK 8

2.6. PLAN DIVE PLANNER 9

2.7. PC 9

2.8. INFO 9

3. DIVING WITH SMART 9

3.1. A FEW WORDS ABOUT NITROX 9

3.2. ALARMS 10

3.2.1. ASCENT RATE 10

3.2.2. MOD/PPO2 10

3.2.3. CNS = 100% 10

3.2.4. MISSED DECOMPRESSION STOP 10

3.2.4.1. MISSED DECO STOP MODE 10

3.2.5. LOW BATTERY 11

3.3. DISPLAY INFORMATION 11

3.4. AFTER THE DIVE 12

3.5. DIVING WITH MORE THAN ONE GAS MIXTURE 12

3.5.1. SETTING MORE THAN ONE GAS 12

3.5.2. SWITCHING GAS 12

3.5.3. SPECIAL SITUATIONS 13

3.5.3.1. SWITCHING BACK TO A GAS MIXTURE WITH
LOWER OXYGEN CONCENTRATION 13

3.5.3.2. SUBMERGING BELOW THE MOD AFTER A GAS
SWITCH 13

3.6. BOTTOM TIMER MODE BT 13

3.6.1. DIVE VIOLATION INDUCED BOTTOM TIMER MODE 13

3.7. APNEA MODE 13

3.7.1. SETTINGS 13

3.7.2. USING SMART ON AN APNEA DIVE 14

3.7.2.1. SURFACING BETWEEN IMMERSIONS 14

3.7.3. LOGBOOK IN APNEA MODE 14

3.7.4. SWITCHING FROM APNEA TO SCUBA 14

4. TAKING CARE OF SMART 14

4.1. TECHNICAL INFORMATION 14

4.2. MAINTENANCE 15

4.2.1. REPLACING THE BATTERY IN SMART 15

4.3. WARRANTY 16

4.4. WARRANTY EXCLUSIONS 16

4.5. HOW TO FIND THE PRODUCT SERIAL NUMBER 16

5. DISPOSAL OF THE DEVICE 16

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 Dive Computer

4

1.2. OPERATING MODES

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

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

- pre-dive (Smart 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 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 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 uses a CR2430 user-replaceable
battery. See section 4.2.1 for instructions on
how to replace it. Good quality batteries should
suffice for approx 200-300 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 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 TO A PC
OR MAC

To connect Smart 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 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 DOWN button
(

) to activate the backlight.

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

From time of day display:
backlight
From all others:
go back one level

DIVE

Modify bottom row Backlight

PRESS PRESS AND HOLD

WATC H

Scroll up or
increase by 1

Enter a submenu or
confirm a setting

DIVE

Modify top row

Reset stopwatch
(Multigas only:

- Activate gas switch process

- Confirm gas switch)

PRESS PRESS AND HOLD

WATC H

Scroll up or
increase by 1

Enter a submenu or
confirm a setting

DIVE

Modify top row

Reset Stopwatch
(Multigas only:

- Activate gas switch process

- Confirm gas switch)

PRESS PRESS AND HOLD

WATC H

Scroll down or
decrease by 1

From time of day display:
backlight
From all others:
go back one level

DIVE

Modify bottom row Backlight

5

SURFACE MODE

press

press and hold

DIVE MODE

press

press and hold

4s TIMEOUT

Smart Dive Computer

6

1.6. WATCH DISPLAY

The watch display is the “home” display of
Smart. 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 at the bottom
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 UP button turns the wake-up
alarm on or off.

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

• 2. MENUS, SETTINGS AND
FUNCTIONS

This chapter describes in detail all menus,
setting and functions of the Smart dive
computer.

From the time of day display, pressing the
UP button allows you to scroll through the
following sequence of menus (note that once
inside the menu loop, pressing the DOWN
button scrolls through the menus in reverse
sequence):

- CHROnO: allows you to operate Smart like a
normal stopwatch;

- PrE dIVE: places Smart in the ready-to-dive
mode;

- MOdE: allows you to set the computer to air,
nitrox or bottom timer mode;

- SEt: allows you to view and change all
settings relative to the dive computer;

- LOG: allows you to access the detailed
history of the dives performed;

- PLAN: allows you to plan dives as a function
of depth based on your current nitrogen load;

- PC: allows you to download dives to a PC or
Mac

- INFO: allows you to view information about
software and hardware of your Smart.

The pre-dive mode puts the computer in a
ready-to-dive mode and ensures that Smart
starts to monitor the dive as soon as a depth
of 1.2m/4ft is reached. If you start the dive
without putting Smart into pre-dive mode,

it will start to monitor the dive automatically
but with a delay of up to 20 seconds from
immersion.

The pre-dive display shows p factor and
altitude settings, time of day and surface
interval since the last dive. If Nitrox is set,
it will show the O

2

percentage and the

corresponding MOD.

NOTE

- If you remain in pre-dive for longer than
3 minutes without pressing any button,
Smart will revert to normal watch
operation.

- It is recommended to put Smart into pre­dive before submerging. Not doing so
can lead to a delay of up to 20s in Smart
monitoring the dive.

2.1. CHROnO

Press and hold the UP button to enter
this menu. The middle row now features a
stopwatch while the time of day has moved
to the bottom row. Press the UP button to
start and stop the time, then press the DOWN
button to reset the time to zero. Press and hold
the DOWN button to exit from the stopwatch
function (this stops and resets the stopwatch if
it was running or stopped at a non-zero value
upon exiting).

The stopwatch features also a split-time
function: by pressing the DOWN button while
the stopwatch is running, the time itself will
freeze while SPL blinks in the top row and the
stopwatch continues in the background. Every
time you press the DOWN button the split time
will refresh with the new value. Press and hold
the DOWN button to exit the split-time mode.
Note that while in split-time mode, the UP
button has no function.

2.2. PrE dIVE

Press and hold the UP button to enter this
menu and put Smart into the ready-to-dive
mode.

2.3. MOdE

Here you can define the type of gas you will
be breathing during the dive (air or enriched
air nitrox, including multigas). You can also
set Smart to bottom timer (BT), in which
case Smart will show only time, depth
and temperature: it will not carry out any
decompression calculation and it will not
show any warnings and alarms. You can set
Smart also to APNEA, which in essence is a
bottom timer with special features dedicated
to apneists.
Press the UP or DOWN button to scroll through
the four possible options (AIR, EAN, BT or
APNEA), then press and hold the UP button to
select it.