Changing the battery on my dive computer

Battery change, Suunto Vyper

I was packing my dive gear, getting ready for the next dive trip. As always, I checked my Suunto Vyper dive computer. Only this time it signaled that the battery was low. It would have to be changed before diving. I was in a bit of a hurry to get the battery changed; I was leaving for my dive destination the next day. So I called my local dive centre to get the job done. Unfortunately, they were already closed for the day.

I searched the internet to find another shop anywhere within reasonable distance, that would change the battery for me. No luck there! Instead, I found a store that sold battery change kits. I paid them a visit, got the kit, and the guy at the shop gave me some really good expert advice on how to change the battery myself. Since I had no choice, I thought I'd give changing the battery a try.

Now, Suunto strongly advises not to change the battery yourself, and insists that it is a job only for professionals. I'm sure that Suunto is, at least in part, just covering its company butt, so that any malfunctions caused by changing the battery and getting it wrong could not be blamed on them. Anyway, I'll take this opportunity to cover myself as well, and say that if you try to change the battery yourself, you are doing it at your own risk.

Needless to say, I was very nervous about this project. I am not really a technical expert of any kind, I can just about change the battery on a flash light. And getting this wrong would propably result in flooding my precious computer with salt water the moment I'd start my first dive. I got some advise from the net, but there were still some things that were left unclear to me when I started.

The kit includes the battery, an o-ring, battery lid and a battery holder. The kit is not expensive at all, and doing the work yourself can save you a bit of money as long as you get it right. If you get it wrong, you'll ruin your expensive computer.

Pins taken off and wrist bands removed. You do this by sticking a small screw driver between the rubber wrist band and the computer. The you find a tiny slot in the pin and push it in, towards the centre of the wrist band. Then you just twist the wrist band off. You need to apply some force to get the pins off.

After the wrist bands have beet taken off, the computer pops out the protective case quite easily. Some force may be required.

The battery case opens by turning anti-clockwise a few millimeters. The two tiny holes on the right hand side are used for turning the case.

When you've taken the cover off, the see-thru lid pops off. At this point you need to pay special attention to where the o-ring is, so you'll know where to put the new one. This goes for the other parts as well. There are not many of them, but they come loose easily and it helps with the assembling if you know where all the parts go. Now you are ready to change the battery and assemble the computer.

When you assemble the computer, make sure all parts, especially the o-ring, are absolutely clean. The o-ring has a slight grease on it, so any speck of dust sticks to it. Make sure none is left on when you assemble the computer, or it might cause a leak.

Changing the battery on my Suunto Viper was not nearly as difficult as I had anticipated. It was actually quite easy. However, it did help a great deal that I got some tips on how to do it in advance. Without them, I would really have struggled with this project.

If you decide to try this project yourself, or if there is anything that is not explained clearly in the text, feel encouraged to leave a comment below, and I'll get back to you with any advise/apologies/condolences I can give.