Suunto Cobra Question

[racer17m]

My wife and I both have Suunto Cobra's we love them! I have 180 dives on mine and have never had an issue, but i do have a question. On our recent dive trip to Florida the dive operator said if at anytime you get seperated or get off the reef, surface and he will drop us back on the reef or back with a the group.  This raised a question that I have never had to deal with nor did i want to find out the answer, if we surface after being down for any amount of time if we dont do our 3 minute safety stop I believe the computer will lock us out, I didnt want to try it out and screw up our dive.  Does anyone know if we blow our safety stop to get  dropped back on the reef if the computer would lock us out?

[SCUBA Dog]

Here is the info from the Suunto Cobra manual.


3.2.1. RECOMMENDED SAFETY STOP
With every dive over 10 meters the instrument has a three minute countdown for the
recommended safety stop, to be taken in the 3 - 6 meter [10 ft - 20 ft] range. This
is shown with the STOP sign and a three-minute countdown in the center window
instead of the no-decompression time (Fig. 3.11.).
The Recommended Safety Stop, as the name implies, is recommended. If it is
ignored, there is no penalty applied to the following surface intervals and dives.

[Dan G]

If my memory is correct,  if the stop goes from "recommended" to "mandatory", it will lockout. Mandatory stop would be either Deco or for Rapid accent. Check the manual, I think it covers rapid accents and missed deco stop.

[mjgriffing]

If my memory is correct, if you are on the surface for less than 5 minutes, it will treat the re-descent as a continuation of the first dive.  Provided you do the safety stop at the end of the dive, it should not lock you out (unless of course the safety stop was mandatory for some reason like long time at a deep depth).

[SCUBA Dog]

I should have included all of this on my original reply. I assumed LowVis was referring to a recommended safety stop. Here is the info from the Suunto Cobra manual regarding recommended and mandatory stops.

3.2. SAFETY STOPS
Safety stops are widely considered “good diving practice” and are an integral part of
most dive tables. Reasons to perform a safety stop include a reduction in sub clinical
DCI, microbubble reduction, ascent control, and orientation before surfacing.
The Cobra displays two different types of safety stops: Recommended Safety Stop
and Mandatory Safety Stop.
The Safety Stops are indicated by:
• STOP label, when in the depth range 3 m - 6 m [10 ft - 20 ft]
= Recommended Safety Stop Countdown
• STOP + CEILING label, when in the depth range 3 m - 6 m [10 ft - 20
ft] = Mandatory Safety Stop Time display
• STOP label, when deeper than 6 m
= Mandatory Safety Stop scheduled

3.2.1. RECOMMENDED SAFETY STOP
With every dive over 10 meters the instrument has a three minute countdown for the
recommended safety stop, to be taken in the 3 - 6 meter [10 ft - 20 ft] range. This
is shown with the STOP sign and a three-minute countdown in the center window
instead of the no-decompression time (Fig. 3.11.).
The Recommended Safety Stop, as the name implies, is recommended. If it is
ignored, there is no penalty applied to the following surface intervals and dives.

3.2.2. MANDATORY SAFETY STOP
When the ascent rate exceeds 12 meters/min [40 ft] momentarily or 10 meters/min
[33ft] continuously the micro-bubble build-up is predicted to be more than allowed
for in the decompression model. The Suunto RGBM calculation model responds
to this by adding a Mandatory Safety Stop to the dive. The time of this Mandatory
Safety Stop will depend on the severity of the ascent rate excess.
The STOP sign will appear in the display and when you reach the depth zone between
6 m to 3 m [20 ft to 10] also the CEILING label, ceiling depth and the calculated
Safety Stop time appear in the display. You should wait until the Mandatory Safety
Stop warning disappears (Fig. 3.14.).
The Mandatory Safety Stop time always includes the three minute Recommended
Safety Stop time. The total length of the Mandatory Safety Stop time depends on
the seriousness of the ascent rate violation.
You must not ascend shallower than 3 m [10 ft] with the Mandatory Safety Stop
warning on. If you ascend above the Mandatory Safety Stop ceiling, a downward
pointing arrow will appear and a continuous beeping starts (Fig. 3.15.). You should
immediately descend to, or below, the Mandatory Safety Stop ceiling depth. If
you correct this situation at any time during that dive, there are no affects on the
decompression calculations for future dives.
If you continue to violate the Mandatory Safety Stop, the tissue calculation model
is affected and the dive computer shortens the available no-decompression time
for your next dive. In this situation, it is recommended to prolong your surface
interval time before your next dive.

[mcdiver]

It depends.

One of the first dives I made with my Cobra back in 2003 was a deep dive to 175'.  It was a "legal dive" since I was doing my deco with "greater than 75% oxygen" and used the appropiate tables in determining my deco. However, since I did violate the "No Decompression Limits", the computer did lock-me-out from further use until the computer determined it was safe for me to dive again.

So unless you violated the No Decompression Limit, it should not lock you out.