Explosion at the Boot - official statement from Heinrichs Weikamp

Last Saturday, 26 January, during the Boot Fair taking place in Düsseldorf, an incident occurred at the Heinrichs Weikamp stand which caused a lot of confusion and became the topic of the day both at the fair and on the diving internet. We have written more about the incident here, and today we present the translated official HW position.

[blockquote style=”2″]”On 26 January 2019, there was an explosion of a lithium battery, in a Heinrichs Weikamp dive computer, at our booth at the “Boot” trade fair. As a result of the explosion, the lid of the battery compartment was torn off. One person suffered slight cuts and burns on his forearm due to shrapnel, other people in the vicinity suffered shock from the explosion. “OSTC plus” can operate on lithium batteries or ordinary disposable batteries. The battery explosion was caused by an incorrect combination of battery and computer settings: a 3.6 V battery was inserted, but the computer was set to a rechargeable battery type. Attempting to charge in this state for several hours caused the battery to explode. In order to prevent a recurrence of such an incident, Heinrichs Weikamp restricts with immediate effect the use of batteries other than: 3.6 V lithium batteries or 1.5 V disposable batteries in the “OSTC plus” computers. Further use of 3.6 V disposable lithium batteries in the OSTC dive computers is strongly discouraged, due to the potential risk of confusion between the type of battery used and the use of incorrect battery settings. A software update will also be provided shortly to make it easier to enter battery type settings and minimise the chances of confusion. 1.5V disposable batteries are automatically detected by the computer and will not be charged, even if the computer is set otherwise. Dive computers “OSTC 2”, “cR”, “OSTC4” or “DR5” with built-in lithium batteries are not affected by this warning, nor are “OSTC Sport” (old and new models) “OSTC Models 3” and “Frog”, as they do not have a charging function. Heinrichs Weikamp is an owner-managed company based in Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany) and has specialised in the production of high quality dive computers and underwater lights for over 10 years. To date, more than 20,000 dive computers of various series and models have been delivered. This is the first case we are aware of where an incorrect combination of batteries and computer settings has resulted in a failure. We take this incident very seriously and are of course ready to answer any questions.”[/blockquote]

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Source: Heinrichs Weikamp