Halcyon p-valve

[WoodTurner]

Yesterday I finished my TDI AN/DP and 7 guided tours on Zenobia wreck in Larnaca Cyprus. I had a great time, except for the deco stops when I had to wait, to me it seemd ages before exiting and relieving myself on the boat.
I had a condom cathether, but no quick connects nor bottle for sanitation, which I conveniently forgot 3000km back home, so I never used the p-valve. As I’m pretty much clueless in how the p-valve behaves in practice, I’m posting this to learn about it from experienced users.
Halcyon is balanced p-valve, I was getting some water in the tube after the dive, not sure whether it was condensation or sea water, I suspect latter due to amount of liquid.
When I tried to blow the water out of the tube, there was much resistance, acually almost complete block, all the way up until I removed the screw cap all together.
Is this normal p-valve behavior?
I can’t imagine it is, otherwise once plumbed, I’m at risk blowing undesirable urine baloon when in use, not to mention urine flood in my dry suit

Second concern was that my dry suit was flooding, minimally, from the quads down, more on the left leg where the p-valve is installed. After 2 dives a day, I could squeeze the water from both of my socks.

Note: dry suit is Santi Elite +, with about 15 dives in it, bought new MTM.

Edit: perhaps admin can move the thread under exposure suits.

 

[happy-diver]

What Is the Chemical Composition of Human Sweat or Perspiration?

Human perspiration is mainly water. The chemical composition of perspiration or sweat depends on several factors, including why someone is perspiring.

www.thoughtco.com

 

[J-Vo]

Halcyon valves have very good flow, so something is wrong with yours. Sometimes the duckbill valve clogs if it's not rinsed well after dives.

Your suit should always be dry or it's not a dry suit and needs repair.

 

[Lorenzoid]

When I tried to blow the water out of the tube, there was much resistance, acually almost complete block, all the way up until I removed the screw cap all together.

I don't know if Halcyon has changed the design, but mine has a tiny set screw that keeps the cap from being completely removed by turning. When I'm ready to dive, I turn the cap completely open. I have never tried turning it only partly, so I don't know if it would cause resistance.

 

[WoodTurner]

Halcyon valves have very good flow, so something is wrong with yours. Sometimes the duckbill valve clogs if it's not rinsed well after dives.

Your suit should always be dry or it's not a dry suit and needs repair.

I was guessing so. Will take it back to the shop for the check, it’s still under warranty.
Like I’ve said, don’t have many dives in it, and it has good flow when the screw cap is removed altogether, though that renders the cap and exit holes in it pointless.

 

[WoodTurner]

I don't know if Halcyon has changed the design, but mine has a tiny set screw that keeps the cap from being completely removed by turning. When I'm ready to dive, I turn the cap completely open. I have never tried turning it only partly, so I don't know if it would cause resistance.

Yeah there is a set screw, but it doesn’t set, I can remove the cap completely.
Are you saying that you’re removing cap completely before each dive?

 

[Lorenzoid]

Yeah there is a set screw, but it doesn’t set, I can remove the cap completely.
Are you saying that you’re removing cap completely before each dive?

No, I don't remove the cap completely. I turn the cap counterclockwise (ie, open) until the set screw prevents the cap from turning any more.

 

[Doc Harry]

Your suit should always be dry or it's not a dry suit and needs repair.

My Halcyon balanced p-valve always leaked a little urine, so I turned it into an unbalanced p-valve.
Problem solved.

 

[PfcAJ]

Unbalanced gang.

Balanced p-valves are a gimmick, and so are QDs

I’m pretty sure that the halcyon duckbill can be removed and plugged with a standard LP port plug.

 

[Wibble]

A post dive drysuit and underclothes will be mildly moist with condensation from the warm fleshy thing in the middle. You always need to hang the suit and underclothes up overnight between days.

Pee valve…. This is discussed a lot on here, see links below.
A quick disconnect with a flow stop valve makes connecting the hose to your old chap much easier when you get in to your suit. I route the hose up and over my waistband and connect with my old chap pointing upwards. The barbed connector is pushed on to the catheter/condom before rolling it on.

Always make sure the connector ’clicks’ when connecting. Ensure the hose to catheter isn’t kinked.

Catheter pictures…

P-Valve Questions

I use a similar setup to @Boarderguy , but instead of a water bottle I use an old hydration pack with the quick-disconnect fitting attached to the hydration pack hose. When I flush my p-valve it looks like I'm administering an IV drip to my drysuit. :rofl3:

scubaboard.com

Another pee valve question…

https://scubaboard.com/community/threads/another-pee-valve-question.629762/post-9926177