Air compressor for Drysuit leak test

[M-Cameron]

i mean....whats the volume of air required to fill a dry suit?.....2-3 cu-ft ?.....you arent even going to miss that out of a tank....

personally i think itll be cheaper and easier to just use a cylinder....

 

[broncobowsher]

To fill a drysuit, I am guessing 15-20 cubic feet. There is a lot of volume when they are fully inflated.
I just cut an old inflator hose, barbed fitting and standard NPT stuff to connect to the shop compressor. You are after the volume, not the pressure. Spray bottle of soapy water. No leaks and it will hold its shape for hours or days. if it gets frumpy quick, there is a leak.

 

[asterosdeals]

I did that a couple of months ago.
I used soda cans to seal the wrists. and just an air tank. If you want to spare the air, just dive with it first then leave the remaining air for leak check.

 

[M-Cameron]

To fill a drysuit, I am guessing 15-20 cubic feet. There is a lot of volume when they are fully inflated.
I just cut an old inflator hose, barbed fitting and standard NPT stuff to connect to the shop compressor. You are after the volume, not the pressure. Spray bottle of soapy water. No leaks and it will hold its shape for hours or days. if it gets frumpy quick, there is a leak.

20 cu-ft?!.....thats 1/4 of a tank

you can definitely fill a dry suit more than 4 times on a standard AL80

hell, if its 15-20 cu-ft, a standard pony bottle wouldnt be able to fill a dry suit.

 

[broncobowsher]

There is a big difference between the little you need as you dive and the fully inflated to the point the limbs are holding themselves up with nobody in it for a leak check. Factor in you will probably pop a cork out of one of the seals the first time you try.

 

[tbone1004]

Humans are roughly speaking 62lbs/cf. I weigh about 260lbs and am 6'4", so call it 4.5cf of "space" that my body occupies. Drysuits are obviously not form fitting, so I'd SWAG and say that my suit which is cave cut, but still telescoping, is probably about 6cf of air space when empty

 

[kelemvor]

you put balloons over your wrist seals?

I put them inside the arms and neck of the suit so they plug the hole. You could also use a rubber ball if you found one of suitable size. The ball would probably be easier if you find the right one as it will be harder to blow out of the hole.

 

[Jack Hammer]

I've used an air mattress pump (works great), a bicycle pump(slow), and shop air (great) to leak test a drysuit. Even spent a miserable time once filling by lung power over a few hours (don't recommend trying it). Best method I've ever found, as mentioned already, is to invert it and fill with water. Leave it in a while, I had an ankle strap leak that took 10 minutes to show, then wow, no wonder my foot got soaked 15minutes into a dive.