Bubbles coming from my drysuit Inflator valve - probably a leak? Should I repair or replace?

[Ryebrye]

I was reviewing a couple of clips from a dive and in one "selfie" clip I noticed some bubbles coming from my inflator valve area.

I cropped / zoomed into that part of the video to try to focus in on what I saw and posted a clip here on YouTube:


When I got done with the dive was definitely damp in the front - it was a really shallow dive and I didn't put much air in my suit during the dive (maybe a couple of puffs total), I thought I might have bumped up on my release valve on the arm at some point and since there was no air to let out I might have let water in via the valve - but seeing the bubbles at the inflator valve makes me think that was the culprit.

It's an older apeks inflator valve (as you can probably tell by the shiny button in the video) - before I start to look into this more I want to double check that it's definitely not a normal place for air bubbles to leak out.

 

[lexvil]

Rebuild or replace it. Either one, easier to replace.

 

[tursiops]

I suggest you put "drysuit" in front of "inflator" in your title.
I kept looking for your low-pressure inflator.

 

[Ryebrye]

I suggest you put "drysuit" in front of "inflator" in your title.
I kept looking for your low-pressure inflator.

Good point - I just fixed the title

 

[Bob DBF]

I would repar because I do it myself. If I was having someone else do it, I would compare prices as sometimes replacement is effectively the same price as repair, only now one has a new unit.

 

[tursiops]

I would repar because I do it myself. If I was having someone else do it, I would compare prices as sometimes replacement is effectively the same price as repair, only now one has a new unit.

I agree. It is maybe $50 for a whole new Apeks valve.