Can you relocate valves on a crushed neo dry suit?

[justin-branam]

i got a dry suit for FREE!!!! Anyways, the inflator valve is right in the way of my BC shoulder strap, and the pressure valve (or whatever it is called) is on the chest under the other strap. how could i go about relocating the inflator valve to the middle chest area, and moving the pressure valve to the left arm. If i were to cut out the correct sized circle on the arm and middle chest, move the valves to the the newly desired positions, would i be able to sew the neoprene circles i cut out to the old holes (where i moved the valves from) and then use aqua-seal on the inside and out to make the sew-spots water tight? if there are other ways of doing this i would liket o hear your thoughts. im going to buy a tri-lam in february anyways, but wanted to use this one now, and use it as a backup since i have it. thanks for any suggestions.

 

[norcaldiver]

I'm not an authority on this, but I have seen some pretty big gashes fixed with a few stitches and a lot of auqaseal. I've also seen people that put on new neck and wrist seals with some heavy duty glue and, again, a lot of auqaseal, so I don't see why that would work for you.
I would think the thing to remember is to cut about an inch around the valves so you can use that to seal neoprene to neoprene rather than trying to seal the valve to the neoprene in the new location, but that's just my thoughts.

 

[Uncle Pug]

The valves should unscrew to take them apart. There is an inner piece and an outer piece. The hole in the suit is smaller than the outside diameter of the valve. Don't cut around the valve to remove it.

Your idea of taking the small piece from the new location to patch the old location is fine. Gluing the edge if the circle into the edge hole should work using neoprene cement and you can also stitch the surfaces together if you want to but don't stitch all the way through. If it were me I don't think I would bother with the stitching.

 

[Bob3]

You can always go the quick & easy route & install a blanking plug.
"Hard" glues like Aqua Seal & E6000 have considerably less flexability & can tend to peel up in the corners from having the suit stretch more than the glue.
If you're patching, use good old wetsuit cement & do a proper surface prep.
Using a valve port (rubber base plate) as opposed to slapping the valve directly onto the suit fabric is also a good thing to do.
When unscrewing exhaust valves, always grab the BASE of the valve & not just the cover (whic can sometimes break).