NJMike
Contributor
I had posted in another thread that the problem I was having with the wrist seals leaking on my NEW D1 Hybrid was resolved when I discovered that the wrist seals were installed incorrectly so that the silicone was pinched between the two oval rings, creating what I thought was channels for water to find its way through.
However, replacing the seals with new seals and making sure the installation was correct did not correct the problem.
The suit was sent to a dry suit repair facility who was very pleasant and customer oriented, did several different tests after talking with me, but could not produce a leak.
The suit is now on its way back to my local dive shop, who has NOT been customer oriented at all.
Waterproof customer support has been excellent. I am waiting to hear from one of their techs. The customer rep seems to be very willing to work with me and we are trying to determine the next steps.
I am 100% sure that BOTH sleeves leak and it is NOT from "tendon channels" being formed on my wrists as I move my hands around. I tested this by standing in chest deep water and lowering my arms into the water WITHOUT getting the top of the seals (where they touch the skin of my wrist) into the water. So my wrists and hands never got wet. My arms were lowered so that the water surface was above the outer shell cuffs and water filled the area where the two hard rings are mated. And yes, BOTH sleeves leaked after 5 minutes.
I am at a loss as to how to explain why a simple lowering of my arms will leak water but the pressure tests that the repair facility did produced no leaks. And again, they were very helpful, listened to me on the phone, and performed at least two additional tests after talking with me.
Twenty-eight hours after my last dive day with it, the sleeves of the inner mesh liner were still damp from the previous day's diving.
Si Tech has come out with a dry gove system for the D1 Hybrid, called "Antares". I researched their system, looking for ideas. I did find one thing which was slightly different and would be easy to test.
Also, I will call the repair facility and ask if they removed and replaced the seals BEFORE they begain their testing. If they did, then it might support the argument that I never had them installed properly. If that's the case, I can "blame everyone else" since there is absolutely NO documentation anywhere on how to install them LOL !!!
Si Tech has a nice user manual for their Antares dry glove system, which is designed for use with the D1 Hybrid, and I have printed it out for reference. Since it is designed for the D1, I am assuming that what they say could also be applied to the Waterproof wrist seal installation process. And again, it says that the silicone seals should be installed in one of TWO ways, depending on your suit. They don't specify the difference in the suits that would make one installation better than the other, but it is something that I can try.
I have personally talked to two other divers who have the same drysuit and they both said they have the same problem. I'm not sure how that will fit in with my problem, but it is interesting to note that...
I will continue to post updates on this thread and hope that I can find the answer that I can share with everyone else so that they do not have to go through the same problems.
However, replacing the seals with new seals and making sure the installation was correct did not correct the problem.
The suit was sent to a dry suit repair facility who was very pleasant and customer oriented, did several different tests after talking with me, but could not produce a leak.
The suit is now on its way back to my local dive shop, who has NOT been customer oriented at all.
Waterproof customer support has been excellent. I am waiting to hear from one of their techs. The customer rep seems to be very willing to work with me and we are trying to determine the next steps.
I am 100% sure that BOTH sleeves leak and it is NOT from "tendon channels" being formed on my wrists as I move my hands around. I tested this by standing in chest deep water and lowering my arms into the water WITHOUT getting the top of the seals (where they touch the skin of my wrist) into the water. So my wrists and hands never got wet. My arms were lowered so that the water surface was above the outer shell cuffs and water filled the area where the two hard rings are mated. And yes, BOTH sleeves leaked after 5 minutes.
I am at a loss as to how to explain why a simple lowering of my arms will leak water but the pressure tests that the repair facility did produced no leaks. And again, they were very helpful, listened to me on the phone, and performed at least two additional tests after talking with me.
Twenty-eight hours after my last dive day with it, the sleeves of the inner mesh liner were still damp from the previous day's diving.
Si Tech has come out with a dry gove system for the D1 Hybrid, called "Antares". I researched their system, looking for ideas. I did find one thing which was slightly different and would be easy to test.
Also, I will call the repair facility and ask if they removed and replaced the seals BEFORE they begain their testing. If they did, then it might support the argument that I never had them installed properly. If that's the case, I can "blame everyone else" since there is absolutely NO documentation anywhere on how to install them LOL !!!
Si Tech has a nice user manual for their Antares dry glove system, which is designed for use with the D1 Hybrid, and I have printed it out for reference. Since it is designed for the D1, I am assuming that what they say could also be applied to the Waterproof wrist seal installation process. And again, it says that the silicone seals should be installed in one of TWO ways, depending on your suit. They don't specify the difference in the suits that would make one installation better than the other, but it is something that I can try.
I have personally talked to two other divers who have the same drysuit and they both said they have the same problem. I'm not sure how that will fit in with my problem, but it is interesting to note that...
I will continue to post updates on this thread and hope that I can find the answer that I can share with everyone else so that they do not have to go through the same problems.