damp in dry suit

[eleblanc@bell.net]

I am having an issue with my drysuit. I have a new Atlan bi-lam dry suit. I only have 19 dives in it. I really like it for the light weight and flexibility which is much better than my Bare HD tech Tri-lam I had previously. However, after every dive, my undergarments are wet. I have Fourth Element Dry Base underneath my Bare Hi-Loft. There is a sheen of moisture on the outside of the hi-loft, which is probably just condensation. However, my dry base is also wet on the outside. (Skin is dry). So, I am not sure if this is just my perspiration that the dry base is wicking away from my skin? I took my suit to my LDS and we filled it full of air and soaped it down, no sign of any leaks, including all seams and the zipper. However, after that "testing", I went on a dive yesterday, I was wet again. Not soaking wet, but wet. About 12 minutes into the dive, I began to feel damp around my knees and mid section. I completed the dive, not feeling cold at all, just damp. The dive was 40 minutes at 39F, max depth was 40 feet, a very typical dive this time of year...

So, I am wondering if it really is a leak in the suit that I am not able to find, or is this just condensation and sweat?? The Bi-lam suits do not benefit for the third interior layer that helps to keep condensation away from the diver, so the Bi-lam does not breath or wick so it is like wearing a garbage bag in that sense.

Worse comes to worse, I can try to fit my hhi-loft under my my DUI TLS 350, though that suit is a bit tighter fit and best with 200 gram underneath it, and temps are not quite there yet.

Any thoughts/comments/suggestions are welcome.

 

[Diver0001]

Bi-lam is not very robust. If you feel that there are pinholes in it, there probably is.

The good news is that you can fix it with a bicycle repair kit. The bad news is that it can take a while to zero in on the source of the leak.

You can seal off the neck and arms with bottles and pump it up to significant over-pressure, then spray it with soapy water to see where bubbles form. There are commercial products for this too but they do the same.

Failing that, a old trick is to use newspaper, for example around your knees, to get a better picture of (a) how much water is really getting in and (b) to possibly zero in on the source of the leak.

Hope that helps... and if you're really serious about diving in the long term and you want a drysuit that stays (mostly) dry, then stay away from bilam and all that stupid light weight crap. It might feel all nice and all but the fact is that it's useless if it's not keeping you dry, which "cheap" or "lightweight" material usually doesn't. At some point in the future "lightweight" AND "dry" may combine, but for right now they don't.

R..

 

[eleblanc@bell.net]

Bi-lam is not very robust. If you feel that there are pinholes in it, there probably is.

The good news is that you can fix it with a bicycle repair kit. The bad news is that it can take a while to zero in on the source of the leak.

You can seal off the neck and arms with bottles and pump it up to significant over-pressure, then spray it with soapy water to see where bubbles form. There are commercial products for this too but they do the same.

Failing that, a old trick is to use newspaper, for example around your knees, to get a better picture of (a) how much water is really getting in and (b) to possibly zero in on the source of the leak.

Hope that helps... and if you're really serious about diving in the long term and you want a drysuit that stays (mostly) dry, then stay away from bilam and all that stupid light weight crap. It might feel all nice and all but the fact is that it's useless if it's not keeping you dry, which "cheap" or "lightweight" material usually doesn't. At some point in the future "lightweight" AND "dry" may combine, but for right now they don't.

R..

Thanks for the post ! Ya, we did seal off the neck and arms and pumped if full of air and soaped it down, but no leaks anywhere. So going to try to fill it with water on a dry surface and see if any wet spots show up ( the ol' DUI method) and go from there.

Cheers.

 

[jeangadbois]

Another trick u can tryis seal it off fill it with air and stick it in the bath tub full of water, it will get u close to were the leak is and will defantly tell u if there is one

 

[Peter_C]

If I question a leak I pressure test the suit and spray dishwashing liquid on it. Sweat though is normal, and I often find droplets on the inside of mine, and consider it normal. When you start wringing undergarments out is when you have a leak.

 

[al248005]

I have a trilam and have the same issue and I've just come to the conclusion its condensation. I'm never wet though on the inside of my undies. The water(condensation) usually puts a very very thin sheen over my back.

 

[swimmer_spe]

I am having an issue with my drysuit. I have a new Atlan bi-lam dry suit. I only have 19 dives in it. I really like it for the light weight and flexibility which is much better than my Bare HD tech Tri-lam I had previously. However, after every dive, my undergarments are wet. I have Fourth Element Dry Base underneath my Bare Hi-Loft. There is a sheen of moisture on the outside of the hi-loft, which is probably just condensation. However, my dry base is also wet on the outside. (Skin is dry). So, I am not sure if this is just my perspiration that the dry base is wicking away from my skin? I took my suit to my LDS and we filled it full of air and soaped it down, no sign of any leaks, including all seams and the zipper. However, after that "testing", I went on a dive yesterday, I was wet again. Not soaking wet, but wet. About 12 minutes into the dive, I began to feel damp around my knees and mid section. I completed the dive, not feeling cold at all, just damp. The dive was 40 minutes at 39F, max depth was 40 feet, a very typical dive this time of year...

So, I am wondering if it really is a leak in the suit that I am not able to find, or is this just condensation and sweat?? The Bi-lam suits do not benefit for the third interior layer that helps to keep condensation away from the diver, so the Bi-lam does not breath or wick so it is like wearing a garbage bag in that sense.

Worse comes to worse, I can try to fit my hhi-loft under my my DUI TLS 350, though that suit is a bit tighter fit and best with 200 gram underneath it, and temps are not quite there yet.

Any thoughts/comments/suggestions are welcome.

Here is my suggestions:

1) wear less insulation. If it is sweat, then you should not see it.

2) taste the sea, taste the moisture. If it tastes different, it is sweat (if it is more salty) or condensation (if it is not salty)

Sometimes the simple tests work well.

 

[eleblanc@bell.net]

Thanks everyone! Some great ideas!

I figure the sheen on the outside of my Hi-Loft is simple condensation, and I can live with that. It is the moisture on the inside and on my Dry wick Fourth Element Dry Base that is concerning. I can try reducing my thermal layer a bit to see if that works, and the "saline" test is a great idea.

Will post the results!

Any other thoughts are welcome.

Cheers