Dive Rite Wing - slow leak and OPV catching.

[ScoobaDoobyDoo]

Hi all,
Anyone come across an OPV on a Dive Rite wing where the inner plastic cap (the bit attached to the string that the spring sits on) catches on the outer ring when pulled and released? I yank the string attached to the OPV and this inner cap catches on the outer ring causing the wing to completely deflate. The inner ring can be pushed from one side of the outer ring to the other.

Also (not sure if this is related to the OPV), but the wing "appears" to have a slow leak from somewhere (I'll be throwing it in the bath tub when i get home). I inflate it orally until the OPV starts to vent, i then wait for the OPV to stop bleeding and check how firm the wing is. After < an hour I check the wing again and it has lost it's firmness. I can now touch my fingers together from opposite sides of the wing, where as an hour earlier I couldn't. Do all wings (or Dive Rite wings) not hold the air when fully inflated or have i just received another dud?

Does anyone else have a Venture wing (or any other Dive Rite wing) that exhibits the problem with the OPV or suffers a slow leak?

Cheers,
Tony

PS I have another Venture Wing at home which i need to send back (it was punctured when it arrived). If the OPV doesn't suffer the "catching" problem is it simple to swap the OPV's over?

 

[SparticleBrane]

First--you can blow that thing up with enough force to pop the OPV valve? Geez...


I've never come across this "catching" deal, but I believe you can get a new OPV valve from DiveRiteExpress.com for ~$9.
All wings should hold the air for as long as you tell them to--they should NOT leak.

 

[ScoobaDoobyDoo]

Hi SparticleBrane!
Thanks for the reply! Yep I can blow it up until air starts leaking out the OPV (does that mean i have good lungs or the OPV is stuffed?? ).

This wing is a brand new wing (to replace the other brand new Venture wing i received that was punctured in transit!). One thing I've noticed when I've gotten home is that the wing i've received is slightly different to the punctured one (On the NON punctured one: Venture wing is written in smaller text, the OPV cord goes through a bit of fabric hanging off the wing and it doesn't appear to be finished as nicely - makes me think it might be "older" stock).

I've also noticed that the inner cap on the non-punctured wing can move from side to side easily (the inner cap is smaller than the outside "ring") where as the punctured one doesn't move anywhere near as easily!

Sigh... I think it might be another weeks wait for another wing to be flown from the US to Australia

Cheers,
Tony

PS After putting it in the bath tub air appears to be leaking from both the centre of the OPV (where air normally comes out) and from where the outer ring meets the wing cover, both in small amounts. I don't know whether this is from the pressure of pushing it into the tub (though why it would vent out where the OPV meets the cover escapes me)... though I don't see this being the problem.

 

[SparticleBrane]

Are you sure the OPV is screwed on firmly?

About inflating it with your lungs--I seriously don't see any normal person being able to pop the valve, which leads me to believe that it might not be attached firmly.

 

[RICHinNC]

Careful pulling the string too hard. On my Rec ...the first ""hard"" pull and I ended up with the string coming off. Took forever to get a replacement.

 

[ScoobaDoobyDoo]

Certainly appears to be on tight. I tried to twist it a little tighter (firm but not with white knucle fury ). I've noticed there is quite a buildup of bubbles around the whole of the perimeter where the OPV meets the cover (wiping them away just results in more bubbles appearing), but it only appears to be leaking from the perimeter in 4 or 5 places.

Thanks for the advice RICHinNC. I gave it a decent tug... but i think i'll not do that again until i sort it out with the retailer (don't really want to break it before being to send it back)

I'm gonna email the retailer and see what they have to say (they were very accomodating with the fact that the first one was punctured when received).

Thanks guys!

Tony (Backplated but wingless!)

 

[redacted]

Certainly appears to be on tight. I tried to twist it a little tighter (firm but not with white knucle fury ). I've noticed there is quite a buildup of bubbles around the whole of the perimeter where the OPV meets the cover (wiping them away just results in more bubbles appearing), but it only appears to be leaking from the perimeter in 4 or 5 places.

Tony (Backplated but wingless!)

That my just be some air that is trapped between the bladder and the cover working its way to the High point before releasing. You might want to leave it soak in the tub for a while. I dive a DR travel wing and have no problems.

 

[timle]

Well I know this was a while back but any outcome to this? On my wife's wing the dump valve has the same trouble. Its very easy to pull the dump valve and have inner portion jam open. It seems like an inherit problem not something broken on the valve.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Yep, I've got the same problem on my DR Venture Ring I use for single tank diving. The only thing I do is to meticulously screw on the OPV cap after rinsing, and double check the dump-valve stopper to make sure it's completely centered and not cocked to one side where it can catch on the lip. Pre-dive I do a leak check and during the dive I don't touch the OPV Dump Valve at all. . .

 

[cool_hardware52]

The soft elastomeric "seat" in many OPV's is held in a cup shaped piece of hard plastic. This cup is what the string attaches to.

The spring bears on the back of this cup, and forces the soft seat against a raised ring in the center of the OPV.

This cup is surrounded by the main body of the OPV with some clearance between the cup and the body so it's free to move up and down.

The cup has some maximum travel, i.e. how far the seat can be raised off the raised ring, before the spring coil binds. Lets say the max travel is .150" (I don't recall the actual amount, but it doesn't really matter)

If the edge of the "cup" is less than .150" it possible to raise the cup and seat far enough for this cup edge to catch on the top of the main body. This prevents the cup from reseating.

If the edge on the cup is longer than the travel, say .200" you cannot raise it far enough to catch. Post recall valves should not "catch"

There was a recall on some OPV's a few years ago. http://www.custombuoyancy.com/page2.asp
for exactly this problem.

I'd be surprised if these OPV's are still being furnshed on new goods today, but who knows. It's easy enough to check.

Tobin