Dry Suit Valves

[mtbrider]

Actually, the big rubber ring is left over silicone. I know for certain my three DUI suits did not come with a valve port.

 

[Tiro_Afila]

Thanks for all your help guys. I took the valve apart and cleaned off the old glue. The internal sealing ring looks in great shape. No nicks or cuts. After re-tightening the valve back in place it seems to be watertight in my tub. Will depth pressure make it more likely or less likely to seal when I dive with it.

 

[mtbrider]

I would guess that depth would make it less likely to seal because the neoprene material will compress making the valve slightly looser. A little aquarium (silicone) sealant would be good. It cleans up pretty easily and it doesn't stick so well that the valve is hard to take off again.

 

[np251]

Sounds good

If youve sealed it by tightening the two parts with the rubber sealing ring in the middle (the mushroom stem part of the outer bit through the hole screwed into the inner cap) then its going to be water tight as far as you can go. It would have sealed pretty much to maximum compression of the valve port, so depth shouldnt affect it and you wont need the silicone. I did however add a bead of aquaseal around the valve so that the edges stay in contact woth the suit material, mainly to avoid stressing the rubber port too much.

Sounds like its sorted to me.

 

[dave4868]

Sounds good

If youve sealed it by tightening the two parts with the rubber sealing ring in the middle (the mushroom stem part of the outer bit through the hole screwed into the inner cap) then its going to be water tight as far as you can go. It would have sealed pretty much to maximum compression of the valve port, so depth shouldnt affect it and you wont need the silicone. I did however add a bead of aquaseal around the valve so that the edges stay in contact woth the suit material, mainly to avoid stressing the rubber port too much.

Sounds like its sorted to me.

Just one more thing.

It's the non-smooth fabric of the trilam suit material that lets the water in under the valve flanges, so some caulk will be necessary.

I'm guessing, but I think the lining on neoprene would probably create the same problem.

Dave C

 

[jlyle]

Help me out! I have a SI TECH valve on my DUI TLS-350. It's leaking. How do you unscrew the d@mned thing? It's more than hand-tight. Is there a trick to getting it apart?

 

[Tiro_Afila]

Im not aware of any "trick". I just grabbed both sides of mine, and turned, and it loosend, but I am a long ways from an expert, so maybe someone else can help you out. Good luck.

 

[dave4868]

Help me out! I have a SI TECH valve on my DUI TLS-350. It's leaking. How do you unscrew the d@mned thing? It's more than hand-tight. Is there a trick to getting it apart?

Since I'm only familiar with the Apeks drysuit valves on my DUI suits, I'm reluctant to suggest SI TECH valves are similar in having two halves that simply screw together.

Maybe someone here will tell us if they've got some kind of detent or pawl or catch that's keeping you from getting your SI TECH valve apart.

I'd hate to see you learn the hard way, which I'm very fond of doing.

If you don't get the answer here on the Board, call DUI's technical department. I think they would give you that information.

DUI contact info page:

http://www.dui-online.com/cs.htm

Nevertheless, here are the Apeks guidelines for removal and replacement of their valves:

http://www.apeks.co.uk/newsarticle.asp?Title=Low%20Profile%20Suit%20Valves

I've been unable to find out anything specific to the SI TECH valves, but here's a pic from a brief article:

I assume you're talking about the exhaust valve in the lower right.

Here's a link to that article:

http://www.divernet.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?id=1881&section=2&action=display&show=

Might be some answers here:

http://www.sitech.se/index.html

If you find out anything, please post.

Dave C

 

[jlyle]

Yep, the exhaust valve. I've sent an email to DUI.

 

[KOMPRESSOR]

There's a tool for the Apeks valves, but the Si-Tech is much more rugged/better and shouldn't need one. They are usually not hard to take apart. But I'm really confused how all you guys put silicone in there when installing it. Never in my years in this business & hobby have I seen anyone doing that. I haven't pulled off the valves of a DUI though, because the're not really that common here. Valve ports does the trick for us anyways, with no glue...