Drysuit Leakage

[engdiver]

I am new to Drysuit diving and just bought a used drysuit. I noticed a small amount of leakage during a pool dive in the right shoulder and sleeve. How much leakage if any is normal to drysuit diving?

 

[CD_in_Chitown]

What kind of seals do you have?

Neoprene is worse, latex will seep sometimes too. It happens when air burps out of your wrist seal. Watch for that the next time, if not is it on your venting arm? Could be that your vent leaks. Otherwise you might have a hole, or it could be sweat but you wouldn't feel like its a leak so much with sweat I guess, it just starts to feel cold inside.

 

[Matt the Aquaman]

My name is Matt and I wanted to welcome you to the community. I think it’s the best board on the internet for divers. The people on here make it a really friendly place. It’s a great place to see what’s going on with divers. Just wanted to make you feel welcome! If you’d like to chat, please PM me.

If you have questions and/or concerns regarding drysuit issues, please check out link to this thread...Exposure Suits http://www.scubaboard.com/forumdisplay.php?f=30

Take care and Safe Diving.:azvatar:

:balloon
Click here to greet a new member!
No experience needed and it feels great!​

 

[headhunter]

Moved from Introductions and Greets forum.

Christian

 

[SubMariner]

I am new to Drysuit diving and just bought a used drysuit. I noticed a small amount of leakage during a pool dive in the right shoulder and sleeve. How much leakage if any is normal to drysuit diving?

As CD already said, there are a number of reasons why there is a leak. Can you be a little more specific about where the leak occurred, the type of seals you have, and what you were doing when the leak happened?

 

[H2Andy]

I am new to Drysuit diving and just bought a used drysuit. I noticed a small amount of leakage during a pool dive in the right shoulder and sleeve. How much leakage if any is normal to drysuit diving?

you could possibly not be used to the neck seal. moving your head around can
cause the seal to leak.

to give you some reference, my used dry suit "came" with a hole near my neck.
it was about the size of the eye of a needle, only narrower.

that tiny hole leaked enough water that i was coming out soaked. and i mean
soaked. water sloshing in my boots, undergarment soaked, t-shirt soaked... you
get the idea.

since fixing that, there is a smaller leak somewhere on my right shoulder. this one
gets my shoulder and arm "damp" but not really wet. i think i just fixed it.

so... to answer your question from a newbie's perspective: getting your neck
and wrists wet is probably normal and due to seals. getting your garments wet
is probably a seal or a tiny leak(s); any significant amount of water is definetely
a leak or leaks.

have you tried inflating the drysuit and submerging it in a bathtub to check for
leaks? (plug the neck with a coffee can and the wrists with water bottles)

(i have a shell suit, DUI TLS350)

 

[Jason B]

to give you some reference, my used dry suit "came" with a hole near my neck.
it was about the size of the eye of a needle, only narrower.

that tiny hole leaked enough water that i was coming out soaked. and i mean
soaked. water sloshing in my boots, undergarment soaked, t-shirt soaked... you
get the idea.

Wow Andy, I had no idea such a small hole could result in a soaking. Glad you found it.

Jason

 

[CD_in_Chitown]

My bro-n-law bought a used suit that had a leak so slight we couldn't find it but diving it left him soaked everytime...You didn't buy it on E-bay did you Engdiver? :jestera:

 

[headhunter]

to give you some reference, my used dry suit "came" with a hole near my neck.
it was about the size of the eye of a needle, only narrower.

Andy,

LOL, at first I read this wrong and thought you were trying to describe the hole your head went through. :11:

I was going to start calling you "Pin Head".

But alas, it was I who was the pin head for reading it wrong.

Christian

 

[eelpout]

So you can sleep at night, try this two methods of finding leaks in your suit. I started diving with the old Posiedon Unisuit in 78, now on a DUI CF200SE (10 years old and buying new one this year)

1. Tie your right wrist seal with a rubber band. Take your suit into a dark room and stick a light in the arm. If any light leaks through , you have found your leak.

2. Tie rubber bands on your wrist seals, find a bottle(1 liter soda bottle) and stick it in the neck seal. Zip up the suit, pump air into it and get it nice and firm. Don't put too much air in it or that bottle will take off on you. Take a spray bottle with water, some dish soap and spray over suspected areas. If it bubbles , you have found your leaks. (good for finding leaks anywhere on your suit)

The only other way to make sure it does not leak anywhere else is to send it back to the manufacturer or to Mark @ Superior Diving Repair.

Good Luck!