Drysuit Valves

[MaxPower]

In my other thread somone made reference to the quality of the valves on his evolution II drysuit. Is there a big range in the quality of valves and is it a big safety issue? An ex commercial diver-turned ship captain told me he got the bends when his inflator stuck open and he went rocketing to the surface with a ballooning suit. Which brands have good inflators, bad?

 

[karstdvr]

I prefer SiTech valves because they have proven to be very reliable. I have had two Apex valves fail on me,and replaced them with SiTech.

 

[Standingbear56]

Si Tech here also. They seem to be the best quality, and they stand up to a lot of abuse. I've had other makes fail, but 10 years with Si Tech and no problems.

 

[TSandM]

I've used SiTech and Apeks valves. I've had both get sticky when they get enough crud in them, but when they're working properly, the SiTech valves seem to vent faster and more readily, and I have not had a Sitech valve leak.

 

[hydro1]

I dive in the Great Lakes. I have had a lot of suits. The Poseidon/Parkway uni suits were great. Shell suits (trilam types) seem scarry to me. Too much dry fill to get and stay wet. No bouancy when you might need it. Latex seals fail catastrophically, neoprene doesn't. I've seen it too much. That said, I've never had a Poseidon valve fail. The first Sitech valve set I had would not fill or dump to my liking. Not even close. Viking valves are a pain -not to mention the recall. Auto dump valves are a pain when you're trying to work. Little knurled barrels on the hoses are terrible with gloves on. I take the valves from my new suits and install my old posiden valves. Gotta new compressed neo suit w/ Sitech valves -gave it a try. The second boat I raised with this suit was dumping a lot of fuel. The dump valve failed within minutes. Silicon and fuel just does not get along. Calls to the mfg -no answer. Back to the Posiden valves. You can beat on Poseidon valves with hammers -I steped on a Sitech valve and crushed it -oops.

 

[Standingbear56]

FWIW, Poseidon uses SiTech valves on their drysuits. Wonder why there is such a difference.

 

[hydro1]

I don't wonder about anything anymore. Things don't necessarily get better. The valves I'm refuring to where made when you could drive a 16 penny nail into an old 2x4 with the handset of your phone. Yes, they are probably 25 years old and been through the fuel/stepped on/suitchange/normal use(abused) cycles more than I care to think about. I quit using Poseidon suits when the suit material wouldn't make it throught the year (blame Rubatex AND Poseidon for not using a good replacement material). I don't know what kind of valves poseidon uses now nor do I care. I have an old Nokia suit with decent valves but the auto dump just won't keep air in the suit when I'm playing 'human liftbag'. I have a KME suit and the Trident valves are great but I haven't figured out how to take them apart to inspect the condition, so I can't trust them any more. Moral of the story -when things are made of thin cheezy plastic parts -don't trust them -If you can't take them apart to inspect them -don't trust them -If things are not made to work in all the environments you may subject them too -don't use them -SiTech does not state that their valves are not to be used for commercial work and it's not fun finding out -if you have to do or keep track of some 'special' condition that you didn't have to in the past -don't use them. I have seen a lot of goofy things on the market -tank pressure gauges that depend on batteries -weight integrated BC's (how do you do a 'ditch and retrieve' exercise with one of these? (ie save your ass when your hung up.) Go figure. I would love to find a valve set that fits my criteria.

 

[hydro1]

I just reread the first note in this thread. That 'commercial' diver probably had a cheezy knurled barrel on his inflator hose so he couldn't rip it off when needed or didn't inspect it or didn't notice it hanging up earlier and donate it to the sea gods sooner. An accident is always a chain of occurences -someone made the junk then he used it. He's lucky he only got bent.

 

[nereas]

I clean my drysuit valve periodically by taking it apart, and getting replacement parts at my scuba store. Unless you do so, it will tend to leak eventually. Everything gets old and worn out eventually.