DUI Flame of sorts...

[OE2X]

I've resisted in flaming DUI publicly, but I'm now on my second CF 200 since this past April and it's not so pleasant. I guess what I also want to find out is if others are having the same problems as myself.

Here is my story. I bought a CF200 off the rack because it fit me beautifully. I dove it about 20 dives and it started leaking around the bottom of the zipper. Ultimately I tore a wrist gasket so I brought it back to my LDS to get fixed. I was unimpressed with the fact that after about 60 dives that all the gaskets were showing real wear. My LDS fixed the problem and pressured tested it to find the leak. Well, since it was a new suit (only 3-4 months old) they sent it back to DUI to be fixed. It came back after 5 weeks and leaked just as badly as before. Needless to say I and the owner of the LDS were a bit perturbed. I was leaving soon on a trip that I needed the suit for and my LDS assured me after talking with DUI that they were sending me a brand new replacement. Great thought I. My problems are solved. The suit would arrive three days before departure and my problems would go away. I called my LDS on the day of expect arrival and asked if my suit was there. No was the response. They called DUI and was told that the suit wouldn't arrive until Monday. I was leaving on Sunday early AM. Upshot of this was that my LDS made DUI Fedex another suit for a Saturday delivery. Me - I will continue to buy locally thanks to my LDS. They went to bat for me at every turn.

The new suit has worked fine until recently. I've probably put 60 or so dives on it and now it's leaking on the chest inflator. BTW the old suit had to have a new dump valve put on it as well. The new one has not experienced this problem. So here I am. I've now had two DUI CF200 suits that are supposed to be the most durable, the best, the most amazing and last drysuit you'll ever have to own and they both have leaked like the Titanic. WTF comes to mind. I have yet to bring it in to my LDS. That will likely happen tomorrow. I'm hoping that it just needs a new inflator and I'm sure that my LDS will take care of me.

I like the suit for the most part. The fit and comfort is excellent. It does have one issue besides the leaking. What I don't like about the suit is the placement of the dump valve. I find it is completely ineffective doing a horizontal ascent. While my buddies roll to their right and raise their arm, I have to turn on my back drop my feet and then pump my fist like Tiger Woods. Yesterday on all three of my dives I decided to do all my mid water stops supine - face up. Try as I may my feet generally are just a bit lower than my head in this manner. What I noticed though was that my dump valve worked beautifully the whole time. If I were to hold my stop in a vertical position then my dump valve would work well too. Much of my diving though is from the shore. I like to be inches off the bottom at my 10' stop looking at the critters. In other words I can't always be supine. The reason I bring all of this up is to say that I believe that DUI has made an error in the placement of the dump valve. On this suit they place it on the front of the bicep. In other words pointing towards the bottom when you are hovering. Were it placed centered or slightly on the back of the bicep I wouldn't have to roll on my back to dump the suit.

So my questions for those of you who own or have owned this suit:

Does yours leak?

Do you have issues with your dump valve? If so what technique (s) do you use to overcome it?

If you were to buy another suit what brand and model would you buy?

At this point I'm having a hard time recommending DUI to any of my friends or anyone else - one of whom is looking to buy the same suit that I have. Please tell me that you all have had great experiences with DUI and that my two suits are anomalies.

 

[jlyle]

Don't have the CF, but my wife and I both own DUI TLS-350 drysuits. These drysuits are eight years old and have hundreds of dives. The neck and wrist seals have been replaced a couple of time and I just replaced my wife's inflator and dump valves.

Are you sure it's the zipper? I was getting wet and finding a few tablespoons of water in the middle of my drysuit and thought that I had a faulty zipper/hole somewhere. It turned out to be the neck seal was trimmed too much and when the suit burped air out the neck seal, water got in.

Polartec undergarmets wick moisture and water can travel down one of the shrink wrap wrinkles so that the place you are wet isn't necessary where the problem is. One suggestion is to put on cotton sweats under your drysuit and hop in your LDS's pool for a minute. When you get out, you will be able to see where the water is coming from.

We've had lots of friends buy suits from other manufactures and they all have had far more problems than we have with our suits. I would definitely buy DUI again.

Keep us posted.

DSAO,
Jim (jlyle)

 

[opiniongirl]

my guy had a couple over the years - exact same thing with the zippers.

I worked for a retailer, and regretted after selling any.

The service sucked, they screwed up on over 75% of the suits, causing huge turnaround. For the price, I haven't found they lasted longer than anything else. Nice patterns, and colors, and materials, but not enough to justify the lousy service and huge price difference.

The main difference between them and other manufacturers (speaking from a retailer, not a customer view) is how they handle the screw-ups.

Whites is great, fast, and outstanding customer service, and as soon as we became a dealer, I never sold another DUI.

 

[wedivebc]

I have never dove a cf200 but I hear they are very comfortable. I used to own a clx450 that was problem free through about 75 dives. My dump valve was positioned more toward the shoulder.
When I started selling whites I had to sell my dui and so I bought a catalyst. I had the dump valve placed on my forearm which makes it easy to dump in any position.
I have had few problems with my Whites suits (I sold them at my store). My only complaint was the slow turnaround time on repairs (they need more staff) and the house brand inflator valves are flimsy. The sell sitech as the upscale brand which are excellent. I bought a weazle extreme undies and have had an issue with the soft outer layer blocking the dump valve so I am looking for a fix for that.

 

[OE2X]

Don't have the CF, but my wife and I both own DUI TLS-350 drysuits. These drysuits are eight years old and have hundreds of dives. The neck and wrist seals have been replaced a couple of time and I just replaced my wife's inflator and dump valves.

Are you sure it's the zipper? I was getting wet and finding a few tablespoons of water in the middle of my drysuit and thought that I had a faulty zipper/hole somewhere. It turned out to be the neck seal was trimmed too much and when the suit burped air out the neck seal, water got in.

Polartec undergarmets wick moisture and water can travel down one of the shrink wrap wrinkles so that the place you are wet isn't necessary where the problem is. One suggestion is to put on cotton sweats under your drysuit and hop in your LDS's pool for a minute. When you get out, you will be able to see where the water is coming from.

We've had lots of friends buy suits from other manufactures and they all have had far more problems than we have with our suits. I would definitely buy DUI again.

Keep us posted.

DSAO,
Jim (jlyle)

Hi guys,
Yes the problem on my first suit was the zipper according to both my LDS (they did a pressure check) and DUI. The leak would start at my right hip and then migrate to the front of my torso. I did the cotton thing. I estimate on my worst day that I had nearly two gallons of water in the suit.

On my new suit the issue is the inflator. I'm wet on my chest and only my chest. I would say that during the first dive yesterday of one hour the suit leaked 8 -12 oz. of water. I'll go so far to say that my other two dives it did likewise. I almost never get cold enough on water hour dive to thumb a dive, but after 40 minutes on our third, I was ready for the surface. If you had seen how soaked my thermal gear was yesterday you would have been amazed. I know all my friends that were on my boat were.

I guess that since I spent $2000. on the suit that it shouldn't leak or have seals go after 60 or so dives. DUI markets this suit to be strong as Fort Knox and as reliable as morning arriving.

I want a suit where I can do three dives in a day and not have to change out my thermal wear in between dives.

 

[Dryglove]

I do recall that Uncle Pug posted a while back that he was not to happy with the location of his exhaust valve on his CF200. If i remember his was mounted to far forward on the bicep making dumping very difficult for ascending horizontally. You may want to pm him for further details.

 

[OE2X]

I do recall that Uncle Pug posted a while back that he was not to happy with the location of his exhaust valve on his CF200. If i remember his was mounted to far forward on the bicep making dumping very difficult for ascending horizontally. You may want to pm him for further details.

Thanks. He and I dive alot together and we've talked about it. He was on my boat yesterday when my inflator valve was leaking. Funny thing is that Shane - his son in law dives a CF200 and he is able to remain horizontal in his ascents. I've also talked with the owner of Fifth Dimension who sells them and dives one himself and he has the same issues with the dump valve. I'm guessing they do it this way because the broader market probably ascends vertically.

 

[Mo2vation]

I guess that since I spent $2000. on the suit that it shouldn't leak or have seals go after 60 or so dives. DUI markets this suit to be strong as Fort Knox and as reliable as morning arriving.

I want a suit where I can do three dives in a day and not have to change out my thermal wear in between dives.

I'm pretty bummed for you. You expect the thing to perform perfectly. It should, really. Short of your Gavin or maybe your new 130 doubles, this is THE largest investment in your diving. It has been for me.

My experience with DUI has been nothing short of great. Got our suits two years ago, a couple of hundred dives on my 50/50 Sig and its been fine. The only leaks have been from punctures that I caused.

I've heard about the valves - the stories about the low profile valves. On visit three (the feet visit) they replaced my shoulder dump (they tested it and I guess it didn't pass.) But I've never had issues with it leaking, etc.

I've had the suit to DUI three times

* once for the original wrist seal glue pulling off - returned in 6 days fixed (no charge)

* once for the zip seal install (they found some small leaks I guess.. I don't recall being wet, but OK

* this last time to replace the feet. The feet were wearing at the ankles and the heel - the said send it it, and I did. It was back in 7 days with brand new feet installed - no charge.

When I call I get answers and not lip. They ship when they say they will and I have never regretted for one minute getting a DUI. Being in SoCal they're one day away UPS ground. Another huge plus for me.

As with all things, there are positive experiences and negative. I've had only positive. Quincy, Susan, Kathy, Jackie, Pam and everyone else - I love those guys and can't recommend them highly enough.

K

 

[mempilot]

My .02

Whites - great for Canadians, bad turnaround for US customers.
DUI - TLS are great suits but very expensive, don't know anyone that likes the dump

While I have friends diving the White's and DUI, I choose the Zeagle Expedition GS. The quality, in my opinion, is as good as either of the other two. The value is somewhere inbetween, but the turnaround is fantastic.

 

[wedivebc]

My .02

Whites - great for Canadians, bad turnaround for US customers.
DUI - TLS are great suits but very expensive, don't know anyone that likes the dump

While I have friends diving the White's and DUI, I choose the Zeagle Expedition GS. The quality, in my opinion, is as good as either of the other two. The value is somewhere inbetween, but the turnaround is fantastic.

Whites? Bad turnaround for Canadian customers too.
What is the Zeagle suit made of?