DUI Valve Service...we got a leaker, folks!!

[Andrew Dawson]

Greetings,

I have this DUI suit...which has DUI inflator and exhaust valves. These appear to be Apex type valves.

The inflator is leaking water into the suit. I bought this used a year ago and it has been awesome. My second DUI suit...I do almost all my own gear service (no hydro, occasional VIPs when I have the light, etc...all regs myself, tho). I have never serviced drysuit valves before...which seems straightforward enough. However, these are not coming off as the videos show...

Inflator leaking:

Inflator backside(c-clip inside):

How to get that rear cover off???
The exhaust valve top:

The exhaust valve rear...I tried as hard as I dared to unscrew, but it is very hard...any tips:


Inflation/leak test...I think I may just toss her up on the roof of my neighbor's house on Xmas eve with a Santa hat....

Seriously, anyone have tips, links, schematics, etc to disassemble these, please? I am not certain how to unscrew/remove the inflator valve. The exhaust valve is very hard to unscrew...I want to clean n rebuild both. Any links to o-ring P/Ns...I have lots from rebuilding my scubapro regs

Happy Holidays All!!

 

[Andrew Dawson]

Ok, I got the exhaust valve off!! It was somewhat glued on...fack!

It appears it is glued around the opening:


It was a bit on the threads, too...sooooo remove the glue and reinstall without glue??

 

[michael-fisch]

Had a similar problem of a leaking brand new SiTech Inflator valve.
Turns out that although brand new, it had been sitting on the dealer's shelf for at least 10 years.
Completely disassembled (also means that the cute SiTech emblem on the knob has to come off), wiped off the old grease and relubed all 4 O-Rings with silicon, the barrel O-Ring got more silicon and I wiped the shaft lightly with silicon grease so it was shiny and then put everything back together. The emblem was reattached with a drop of superglue.
Suprise! - It is now no longer leaking.

Michael
By the way, whoever is nasty enough to glue valves into a suit is just too cheap to buy the right gaskets. Anybody who charges you 3k for a suit and then is too cheap to add the right gaskets under the valves - well it makes you wonder where else they saved money making your suit.

 

[Andrew Dawson]

Ehhh... this gasket washer is way big...is that correct? I saw it when I was disassembling it...it has a wrinkle or fold...never had an issue with it before...

Just reassemble as it was?

 

[Andrew Dawson]

I trimmed the outside of the gasket to fit better but it us still not great....the carrier will help align it tho.

The suit hole was glued it appears as the way it was "sealed" up....hoping this works. I'm going to glue a bit where it came apart a bit...

Still need to get into the inflator valve tho...

 

[Andrew Dawson]

The opening where it was glued:


The part where the glue "gasket" tore:


I'm gonna glue the torn area...

 

[michael-fisch]

In order to remove your inflator valve, you could make jigs out of a good grade of plywood or just use 2 great big pipe wrenches. Eventually it'll either come off and be serviceable, or it'll come off broken and you'll have to spend $40 for a new one.

Michael

 

[Andrew Dawson]

So, it just unscrews like the exhaust valve, eh?

 

[rjack321]

So, it just unscrews like the exhaust valve, eh?

There will be glue in the threads
Stick a thin screwdriver through the notches on the backside
Turn HARD

 

[Andrew Dawson]

Both of you guys were right...I used some wrenches, carefully...and it backed off

I got it rebuilt...orings looked fine, pliable but no lubes on them...I gave them tribolube.

The leak came from my SM hoses being a bit short, pulled on the inflator and the old n original glue separated.

All redone now, reglued...rebuilt reassembled and reinstalled.

I put my longer inflator hose back on aa my tanks are more laterally placed now.

Yes, rjack321, I signed up for Steve Martin's online class..got the Black Friday discount, too

Thank you everyone!!