Fusion socks leaking - multiple reports

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Would be a definite and noticeable upgrade. Likely closer to 12-14 weeks total turnaround, at least as of two months ago.
Wow, my first one was a few days short of 6 weeks and my second was about 5 weeks, when I get the idea that it’s time to buy another I’ll start trash talking them to help them free up some time.
 
If I followed that practice I wouldn’t own anything.

You must have some crappy dive shops in your area then. I’ve got DRIS, even though they’re 50 miles from me (I happen to like driving).
 
Mine came in Friday, I’m hoping to get in the water Wednesday, fingers crossed the 3 aircore is the charm....
 
I’m now being told wait time is 4-8 weeks. I’ll be surprised if I have my new AirCore by Christmas. I will be diving over the winter as long as there is no ice.
Grrrrrrrrrrrr .... :mad:

I'm waiting on one as well. We were told 2-4 when the claim was put in.

I finally got it into the water this August after having to wait, and wait, and wait, until it finally arrived last fall - of course after the season closed. Complicating factor - I have a chlorine allergy and can't get in most local pools. I had to wait until the quarry opened and my instructor had a window since this was also my drysuit course.

"Leaked" from the get-go. The first dive wasn't bad, but by a couple dives later, I was soaked arms and chest-down every dive and pouring water out of each leg after the dives.

At this point, it is not an annoyance, but undiveable. I can't see it being repairable. I am, however considering a full coating of this as a "solution:" :confused:
flex_seal_black_liquid_rubber_spray.jpg
 
Grrr.

My patched AirCore is holding up OK. I had a 40 min dive Sat and didn’t really get wet, but it was my shop’s underwater pumpkin carving event. I was on a platform for the entire dive working on pumpkin. Didn’t do much. Imagine pumpkin carving on doubles with your buddy on a RB. Talk about overkill! :D
 
Mine came in Friday, I’m hoping to get in the water Wednesday, fingers crossed the 3 aircore is the charm....

Please keep us updated.
 
Grrrrrrrrrrrr .... :mad:

I'm waiting on one as well. We were told 2-4 when the claim was put in.

I finally got it into the water this August after having to wait, and wait, and wait, until it finally arrived last fall - of course after the season closed. Complicating factor - I have a chlorine allergy and can't get in most local pools. I had to wait until the quarry opened and my instructor had a window since this was also my drysuit course.

"Leaked" from the get-go. The first dive wasn't bad, but by a couple dives later, I was soaked arms and chest-down every dive and pouring water out of each leg after the dives.

At this point, it is not an annoyance, but undiveable. I can't see it being repairable. I am, however considering a full coating of this as a "solution:" :confused:View attachment 544899

If the seams are the problem, I don’t know if that stuff is going to help much. My shop owner told me the seams are the problem with the made in MX suits.

Was it your original suit that leaked so badly or the replacement? I’m not sure. Was your replacement made in Canada?
 
If the seams are the problem, I don’t know if that stuff is going to help much. My shop owner told me the seams are the problem with the made in MX suits.
That was somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but why wouldn't it? I'd seal over all of the seams. The big question is would the sealant bond durably to the outside of the AirCore liner AND cure such that it would not bond to the neo-lycra shell (I have the Fusion Tech version)?

Was it your original suit that leaked so badly or the replacement? I’m not sure. Was your replacement made in Canada?
I only have the MX-made original. I waited a long time for AL to ship it. Looking back it was ordered around the time they were supposedly retraining the assembly staff, so I was hoping I'd get a "good" one after the wait.

I'm waiting on a replacement liner.
 
Have not had a problem with mine....yet. I have the fusion boots and keep them attached between dives. I also have the black plastic inserts that came with the boots inserted in the socks to help "lock" them in place...above that I put some soft foam insoles I pulled out of my hiking boots.
I really like my suit, and I really like being dry when I dive, I am hoping I do not develop this problem.

@Marie13, I know you took your suit back to DRIS and had neoprene socks installed, but did you have any discussions about having Aqualung warranty repair or replace the suit? What were DRIS' thoughts on this?

-Z

Follow- up on the above post...I think I jinxed myself as I last reported my suit was working well....now not so much!!!

Dived my Fusion a few weeks ago and found my socks were wet after each of 2 dives. After the 1st dive I thought perhaps my feet got wet climbing out of the suit but things were slightly worse the 2nd dive.

I removed the skin and hung up the suit using a round/ball shaped boat bumper to block the neck seal...the ball has an eye that is used to attache some rope. I put my drygloves on to block the wrist openings.

First thing I can tell you is that a fully inflated suit without the skin is freaking enormous. I have a 2xl/3xl suit and it is unbelievable that an L/XL was not more comfortable when I was trying them given how big the core layer is.

After inflating the suit I mixed up some water and dawn dish-soap in a spray bottle and liberally sprayed the feet and ankles of the suit....no bubbles. I added more soap to see if that would make the leak more apparent....no bubbles.

I thought I was in the clear and perhaps my socks were wet some other way until my wife recommended that I lower the suit so the feet were ina bucket of water. I lowered it, submerged the feet and ankles one at a time in a bucket, twisted the ankles of the suit and squeezed gently to increase the pressure in the feet.....sure enough there were some really really really tiny bubbles forming and streaming from the seams that go down the back of the ankles/heels of the suit.

I emailed and spoke with the Aqualung North American warranty department which is located in BC Canada. They acknowledged what has been previously mentioned here on SB, that there were construction issues with suits that came from their Mexico production facility. They are replacing the core of the suit (drysuit portion) as a warranty issue as suits are sent to them.

They informed that in the past they had split production of the Fusion suits between Canada and Mexico. They have since moved all production of Fusion suits to Canada, but because of this they do not have shelf stock and are currently making suits to fulfill orders for shops and to replace warranty claims....so it is a first come - first served basis for warranty replacement. They predict anywhere from 2-3 months on average for warranty replacement from the time the bad suit arrives.

I dropped my suit off at the shop here in Belgium a week ago this past Saturday. The owner said he would mail it off this past Monday and would followup with a phone call to Aqualung in France in 2 weeks to give the suit enough time to arrive and for them to intake/start whatever process they need to take.

I am hoping my suit has not fallen into a black hole and keeping my fingers crossed that things move smoothly getting this replaced.

As a side note for those that use the Fusion boots:
The boots have a fairly wide and aggressive patch of of hook-side velcro down the back/heel of the boot. The corresponding fuzzy velcro on the heel/foot of the suit is significantly narrower. This allows the exposed/unused hook-side portion to abrade on the suit material. To keep this from happening, take 3/8" wide velcro and cut 2 strips of the fuzzy side the length of the hook-side patch and overlap each strip with the edges of the hook-side patch effectively narrowing the exposed part of the hook-side patch to be roughly equal to the fuzzy strip on the suit. This will keep the suit from being abraded...though when I discussed this with AL they mentioned that they have made a production change and are using a different material for the suit feet that should keep them from being abraded by the velcro patch in the boots. We'll see if and when I get my suit back.

-Z
 
If the seams are the problem, I don’t know if that stuff is going to help much. My shop owner told me the seams are the problem with the made in MX suits.?
As a follow-up @Marie13, how did DRIS "fix" the seams? Slap a patch over the offending area?


Onto the question of WHY is this happening ....
Besides, just, "they were doing it wrong." What are the implications for the liners to be made a) good to start AND b) durable.

I'm going to lay this here, a journal paper on the performance of a matrix of different seam construction methods/materials for waterproof fabrics (GoreTEX in this case, but I would expect AirCore to be similar): https://www.ijser.org/researchpaper...ques-on-Waterproof-and-Comfort-Properties.pdf

That raises the question (@-AquaLung are you looking?) what is the seam construction technique and materials on the AirCore liners?

And yes, I'm a PITA nerd/geek who, if I'm sold something that doesn't work, a) wants it fixed/replaced AND b) want to know why it didn't work in the first place. Atypically?, I care about improving manufacturer's products/processes - Frustratingly, frequently more than they do ...
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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