Fusion Tech LE Drying Tips?

[HenrikBP]

Well, the title pretty much says it; I dove my Fusion Tech LE for the first time yesterday - and really enjoyed it. I'd pretty much expected to be struggling all over the place. But while not "perfect" by any stretch, I did pretty well, with reasonable buoyancy control and trim. The stretch skin really does make the bubble control very easy.

Anyway; when I got home last night I rinsed the suit outside and tried to flush some water in between skin and bladder as well, and hung the suit up on a Ventilator hanger to dry. Hanging outside with temps in the 70's light wind and low humidity.

This morning, after about 18 hours of drying, the suit is still damp between the skin and bladder, mostly in the lower half of the legs.

Any suggestions for speeding up the drying - short of separating skin and bladder?

Any concerns with the long drying time? I'm thinking that dampness in an enclosed environment for long time will start to cause some odor and "growth" at some point.

Thanks

Henrik

 

[jridg]

I don't have the LE skin - didn't even think about this aspect of that skin - I am interested to know what you find.

An idea - if you undo the velcro at the ankles and wrists - then the water would drain better and the air could get under there - not sure if that's going to work easily or not - but it's an idea....

 

[DA Aquamaster]

That was one of the considerations I had in stayigg with the tech skin. The tech skin dries a LOT slower than the sport skin, but the lycra panels at least allow it to breath a bit between skin and bladder.

I too will be real interested to see how it works for you. Fresh water is not so bad, but salt water will be really interesting.

 

[Rick Inman]

Yeah, I have read this before about the tech skin being slow to dry. Overnight in my basement where I hang mine, it might still be a bit damp the next day, but I'm really wondering why I should care, assuming it is clean with fresh water.

It can stay wet for it's life (on the outside) as far as I care, as long as I stay dry on the inside.

 

[DiveJedi]

I personally recommend that users release the velcro at the sleeves and ankles and extend the drycore out as much as possible....as mentioned this will improve airflow between the layers.

Hope that helps!

Tyler

 

[HenrikBP]

I too will be real interested to see how it works for you. Fresh water is not so bad, but salt water will be really interesting.

Fresh water with lots of organic material in it could become quite interesting as well over time But salt crystals could possibly accelerate wear.

The water drains ok from between skin and bladder - it simply runs out through the velcro. But the drying is another matter.

Tyler and jridg; thanks for the de-velcro suggestion. I'll give it a try next time.

As for "stuff" remaining between the layers, part of the problem is that it's a bit tricky to flush water through the suit, especially trying to get water down the front. At first I put the hose down through the neck opening towards the back of the suit and tried to snake the hose around to the front. But didn't feel I got enough water where I wanted it. So I eased open the velcro at the zipper and flushed from there.

I guess I'd prefer to be able to simply hose off and hang up, rather than having to deal with disassembling/reassembling as well.

In retrospect I might have been better off with the regular tech or the sport skin. My main reason for the LE was better support for the thigh pockets, but I honestly find those a bit disappointing. Oh well.

I'll keep an eye on things and report back if anything "develops"

Thanks all,

Henrik

 

[HenrikBP]

Follow-up:

1) opening up the velcro at wrists and ankles does indeed speed up drying. Before pulling things apart I checked for "landmarks" that would help me re-connect everything without getting things rotated out of alignment. And sure enough, various seams in skin and bladder (on my suit) line up quite nicely.

2) now the bad news; while not a huge deal, it's somewhat of a pain to hook everything up again after the suit is dry. Took me probably 10 minutes to get arms and legs re-connected to my satisfaction and in correct rotation - despite landmarks. The hook part of the velcro on the skin stretches a bit, so it took a few tries to get it right and everything to lay smooth. So opening up the velcro is something I'd do at the end of a dive weekend. Not an everyday thing.

I'm sure Whites by now have lots of experience and hints for making this easier. So how about a "how-to" video on You-Tube?

As for rinsing, short of opening the velcro at the neck, I still haven't found a good way to thoroughly flush between skin and bladder.

Question: Does Whites recommend using the included "hard" wax on both inside and outside teeth of the zipper? For the outside teeth; do you recommend waxing with the zipper open or closed?

Thanks

Henrik

 

[TSandM]

I'm with you -- I've found removing and replacing the Velcro to be a bit of a pain, and I have never gotten it back on as smooth and pretty as it was when it came. It's not something I want to do as part of routine care.

 

[DiveJedi]

Here you go:
fusion_webpage Faq

There is a video on changing skins, and suit maintenance....The trick is to "squish the velcro" if you can imagine that the length of the loop and the length of the hook is the same, but one stretches it makes sense on how to put it back together. Why would we do that you ask? The length of zippers are different on different sized suits....so - you could put a smaller skin on a larger drycore.

FYI - the Limited Edition is now being produced with "non-stretchy" velcro so reattachment is easier.

Until the next dive,

Tyler

 

[HenrikBP]

Hi Tyler,

Thanks for the link to the video. Good info if I were R&R the full skin. Just doing wrists and ankles gets a bit more fidly.

How long have you been making the LE with non-stretch velcro? I received mine about a month ago.

Thanks

Henrik