How dry is a dry suit ?

[TSandM]

Seeps at the wrists and neck with neoprene seals are pretty common; seeps at the wrists are common with latex seals, too, if your wrists are thin and have prominent tendons.

The inlet valve should not leak. If it does, it either isn't settled onto the suit tightly enough, or it needs service. Inlet and exhaust valves need to be properly cared for, and periodically the inlet valve needs to be cleaned and the o-rings replaced.

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

Are your inlet and exhaust values the screw on types? The gaskets that seal them go bad after maybe four of five years of service if you are lucky. It may be time to replace them. Some manufacturers, like DUI, will seal the values when they install them. That will keep them leak free, but likely means the valve cannot be removed without scraping it.

It seems a "dry suit" is a on going quest. I am pretty dry now, except one wet "dry glove" and I think I have a fix for that. It is so nice when it all works.

 

[a22shady]

I have a Bare Trilaam Hd Tech Dry with the Heavy Duty latex wrist/neck seals. My g/f and i both come completly dry. Only on 1 or 2 occasions have I gotten a little water in through my wrist seals from bending them a lot.but even then was just little dampness. Only time I feel any wetness is usually from sweat after getting suited up and then getting into the cold water and then getting out of the cold water and some condensation from the hot air.

When diving deeper than 60' or in waters below 60F I wear my Sitech Dry gloves and then no water gets through wrist at all. Also you said you had a rented suit so its possible the seals werent tight enough or could have been strecthed out. Also ype of seals make a difference. If you had Latex seal you want to make sure the seals lie flat against your skin one thing i do for my wrist is to bu sure and pull the sleeve up my arm a little so the Seal sits little higher on my wrists to try and avoid that spot right wear your tendons run .

 

[turnerjd]

Reading the OP I get the impression that the guy was pretty dry.

The wetness on the chest is almost certainly either condensation from the neck seal running down and pooling at this point and being absorbed by the undergarments, or a very slight leak in the neck seal. Usually this pooling happens if you have good horizontal buoyancy as this becomes one of the lower points, or where the BCD or weight belt squeezes the suit / undergarment / wearer together. Equally, the underarms is almost certainly just sweat. The wrist seals sound OK, as the OP says there was "wet, very little".

If this was my suit I would change the neck seal, and get some thin thermal ski underwear to go underneath the undersuit. These usually wick away the sweat very well, and are not that expensive.

My experience is that generally real leaks will leave the undergarments soaked through, whilst condensation / sweat will leave then feeling a bit moist or cold.

HTH

Jon

 

[TSandM]

Just to differ a bit -- I've had "real" leaks that present with wet patches, just as the OP describes. A leak which is positional, for example, or one which is very small, will not leave the undergarment soaked through.

It is VERY true, however, that where you find the largest patch of water is often unrelated to where the leak actually IS. Water will run to the lowest point, and I have had leaking neck seals present as a wet undergarment crotch, simply because that's the lowest point of my body when I'm diving.

 

[emoreira]

This a pic taken a few minutes after I removed the dry suit. Note the circular wet patch in my chest. I'm the one just in the middle.

 

[ianr33]

looks lie an inflator leak to me!

 

[ianr33]

.........

 

[TSandM]

Definitely looks like an inlet valve leak.

 

[spectrum]

If this isn't a pesonal suit there is no telling then the valve was last checked for tightness. On a neoprene suit the valves (especially on a new suit) need to be repeatedly torqued as the neoprene crushes. Likewisew any blemish in the mouting surfaces can make an entry path. Cracks or other defects are also possible.

Also if at anytime water entered the valve inlet, like making a late connection in the water you'd get a shot of water that could account for the blotch. Since this happened on multiple days I assume this can be ruled out.

Pete