Deep South Divers
Contributor
Years ago a fellow Scubaboarder named TS&M posted an article on how to open a SiTech exhaust valve and clean it out. Unfortunately, that article was lost to time and cyberspace.
Recently a friend here (laikabear) asked me how to do it, so I did a little video explaining how to get the things open. She was so thrilled with it that she asked me to start a thread on the topic.
If you're a drysuit diver, it's very likely that you've got a SiTech exhaust valve on your suit, even if it's been relabeled with the suit's brand name. Eventually, all exhaust valves will leak and need to be opened and cleaned out. Here's how:
1. Unzip your suit so that you can access both the inside and outside sides of the valve.
2. Hold the outside valve with one hand at the base of the valve... The non-moving part that is closest to the suit fabric.
3. Reach inside the suit and unscrew the bottom half of the valve. It may be on tight, but it will unscrew.
4. Remove both halves of the valve and separate them from the suit. There will be a whitish plastic "anti-friction ring" between the inside of the suit and the bottom half of the valve.
5. Here's how to disassemble the valve:
6. Clean the valve and all parts of it with Dawn dishwashing soap and a toothbrush. Wipe the port (glued onto the suit) with Windex and/or a wet rag. Put a little silicone lube or Christolube on the port to aid in sealing and nourish the materials.
7. Reassemble and test by blowing and sucking through the valve. Air should only be able to go one way - out.
The two steps that always cause trouble for people are unscrewing the valve from the suit (they hold the top cover instead of the base and break it) and not knowing about or finding the indent to insert the screwdriver and pop the cover off correctly. Do those two okay and you'll be fine.
One thing I like to do to make sure that I don't stress the cover when I remove the valve from the suit: I close the valve before I unscrew. That way, if I accidentally put twisting pressure on the cover, it slides open instead of breaking off. Putting back on, I open the valve fully so it works the same way - it'll make sense when you do it.
Expect to accidentally make a small mark in the indent of your valve with the screwdriver when you pop the cover off. This is okay - we all have the little mark, and it means that you take care of your stuff.
Don't stress over the little screwdriver mark.
Your exhaust valve may have a different cover than mine... Inside, it's still the same - so don't let that throw you.
Hopefully that helps someone out there who is dealing with a leaky, unreliable exhaust valve.
Recently a friend here (laikabear) asked me how to do it, so I did a little video explaining how to get the things open. She was so thrilled with it that she asked me to start a thread on the topic.
If you're a drysuit diver, it's very likely that you've got a SiTech exhaust valve on your suit, even if it's been relabeled with the suit's brand name. Eventually, all exhaust valves will leak and need to be opened and cleaned out. Here's how:
1. Unzip your suit so that you can access both the inside and outside sides of the valve.
2. Hold the outside valve with one hand at the base of the valve... The non-moving part that is closest to the suit fabric.
3. Reach inside the suit and unscrew the bottom half of the valve. It may be on tight, but it will unscrew.
4. Remove both halves of the valve and separate them from the suit. There will be a whitish plastic "anti-friction ring" between the inside of the suit and the bottom half of the valve.
5. Here's how to disassemble the valve:
6. Clean the valve and all parts of it with Dawn dishwashing soap and a toothbrush. Wipe the port (glued onto the suit) with Windex and/or a wet rag. Put a little silicone lube or Christolube on the port to aid in sealing and nourish the materials.
7. Reassemble and test by blowing and sucking through the valve. Air should only be able to go one way - out.
The two steps that always cause trouble for people are unscrewing the valve from the suit (they hold the top cover instead of the base and break it) and not knowing about or finding the indent to insert the screwdriver and pop the cover off correctly. Do those two okay and you'll be fine.
One thing I like to do to make sure that I don't stress the cover when I remove the valve from the suit: I close the valve before I unscrew. That way, if I accidentally put twisting pressure on the cover, it slides open instead of breaking off. Putting back on, I open the valve fully so it works the same way - it'll make sense when you do it.
Expect to accidentally make a small mark in the indent of your valve with the screwdriver when you pop the cover off. This is okay - we all have the little mark, and it means that you take care of your stuff.
Don't stress over the little screwdriver mark. Your exhaust valve may have a different cover than mine... Inside, it's still the same - so don't let that throw you.
Hopefully that helps someone out there who is dealing with a leaky, unreliable exhaust valve.
