It's here!!! and soon to be gone again...

[LG Diver]

My new (used) DUI CF200x drysuit finally showed up today!!! I've been sweating this for two weeks since I bought it on eBay, but it finally arrived tonight and looked the real deal with no crazy tears or messed up zipper (that I can tell). This is my first drysuit, and while I've read darn near every post here I don't have a lot of hands-on time with real suits, so I have some questions.

The suit needs new boots, as the ones that are on there are way too small for me (I knew this when I bought it) so it needs to go out to have new boots put on. It kills me to have to ship it out just as soon as it got here, but the sooner it goes out the sooner it'll get back. While it's off for new boots, I'm wondering what other repairs/improvements I should have done to it.

The suit is 9 years old, but the seller claimed it only had about a dozen dives on it. By the looks of it this seems plausible. There's no fade on the fabric, there are no patch holes on the suit, and the seals seem OK to me. The seals don't look like they've ever been replaced though, so I'm wondering whether I shouldn't just have new seals put on while its out so save myself from having to send it out yet another time. While I'm at it, I'm also going to add a p-valve. I have a 3 day liveaboard to the Channel Islands booked for August, and it would sure be nice to not have to take the suit off every hour to go pee. The suit currently has the older high-profile Apeks exhaust valve and I'm debating whether I should replace it with a SiTech valve while it's out. Also, the inflator is an older non-swivel Apeks. Should I replace this? If you all think the valves are OK, I'd be inclined to leave them alone and put the money to something else. I'll also pay to have it pressure tested to make sure there are no leaks. Anything else you'd recommend? It already has pockets on both thighs.

Thanks,
John

 

[outlaws]

John,
I would deffinatly replace the seals. My suit is only a year old and is getting all three replaced. You could check with http://www.gamblescuba.com/ and see what his proffesional advice would be. He knows Dry Suits. If you are going on a live aboard you don't want to blow a seal early in the week. He also does leak tests when he repairs the suit as a standard procedure(doesn't charge $60 like someone else).

Dive Safe, Dive Often,,
Butch:14:

 

[LG Diver]

Thanks Butch. I've heard good things about Gamble for repairs. I've also heard good things about Superior Drysuit Repair, so I was going to go with one of those two.

What's your opinion on the Apeks valves? I haven't heard anything specifically bad about the non-swivel inflate valve, and I've even heard that the high-profile exhaust is better than the low-profile version, so I'm inclined to leave them both alone. Any maintenance/lubing I should do to these?

Thanks again,
John

 

[carldarl]

I have a 3 day liveaboard to the Channel Islands booked for August, and it would sure be nice to not have to take the suit off every hour to go pee. Thanks,
John

Who are you going out wit? Idid a 3-day on the Sand Dollar out of San Pedro and was very pleased. I wouldn't mind going again this year once my shoulder is healed.

 

[dannobee]

These guys came recommended, plus they're closer.

http://www.drysuitseals.com/

Give them a call and see.

 

[Mark Vlahos]

I purchased a used suit several months ago and in general my suit was fine. I got several dives on ths suit with the existing seals. I recently sent my suit to DUI to have ZipSeals put on both the wrists and neck.

The seals on the suit were in good shape, but they were trimmed for the previous owner and were just a little too large. I was able to dive the suit, but I always found myself wishing that the seals were one or perhaps two rings tighter, so I spent the money and am having this fixed. I had wanted ZipSeals any way so it was always part of the plan. My suit had a pocket on the right outer thigh, and while the suit is having the other work done, I am having a pocket added to the left outer thigh. I like pockets on the suit, you may not, that is a personal choice. If you want to have pockets you should get them added now.

As far as the valves are concerned, if the inflator valve does not spin that is not an issue if it is pointing the way your hose will route from. If it points the wrong way, you will not like it. The exhaust valve is only worth replacing if it does not work. You can figure this one out for yourself if you have access to a pool.

When I budgeted for my used suit I planned on the additional costs of the repairs and modifications I would probably need to make on the suit immediately. I hope you did the same, if not the added costs can make the bargain almost as expensive as a new suit.

Good luck,

Mark Vlahos

 

[steveann]

If you're sending the suit out for seal replacement, you might as well look into getting the Zip Seals. They're awful nice, and if you rip a seal on the first day of your liveaboard, all you do is whip out a replacement and zip it in. No duct tape for you.

 

[LG Diver]

Who are you going out wit? Idid a 3-day on the Sand Dollar out of San Pedro and was very pleased. I wouldn't mind going again this year once my shoulder is healed.

I'm going out with the Conception (Truth Aquatics) out of Santa Barbara. Our LDS (Diver Dan's, Santa Clara) is organizing the trip. When I booked a few weeks ago they still had a spots available. Trip is Aug 10-12. This will be my first liveaboard- can't wait! It's killing me that it's still 4 months away.

 

[LG Diver]

These guys came recommended, plus they're closer.

http://www.drysuitseals.com/

Give them a call and see.

Thanks! They're driving distace for me. I'll definitely check them out.

 

[LG Diver]

Thanks Mark. Yes, I did budget for the cost of new seals and new socks/boots when I bought the suit, so no surprises there. I had called Superior and got quotes for the work before I bought the suit.

The reason I ask about the valves is because I've read several threads where the Apeks exhaust valves seem to work fine at the surface or shallow water and either don't dump or leak once you get deeper. From what I understand, the inlet can be rotated by removing a a screw even though it doesn't swivel. Don't know exactly how to do this, though.

Also, the suit already has two thigh pockets, so I'm in good shape there.