Leak in the air dump on my drysuit?

[carrielsal]

Yes, I have had my dump valve leak. It began with getting rolled in the sand at Carmel River Beach. I took the valve apart and serviced it, and it stayed dry for a while, but then began to leak again.

One easy solution to a leak is to click the valve down a couple of times -- that will often stop the leaking, but still allow you to vent the suit easily. If that doesn't work, I have a photo essay on the DMX site about how to take a SiTech dump valve apart and clean it. Do NOT try to play with the spring. It is my belief that they do gradually lose elasticity and contribute to leaking when the valve is fully open, but the calibration is apparently pretty critical, and if you screw around with the spring, you WILL end up buying a new valve. If you have to do that, Bob3 sells them at an excellent price.

I don't think I have the nerve to try talking it apart myself.

 

[TSandM]

Carrie, it's actually QUITE easy. When I did it, I had searched the entire web for information on how it was done, and only found a few posts saying that it was put together with plastic clips that were easy to damage, and it wasn't worth trying. In fact, it IS put together with plastic clips, but if one is reasonably gentle in prying the case open, they aren't damaged, and the valve from that point is easy to take apart and clean and remove debris.

However, do check that your valve is screwed down tight, because it's a new suit and may not have been assembled well enough. I had this problem with a brand new Diving Concepts suit -- it's an easy fix! And when I serviced the valves on our Fusions, I didn't screw Peter's down tight enough, and it leaked on the first dive. So it's worth checking that.

 

[Peter_C]

I don't think I have the nerve to try talking it apart myself.

JUST DO IT! Heck what is the worst you could do? Sending it in will cost about what the valve costs. The last exhaust valve I bought was $20. They are really simple.

 

[Web Monkey]

JUST DO IT! Heck what is the worst you could do? Sending it in will cost about what the valve costs. The last exhaust valve I bought was $20. They are really simple.

AFAIK, the suit is still under warranty, and having the dealer look at it should be free.

Terry

 

[carrielsal]

I'm definately going to have someone at the LDS where I bought it take a look. I was freezing by the time I got out of the water.

 

[Peter_C]

AFAIK, the suit is still under warranty, and having the dealer look at it should be free.

Terry

What's a dealer? Sorry I rarely visit an LDS. Only when I travel and need fills. Every time I walk into my LDS and ask for something their standard reply is "we can order it", yeah so can I!

 

[TSandM]

Oh, if it's under warranty, don't mess with it.

The last SiTech dump valves I bought were about $70 each -- NOT a trivial sum. And that was $30 better than our local shops sell them for.

 

[Peter_C]

Oh, if it's under warranty, don't mess with it.

The last SiTech dump valves I bought were about $70 each -- NOT a trivial sum. And that was $30 better than our local shops sell them for.

If you can easily get to your LDS and "trust them", sure why not. If the suit needs to be sent back to the manufacture, no way. It takes less than 5 minutes to disassemble and clean.

I bought an SI Tech inflator and exhaust off ebay for less than $50 shipped for both. They were branded Moby and brand new. Then again I am a cheap, and own way too much gear.

 

[Indian Valley Scuba]

We are a Whites dealer and have had several instances where the Sitek valve assembly was simply not tightened properly when the suit was manufactured. A simple tightening ot the valve took care of the problem. We check all our new drysuit valves now as a result. Hope this helps.

 

[carrielsal]

Exactly what are you tightening? Can anyone post a pic? I would really appreciate it.