Neoprene Leak

[scowens]

I have a used neoprene dry suit with either a leak or an inexperienced user (neoprene seals). During recent cave dives (first ones with this suit) and flooded it to my knees! I'm pretty sure I folded the seals in on themselves, to the inside. Zipper was zipped. I've did the leak check with soapy water. Even tied a rope around the neck to get even more air in it....no leak!!!! My next step is to tie myself to an underwater dock and inflate and have a buddy check for bubbles or claim the insurance before I splash back down into the water.

Any suggestions or tricks that I might do, before I do this? If this doesn't help me, then I guess the seals are what is leaking and so I'll go latex.

Thanks all!
Steve

 

[DA Aquamaster]

You can try filling the legs with water. Make sure the suit is dry on the outside, then carefully fill the leg with water while supporting the leg at the hip with the foot resting on the floor. When the water starts to leak through the hole, a slightly darker wet spot will form around the pin hole and identify the location of the leak. Then you can circle it and repair it once it drys.

You can do the same thing with the arms using a suitable sized can or glass to seal the suit at the cuff.

You can normally get a lot more pressure in the suspect area than when filling the suit with air.

However, if you had a lot of water in the suit, the leak should be very evident. With a large amount of water and a hard to find leak, I would tend to suspect that instead you have water entering through a too loose neck seal or possibly the dump valve during the dive.

 

[String]

Also worth noting a few things about filling with water trick....

I hung my suit from a tree trying this, could it half full of water and the branch snapped due to the weight

Also i suspect it'll strain the seams a fair bit if not careful.

 

[scowens]

Never thought of the water test, thanks. I normally dive with a latex neck seal...how tight should the neoprene neck seal be, as compared to the latex?

Thanks
Steve