Options for leaking DSS Torus wing

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laikabear

Contributor
Messages
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Location
Pasadena, CA
# of dives
500 - 999
Hi everyone,

I have a DSS 26# Torus wing that is about 3 years old. I use it mainly for travel now, and it's been stored in the closet since last summer (I need to take more vacations). I got it out for a class recently and realized it is leaking. For those that don't know, DSS Torus wings are sewn shut, not designed to be user-repairable. It seems to be leaking adjacent to (but not directly out of) the rear dump. That part of the wing, along the bottom, has a rough, thick fabric, and I can't see the leak very precisely. It still holds some air, but gets pretty squishy if inflated fully and left for a few hrs. Also, I can hear the leak if I inflate the wing hard.

I'm still unsure as to whether Tobin will ever be back in business (as far as scuba gear is concerned). His website security certificate is expired and the last I saw of his posts on SB, it sounded like he was possibly done with the scuba business altogether. Although, I also saw some comments that maybe he would eventually be able to repair old gear, even if he doesn't sell new gear anymore.

So, trying to decide what to do with my wing... I could hold onto it and hope that I can get it repaired at some point in the future if Tobin becomes available.

Or I could rip the seam on the outer covering, pull out the bladder, see if I can patch it, and then try to re-sew the wing. I do have a sewing machine that can sew through that thickness of fabric, but I've never sewn anything exactly like that before. I'm concerned I won't be able to make a quality repair of the covering. Or that I could punch more holes in the bladder trying to sew it.

But I guess trying to fix it myself is better than just tossing it in the garbage. And I'm curious about what the bladder looks like. I think I treat my gear in a normal fashion, but if I need to learn a lesson about being more careful with wings, I'd rather learn it now...

Advice? Has anyone successfully repaired a wing with no access zipper?
 
I would ponder having a zipper installed.... Seems a best of both worlds solution...
 
The website does have a couple of phone numbers for Tobin. You might try to contact him to see what options he suggests.
 
If the BC gets squishy after hours, you have a small leak. It would be nice if you can open it up and see it, but a very small leak is not going to noticeably affect your buoyancy during a dive. In fact, as you consume air in your tank, you get lighter and have to occasionally vent air from the BC anyway.
 
Hi everyone,
I'm curious about what the bladder looks like. I think I treat my gear in a normal fashion, but if I need to learn a lesson about being more careful with wings, I'd rather learn it now...
Advice? Has anyone successfully repaired a wing with no access zipper?

I don't have the Torus wings but the LCD with a zipper. DSS uses a urethane bladder, think of a thick plastic. The older wings used a thinner translucent bladder while the newer wings use a black thicker bladder.

Tobin did once post what it takes to change the bladder on a Torus wing and from what I remember it was long drawn out process. A bargain at the $50 he charged.

DSS wings were always a bit squishy. Do you have a known good wing you can swap the dumps with to see if that is the problem? A wing in storage should not develop problems.
 
If the BC gets squishy after hours, you have a small leak. It would be nice if you can open it up and see it, but a very small leak is not going to noticeably affect your buoyancy during a dive. In fact, as you consume air in your tank, you get lighter and have to occasionally vent air from the BC anyway.

That's like when I rolled a 44 gallon drum over my toe and lost it to gangrene
but that it didn't matter at all because I could just cover it all up with my shoe

but yeah how's this for a bonus photo from another ScubaBoard thread

full.jpg


I would sure as heck rip open the last seams sewn in the middle, and after a good roughening
plop on some aquaseal and having sewn it up, promise to never give myself a pinch flat again

When you've got the stitch length right especially with the plastic pieces, just stitching slowly using
the hand wheel around corners and over lumps and bumps can be handled by any table machine.

personally with what I've got definitely a stitching I would go

full.jpg


Hi-ho, the derry-o a stitching I would go

and like with a lot of these things, when apart I take to fraying with a lighter
and if original thread is a bit too close to the edge I give it a quick re stitch

sometimes completely, moving in 1/8 ish
 
@happy-diver do you have the link to that convo? I'd like to read it. :)

If you look at the pic of the wing you posted, mine is leaking from the bottom thick area of the shell (where the fabric looks crisscrossed). So it's hard to tell where the leak is because the bubbles come out all through that part of the fabric.

It's not a huge leak, but I don't want to keep diving the wing if I can't repair it. If it's along a seam it could get worse and that doesn't seem safe to me. Maybe I'm overreacting and others would just keep diving a leaking wing, IDK. Especially since I travel with this wing, if the leak got worse on a trip, and I couldn't dive at all, I'd be upset. Getting a replacement wing on a trip would probably be difficult.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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