Replacement tongue / nipple assembly for Si Tech Shell inflator?

[Mr. Dooley]

Salacious title indeed.

The two prongs on the end of the tongue busted off, making it a pain to inflate the suit (the inflator hose has to be continuously shoved into the inflation valve to compensate for the missing prongs).

Curious if anyone's got a link where I can buy a replacement nipple assembly (Int'l connection), or even just a replacement tongue. Trying to save a few bucks instead of dropping another $80 on a new valve, and my LDS would have to order the part specifically so there'd be a bit of a delay. Throwing a Hail Mary to see if SB can help me save time and $.

I use a Si Tech push button inflation valve, which looks like what they call their "shell" model.

 

[Jimchris]

I have a complete used sitech valve sitting in the drawer collecting dust (our suits all use apeks valves now). Cover the cost of shipping and I'll send it your way.

 

[Jimchris]

Just to update for anyone else with this issue, Si Tech is aware of the ongoing issues with their valves that utilize the "tongue". They are moving towards the inlet nipple with what they call a "pig nose" ie. has two small holes machined into the brass rather than the open end with the plastic tongue.

As far as I know, they are currently only replacing valves within a certain lot number range range (found on the underside of the valve body). Reaching out to Si tech or your local Si tech dealer may yield better results for replacement/update to the current design.

 

[Dave Plant]

I have now had two of the SI tech inflators fail in exactly the way you describe, within the year. The little plastic 'feet' on the back of the tongue broke, so the tongue was not proud enough to be able to depress the little valve inside the drysuit inflator whip. The first one failed slowly over a couple dives, allowing less and less air flow into my suit. Replaced it. The second failure was far worse. It failed (in the same way, but instantly) when I reattached a SM tank during a dive. Being now, sadly, a bit familiar with this, I could make the inflator work by pushing the fitting into the nipple while inflating. But dangerous none the less. My valves are just outside the code range for the recall. But certainly have the same problem. One more odd thing is the recall seems to cite the risk as hypothermia but does not mention suite squeeze.

 

[qathetDiver]

I also had one fail, same problem. The forks on the tongue broke. While awaiting service from Si-Tech, I got my kid to manufacture one on his 3D printer. I can't recommend that, of course, but it works great. Still will feel better when I get a different form factor nipple. How often do you guys think you should get your drysuit inlet valve serviced? On my last suit, I had the inlet valve serviced exactly never - 15 years of operation and hundreds of dives. But when I reported this problem to SI-Tech, I got a "it's very old and should have been serviced a long time ago." I got it new in January 2021.

 

[Jhgt2d]

@qathetDiver any chance of sharing the file for the 3d print? Would love to have a friend print one up for me and take a shot at replacing mine before it fails.

 

[qathetDiver]

@qathetDiver any chance of sharing the file for the 3d print? Would love to have a friend print one up for me and take a shot at replacing mine before it fails.

I can't over-emphasize how much I don't recommend this. Firstly, the replacement piece is going to be just as, or more, failure prone than the original. Instead, get a new, better-designed nipple. That said, I'll ask my son tonight.

 

[qathetDiver]

"This zip fie contains an .stl and a .gcode. The .gcode is pre-sliced for an ender 3. I had to scale the STL down a bit; the original piece measured about 5.2 mm wide. I had to scale it down to 52% when I imported the STL straight from blender, just turn on uniform scaling and adjust your x axis to 5.2 mm." Hopefully that will mean something to the 3D printing crowd. Again, this comes with no warranty. Your mileage may vary. Don't use in life support equipment. I don't recommend this. The replacement piece is going to be just as, or more, failure prone than the original. Instead, get a new, better-designed nipple. Si-Tech will replace the nipple if you get it serviced by them. You're responsible for your safety, etc. etc.

 

[qathetDiver]

The guys at SiTech dealer OceanEquipment.ca were great about quickly servicing my valve. (I think they service North-America-wide.) They replaced the nipple with the pig-nose style, and replaced the o-rings in the main valve. They also pointed me to the valve manual, which the OP had images from. (www.sitech.se/media/102046/manual_valves_2022_webb.pdf)