Silicon wrist seals not... sealing?

[Nicool]

Guys,
Yesterday i've had the pleasure to try the almost-new (bought used, but only 6 dives on it) Santi Emotion+ drysuit which i just got.

It's also the first time i dive trilaminate drysuit & silicon wrist seals (i used to dive crushed neoprene & neoprene wrist seals).

2 issues i've encountered:
1/ lots of water in my left arm (which is also where the high profile apeks dump valve sits, so i have double suspiscion), maybe i didn't place the silicon wrist seal far enough on my forearm (i'm one of these guys with sharp tendons who never get totally dry forearms), at least on my right cuff i just had the usual dampness.
2/ whenever i raised my arm, say to point my camera for shooting towards the surface, i got air escaping the suit from there - very annoying!!

My question is: is it normal for this to happen with silicon wrist seals (maybe applicable to latex too)? I am referring to point 2 in particular? Or do i have a specific problem.

Actually i have small wrists and these silicon wrist seals seemed a bit too easy to don (though visually they did stick to my skin), maybe i would be fine buying small size wrist silicon seals, like the ones from Mares.

But if it's a lost battle already better to know, thanks in advance guys!

Cheers
Nicolas

 

[divad]

Yes to smaller wrist seals, and don't cut them.......................... unless your hands shrivel up and begin to fall off.

 

[Marie13]

Also, did you pull the seals BELOW your wrist bones and make sure they were straight and not bunched up? And undergarment not stuck in them?

Maybe you do need smaller seals.

 

[SeaHorse81]

If you have small wrists with prominent tendons, you'll probably find that flexing your wrists in certain ways will open up a nice channel for the water to run past the seal. I learned the hard way to try to keep my arm straight from my elbow to my hand as much as possible but sometimes, you just have to do what you have to do and put up with getting a little wet.

 

[Nicool]

Yes to smaller wrist seals, and don't cut them.......................... unless your hands shrivel up and begin to fall off.

OK that's what i thought, will try that.

Also, did you pull the seals BELOW your wrist bones and make sure they were straight and not bunched up? And undergarment not stuck in them?

Maybe you do need smaller seals.

By "BELOW" you mean closer to the hand right? I noticed my left arm seal didn't go as far as the right arm one. So maybe that was enough to lead to that massive water entry.
Also, the left wrist seal was slightly twisted (close to the drysuit), but i thought it wouldn't be a problem since the end-part of it seemed to sit nicely on my wrist, maybe for 1.5 cm. I guess that wasn't enough and i should be looking at maximizing the 'flat' sealing surface.
Yet, i've followed my undergarnment manufacturer instruction which was to pull the undergarnment as close as possible to the end using the integrated thumbs 'hooks'. Then only push back the "hooks" below the wrist seal. The intention was to get as warm as possible, but maybe i've been not careful enough when putting back the hook in place.

If you have small wrists with prominent tendons, you'll probably find that flexing your wrists in certain ways will open up a nice channel for the water to run past the seal. I learned the hard way to try to keep my arm straight from my elbow to my hand as much as possible but sometimes, you just have to do what you have to do and put up with getting a little wet.

Exactly right: when it's my turn to take photos (sharing one housing with my buddy-wife) i feel some water entering the cuffs whenever i have to close my right fist, typically when pulling the trigger to shoot. I am less wet when i am not using the camera.
However i won't give up photography, so i need ways to just minimize that water ingress.

This will be based on the above 1/ changing to smaller seals and 2/ being more careful when donning the seals.

Ultimately i'll have to go drygloves i think if i want to totally get rid of humidity on cuffs, maybe next year.

thanks for all the advices guys
Nicolas

 

[Marie13]

OK that's what i thought, will try that.
By "BELOW" you mean closer to the hand right? I noticed my left arm seal didn't go as far as the right arm one. So maybe that was enough to lead to that massive water entry.
Also, the left wrist seal was slightly twisted (close to the drysuit), but i thought it wouldn't be a problem since the end-part of it seemed to sit nicely on my wrist, maybe for 1.5 cm. I guess that wasn't enough and i should be looking at maximizing the 'flat' sealing surface.

No, closer to the suit sleeve. Same concept as you want your neck seal to be below your Adam's Apple.

What undergarments are you using? Try slipping your thumb out of thumb loop BEFORE putting your hand through seal since you're not using dry gloves. I keep thumb loop sticking out through seal, but I use that to equalize between suit and gloves since I use lock on dry gloves, which I can't recommend enough.

 

[Nicool]

No, closer to the suit sleeve. Same concept as you want your neck seal to be below your Adam's Apple.

What undergarments are you using? Try slipping your thumb out of thumb loop BEFORE putting your hand through seal since you're not using dry gloves. I keep thumb loop sticking out through seal, but I use that to equalize between suit and gloves since I use lock on dry gloves, which I can't recommend enough.

Hi Marie,

I didn't know about the adam apple frontier, maybe mine isn't too stringent
Thanks for the clarification. I would have thought that pulling the seal up to the beginning of my hand would help get a tighter seal, because this area is wider than wrist, so would stretch the slilicon more, but maybe i am wrong.

@all, do you confirm you can lift up your hand and not get air escaping the suit from your silicon wrist seal?

 

[undrwater]

You shouldn't experience air escape unless your suit has a lot of air in it.

You can try pulling the seal back towards your elbow until you feel you have a good seal. The other option is Apollo BioSeal.

I think, though, that your current seals are cut too large.

 

[broncobowsher]

dry gloves will fix it.

 

[ajduplessis]

Firstly do a leak test on the dump valve. Inflate left arm and spray soapy water on valve, if it leaks you will see bubbles. Secondly, the dump valve should be slightly close from fully open (about 1/4 turn or more) depending on valve and the volume of air in the suit. If the leak on the valve persist, remove, clean and reinstall.

You can do the same with the cuff to check for leaks, remove, inspect, clean and reinstall. I use some silicone grease when refitting the seal. Even the smallest pin hole in silicone will leak whenever the stretch or move you arm/wrist. Also check the neck seal on the left side for leaks.

When replacing silicone seals DON"T cut them, also to my knowledge the small size seals are for extremely thin wrist such as petite females. Can you see if the seals have been altered (cut), if they are I would replace them, the contact area between skin and silicone should be maximum. Cutting seals only reduce the contact area.

Wrist tendons is the other cause of leaks as mentioned.