Vacuum Therapy

[spectrum]

A few months ago I posted about how I screwed up and left a 3mm suit folded and it became creased. I didn't get any ideas then but I just had a brainstorm.....

I have access to vacuum chambers. It seems that if I put the suit into a chamber and took it down to 20-25 inches of mercury that the neoprene cells would swell in the negative pressure. It also occured to me that periodic therapy might retard the loss of insulating value in a wetsuit buy recharging the crushed neoprene.

Then again the whole think may turn into a ruptured rag, thoughts?

Pete

 

[ChrisA]

I doubt it would work. I think the way the foam neoprene is damaged is that the walls between the cells are ripped. Or maybe the gas inside the cells leaks out over time via small tears in the cell walls. The stuff is physically damaged.


My guess is that patial vacuum would if anything at all, farther damage the suit by sucking remaing gas from the cells. But I doubt even that The most you could do is a "perfect" vacuum. and that is only one bar under what it is exposed to now.

A few months ago I posted about how I screwed up and left a 3mm suit folded and it became creased. I didn't get any ideas then but I just had a brainstorm.....

I have access to vacuum chambers. It seems that if I put the suit into a chamber and took it down to 20-25 inches of mercury that the neoprene cells would swell in the negative pressure. It also occured to me that periodic therapy might retard the loss of insulating value in a wetsuit buy recharging the crushed neoprene.

Then again the whole think may turn into a ruptured rag, thoughts?

Pete

I think the foam neoprene is damaged

 

[simbrooks]

I think the fact that the suits get compressed during a dive, but dont always regain their full thickness shows that there is a form of plastic deformation in this stress/strain relationship. You cant regain plastic deformation unless you melt down a substance and remove its "stress memory" (for want of a better term).

Now i will also say, i think that the vacuum chamber might be a little more costly than replacing a suit every year or two - economics is king

 

[Bob3]

I agree with the above, but how about throwing some stuff in there to test it out on a sample patch anyway?
When we vacuum tested torpedoes in the Navy some strange things would sometimes find their way inside for the "ride".

 

[Mo2vation]

A few months ago I posted about how I screwed up and left a 3mm suit folded and it became creased. I didn't get any ideas then but I just had a brainstorm.....

I have access to vacuum chambers. It seems that if I put the suit into a chamber and took it down to 20-25 inches of mercury that the neoprene cells would swell in the negative pressure. It also occured to me that periodic therapy might retard the loss of insulating value in a wetsuit buy recharging the crushed neoprene.

Then again the whole think may turn into a ruptured rag, thoughts?

Pete

I'm doing a lot of lobstering lately. I'm thinking about a wetsuit...kind of a drag in a D/S.

So If I give you my CF200, can you turn it into a 7mm for me?

---
Ken

 

[Paco]

Vacuums suck!

 

[hardhat]

Stupid question here, why are you so worried about fixxing this suit, isn't it just cheaper ( both economicly and mentally ) to replace it, then driving yourself crazy trying to fix it?

 

[spectrum]

Stupid question here, why are you so worried about fixxing this suit, isn't it just cheaper ( both economicly and mentally ) to replace it, then driving yourself crazy trying to fix it?

I'm not worried or driving myself crazy. I'm just an engineer who likes to solve problems. For what I use that suit for it will do fine as is. We do a lot of package seal testing at work in vacuum chambers and the thiings will puff up to the point of rupture. It occured to me that the same principle might work on the suit. Just curious, that's all.

Pete

 

[Charlie99]

Just curious, that's all.

What would happen to a wetsuit left at 2 bar for an extended period in a dry pressure chamber. Would air seep into the closed cells of the neoprene, resulting in a puffed up suit when returning to the surface?

Another curious engineer,

Charlie

 

[spectrum]

What would happen to a wetsuit left at 2 bar for an extended period in a dry pressure chamber. Would air seep into the closed cells of the neoprene, resulting in a puffed up suit when returning to the surface?

Another curious engineer,

Charlie

Given the non rigid cell structure either is plausible. But I think vacuum has a better chance of restoring the shape. Your idea prompts me to add a very slow reduction in vacuum so that the cells can absorb gas before colapsing. Like decompression but reversed.

Pete