Wet spots with drysuit normal?

[jerryk1199]

Hi -

I have a relatively new Fourth Element Argonaut dry suit. I bought it through my local dive shop. It has been leak tested by both the shop and a rep from Fourth Element and has passed multiple times and has had the inflator valve replaced.

I've used it about 15 times and when I'm done the dive the sweatshirt I'm currently wearing under it always looks like the attached pictures. These pics at the end of the day after 2 training dives that I was assisting with. Very shallow, only down to about 20 ft.

I'm being told that this is 'normal'. Is it?

Thanks
~JerryK

 

[tbone1004]

that is very much not normal. your inflator and dump valves were not installed properly and are not sealing. The dump valve can sometimes be fixed by rotating it back one or two clicks, but with the inflator doing it as well I would say it was not installed properly

 

[Stoo]

Your post is timely. I have 35 years experience diving Viking drysuits and with the odd exception I always came out of the water 100% dry, until the suit was nearing the end of its life

Recently I added a SANTI eMotion suit for travel as its about 1/3 the weight of my Viking Pro. While I love the design and comfort of the SANTI, I don't think any of the 50-60 dives I have had on it were totally dry. The zipper failed after 35 dives so I spent a week on each of our coasts getting soaked!

I just got the suit back from having the zipper replaced under warranty, but 6 dives later, I am now getting wet on by butt and on one foot. I'm on my way home from a dive weekend as I write this and I have the suit with me and I am going to leak test and hopefully patch the thing.Many of my friends dive DUI suits and I would say that 90% of them get wet to some extent on every dive. Many of them, if not most, own more than one suit since they have one getting serviced more often than not.

I can understand how it's difficult to make a suit that's completely dry all the time, but for the price of them, it would nice to be dry at least once in a while. I've decided I am going back to my Viking and I'll keep the SANTI just for travel. My original plan was to sell the Viking. :-(

Apart from that, I think that these light suits help to create a lot of condensation as well. If you're doing a number of dives in a day, you end up soaked even in a "dry" drysuit.

Having said this, I completely agree with what others have said about the OPs valves. You might consider putting the suit on and over inflating it and have a friend squirt around the suspect areas with a diluted dish soap mixture and using a small craft tool brush to move the solution around. Even small leaks should show up with foaming and the valves will likely bubble in your case.

 

[lowviz]

Classic pattern.

Anytime I am on a "mission", I'll get wet. I'm fit so my wrists will "channel" with any exertion. See pic. No wrist seal will accommodate that. Drains down your arm, across the suit and soaks your chest.

Always the dominant arm, right?

 

[tbone1004]

the argonaut is about as robust as it gets in terms of modern laminate drysuits. I have a Rofos that is truly totally dry, but it's a very well built suit, unfortunately I can't say about most of the Santi's I've seen...

 

[WarrenZ]

My vote is tighten/ reseal your valves. I always get condensation when I dive dry but it is generally very widespread that looks localized to the valve areas.

 

[Stoo]

Anytime I am on a "mission", I'll get wet. I'm fit so my wrists will "channel" with any exertion. See pic. No wrist seal will accommodate that. Drains down your arm, across the suit and soaks your chest.

My wee wifey has a similiar (although different) problem with her wrists. She is tiny, and very lean so wrist seals simply don't work. Drygloves solved that problem as they render wristseals redundant.

 

[jerryk1199]

Thanks for the info folks! Glad to know I'm not going crazy thinking I should be drier. I'll keep plugging away at trying to get this resolved.

 

[Stoo]

My vote is tighten/ reseal your valves. I always get condensation when I dive dry but it is generally very widespread that looks localized to the valve areas.

And also make sure the dump valve is clean... a little sand or some other goop in there can mess with you.

 

[lowviz]

... I'll keep plugging away at trying to get this resolved.

Start by putting your seals right at the wrist, I know where the sweet spot is for me. And, of course, keep your undergarment clear of the wrist seals. It shouldn't be hard, you just have to be mindful of these two things.