Drysuit leak detective wanted

[hindmost]

I've become increasingly convinced that there is a small leak somewhere in the lower legs of my brand new drysuit. A dark room and a flashlight didn't yield anything but because my suit comes with attached hard boots that are very hard to invert, I couldn't actually check the feet.

The telltale sign is the occasional feeling of a single cold bead of water traveling down my left knee, which I realized means something different in diving position than standard upright standing position. When I first got the suit it came with the wrong size boots and it was sent back for a rush boot replacement job, so I wonder if a seam wasn't sealed all the way. Now that I've narrowed it down, how do I go about confirming my hunch and fixing it? The boot has a very rugged molded rubber sole that is pretty resistant to inversion. Is there a trick to doing this?

All I know is, it is NOT going back for another 3 weeks. Even though the seams are covered under warranty. I'd rather deal with the damp socks.

[Merlin Rhoda]

Sometimes I'll put a little air in my suit and hold parts of it underwater in the bathtub while looking for bubbles. If you think your leak is in the legs this should be pretty straight forward. For checking the arms I use a dress pants hanger to clamp off the wrist seals.

Don't feel like you have to fill it up like a balloon - a bubble of air the size of a small melon is usually enough if you move it around as you check each suspected problem area.

[LCF]

My favorite way to find leaks is to put the suit on over a light cotton garment (surgical scrubs are perfect for this) that will show a water spot clearly. Zip the suit up and get in a pool or hot tub for just a minute or two. Move your legs around, so any seam leaks will be stressed. Then get out of the water and carefully peel the suit off and inspect your clothes. The wet spot will tell you the general area where the leak is (this is why you don't want to stay in the water too long).

Then you can blow the suit up with air and spray the area with a dilute detergent solution and look for bubbles. I have yet to fail to find a leak using this procedure.

[John Bailey]

Turn it inside out, plug the wrist seals and add water through the neck seal with a hose. DUI has a video on their site showing how to do this. It works really well for small leaks that are hard to find otherwise.

[hindmost]

I'm starting to seriously consider the possibility that I just have very sweaty knees.

[HBDiveGirl]

Possibly a parasympathetic neuro-mediated epidermal response to a hazardous (but unfortunately common) practice in diving.

Kicking.

Just sayin'...

0;-)

~~~
Claudette

[LCF]

Too funny, you scooter-spoiled woman, you! You have truly turned into Chris Cali

[Merlin Rhoda]

Too funny, you scooter-spoiled woman, you! You have truly turned into Chris Cali

Heh.. Whats Cali up to these days anyway?

[Jeff Shaw]

Plug her up, inflate, soapy water.
You can't miss the pinhole. Bubble will grow...

[hindmost]

It's the drysuit inflator valve!

Get tossed like a rag doll in the sand one time and I'm still digging sand out of places weeks later...

[HBDiveGirl]

Too funny, you scooter-spoiled woman, you! You have truly turned into Chris Cali

True...but kicking was the right choice for Ronnie and me Tuesday night at Vets Park.

I stopped counting octopuses at 50.
It was just stupid.
The seaweed mat was alive with eyes and tiny tentacled arms...and occasional F-U spit-wads of ink.

Baby horn sharks: 6.

Baby squiddies up in the water column, looking like elongated speckled vanilla jelly beans with eyes: more than 30!

Rare for Vets, Pink nudi Tritonia diomedea: 1

It was a very good night to kick.
And buddy looked relatively dry!

~~~~
Claudette

[HBDiveGirl]

It's the drysuit inflator valve!

Get tossed like a rag doll in the sand one time and I'm still digging sand out of places weeks later...

Aha!!! Good find.
I've had good luck spraying silicone into the drysuit inflator valve from the outside.
Then I hold a towel on the inside of the suit to catch the spray-through.
Hook it up to a cylinder and inflator hose.... and Push The Button, Max.

I love the stuff shore divers get to learn!

~~~~~
Claudette

[Fish Eater]

<snip>

I stopped counting octopuses at 50.

<snip>


~~~~
Claudette

Another example of Reef Check sub sampling?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[HBDiveGirl]

Another example of Reef Check sub sampling?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

hahhahaaa... exactly what I was thinking!

Inconveniently, it's called REEFCheck, not MUDCheck.

Believe me, if there were sufficient rocks in the Redondo Canyon (at depths of 60fsw or less), we would have a fabulous time ReefChecking the place.

If only there were a reef....

~~~~
Dette