Northwest Dive Club

After a recent 4 dive day I'm firmly in the market for a pee valve. I have a DUI CF 200. Would love some advice on a good model and installer.

Light monkey tinkle valve, halcyon p-valve. Both made in same place and basically the same (interchangeable parts) I prefer the balanced and have never had a problem with duckbill valve, etc like some people have. Unbalanced is not a huge deal, you just need to preload it with fluid before dive...how you do that is up to you. 5th D in West Seattle has Light Monkey in stock. Capital Divers in Oly carries the halcyon p-valve.

Installation is super easy, the only hurdle to get past is being willing to cut a whole in your $2000 drysuit. I'd be happy to help you with putting it in if you wanted, although I am up pretty far north. Otherwise, most shops that sell them will likely put them in. You cut a 3/4" hole where you need the valve, paint surfaces with seal cement (or RTV silicone if you want to be able to remove it), and screw the two pieces together like an inflation valve. You just need to decide how you want to route the hose before you do it because that will determine placement.

Good move...you will never regret it. P-valve is right up there with scooter and dry gloves...everything else is optional.

Thanks hakk, the halcyon valve keeps popping up in my research so ill probably lean towards that. Cutting my brand new suit has been the concern that prompted my thorough research! I wanted to ask the members some opinions before I take the plunge.

I dont care for balanced valves, had them in both my suits and inevitably ended up with either urine or water in my suit..

I removed the balancers and settled for very basic p-valves that use standard fuel line check valves that I can replace onsite in 1minute..

Installing it is really easy, use a soldering iron to burn the right size hole and aqua-seal it. some come with gaskets that you can use instead of permanently aqua-sealing.

should not take more than 20min to install..

I can also vouch for Mark at 5thD in West seattle (down the street from Cove2). He did my previous suit and I did my second suit myself.

You need to research condom caths and appropriate shaving tools. It has been widely discussed here and on other boards in the recent past. Both Rochester and Coloplast are happy to send you a wide variety of samples for free.

I hadn't had any problems with balanced valves in several years of using them, but I've got a leak now which is making me consider just plugging the hole.

Having used both the LM and the Halcyon, I prefer the Halcyon. It's lower resistance (by a little bit) AND the way the urine routes through the valve, it's much easier to know if it's coming out (rather than making your suit briefly a little warmer ).

An old junky soldering iron works well on the CF200 material. You will need to clip off the melted goobers as you gradually enlarge the hole however, something like nail clippers or tiny scissors works fine once the material cools and hardens. I glue mine on with aquaseal and have used an unbalanced valve for years. I personally think the unbalanced valves with no check valves at all are alot less likely grow bacteria. Considering I almost never sterilize it and have also never gotten a UTI it seems to be working for me.

I use depends, no hole to worry about, no cath, no shaving, and it keeps my butt warm.

a 3/4" punch at Michaels for a few dollars will give you a clean cut.

If you want it done professionally, Tacoma Scuba sells and installs Halcyon Pee valves.

D

+1 for Joshua at Tacoma Scuba!

If you are down that way and looking for Halcyon, he will fix you up in no time!

Edit, Double post

Light Monkey has a decent one. I've come to prefer unbalanced, the duck bills for some people just seem to be problematic, for others not so much. I don't know whether it's flow rate, or just if you dive the suit tight it doesn't balance right and can't take the pressure. With the light monkeys and halcyon they have a very clean look, and if you come to hate the duck bills you can pull the duck bill and throw a lp reg plug in it and dive it unbalanced.

Thanks for the advice! You guys are awesome. A lot of good info on here.