Northwest Dive Club

My left drysuit arm has been getting a little wet since when I bought the suit (Fusion). I used to keep it a few clicks closed, but the suit still seems to be getting wet. More so recently. Not condensation. Another inside-out bathtub leak check came out negative. Time to get a closer look at that dump valve. Low profile Apeks. Just removed it from the suit, looks plastic. Some grains of sand here and there. Having tossed it into a bucket of warm water, I am now contemplating whether it makes sense to (a) treat it with something more toxic, (b) dunk it into an ultrasonic bath, (c) satisfy my destructive desire to rip it apart and look inside in case I find something exciting, (d) replace it with SiTech. Thoughts?

If there's sand in it, that could be the problem. I'd rinse it thoroughly in every possible direction with the valve both open and closed, and then see how it does. If that doesn't work, I'd probably be inclined to go with d).

Thanks. Is SiTech actually better, or is that an old wives' tale?

I've had both, and all my Apeks valves have leaked from the get-go. The SiTech valves eventually leak, too, but I've had pretty good luck salvaging them a couple of times by taking them apart and cleaning them. I used to have a great photo essay on doing that, but it was on the DiveMatrix board, and it's gone.

One thing to mind is how squeezy you keep your fusion, and how deep you dive. I dont think the valves are very one way, and if you have the valve too far open, and get too deep, they leak.

To fix this, I only only open my valve when I'm ascending. During descent, and most any other time, I leave my valve shut.

SInce doing this, never leaks. The above courteousy of Joshua at Tacoma Scuba.

get rid of the apeks, they are worthless.

The "haz mat" version of the sitec is way better but they only come in yellow. They have 2 one way diaphrams to the standard 1.

+1 for Sitech.

+1 more for Sitech valves..

salt crystals and drysuit lint also wreak havoc on dump valves. Valve brand aside, regular maintenance has been my best friend when it comes to leaky valve during a dive. That and not diving overly squeezed.

A bit of insight that I got from both valve manufacturers, is that its actually on the surface that most valves leak. The motion of water and gentle pressure of flailing around in the suits getting our fins on is actually pretty much the perfect way to make almost any valve leak, gentle burping of the diaphragm allows the water to slip in without enough external pressure to seal the diaphragm. We simply don't notice so much because it has layers of undergarments to seep through before we actually feel 'wet'. Same with surface swims.

Upon learning that, I've taken to closing my valve a few full turns at the start and finish of a dive if there is any surface shenanigans to be had.

I had this same issue for a long time. The one thing that helped the most was to keep more air in the suit.

seattlepaul1975 wrote:The one thing that helped the most was to keep more air in the suit.

^^^ this

Nothing seals water out of a vacuum packed suit. Too much pressure for the wafer thin diaphragm and it will for sure leak. I see many many divers diving shrink wrapped, cold, and wet in the quest to wear less weight. Strange bragging rights thing about "how much lead you wear"

Lead == warmth (air in suit)
I recently started wearing a Waterproof 3D Mesh vest underneath my one piece Arctic. Takes another 4 lbs to sink, but I haven't been cold since.

This is truly a scuba heaven, with so much great advice for any question one might ask. Thank you. You guys are the best.

GearHead wrote:Lead == warmth (air in suit)
I recently started wearing a Waterproof 3D Mesh vest underneath my one piece Arctic. Takes another 4 lbs to sink, but I haven't been cold since.

+1 for 3D mesh. I got a Waterproof Drysuit a few months ago and the 3D mesh in the suit covers you neck to ankles. I don't even wear an undergarment any more. Just some Lycra running pants and top underneath. It's that warm! I do need about 4 pounds more to sink than I did before with a heavy undergarment. This tells me that it provides a better air-gap insulation all over than a garment ever could.

Highly recommended!

First Ive heard of the mesh vest. Very interested! Any dealers in our area?

Silent World has the 3D mesh vests. You definitely need to try one on to get the correct size. Their sizing is different from the Fourth Element products.

I replaced my Apeks with the Si Tech and it really is a better valve.