10 replies to this topic

[Dive_Girl]

I have a very tiny but hugely annoying leak somehwere in the right leg of my drysuit. While almost unnoticeable for a short day of diving, it is noticeable over the course of 3 dives a day for many days (such as was my case in Canada last week) or on long dive training days.

Right now our season is picking up so I do not have the time to let my drysuit out of my hands. I am wondering how I can go about trying to chase down the leak so I can aquaseal it!?

I am looking for really simply easy tips and tricks. Noteably I am a girl. I do not have rubber plumbing stoppers or enormous cans of beans to plug my neck seal. I have never understood how you inflate an inside out suit...etc. So I am really just looking for, well I'll admit it, the easiest route!

Anyone have any ideas?

Until then, I remain your soggy cold water diver,
-dive girl

[P.S. at least my problem isn't that I am trapped in my drysuit, home alone, and half way through a bottle of wine...]

[running_diver]

I have a very tiny but hugely annoying leak somehwere in the right leg of my drysuit. While almost unnoticeable for a short day of diving, it is noticeable over the course of 3 dives a day for many days (such as was my case in Canada last week) or on long dive training days.

Right now our season is picking up so I do not have the time to let my drysuit out of my hands. I am wondering how I can go about trying to chase down the leak so I can aquaseal it!?

I don't know about dry suits, but this works with tires.

Get yourself a spray bottle and fill it with water and dish soap.

Put on your suit and inflate it so there is some pressure in it.

Spray the soapy water on your right leg and look for the bubbles. You might need to get someone to help check the places you can't. You might also need to increase the pressure in your suit enough to make it leak.

Ross

[Dive_Girl]

Spray the soapy water on your right leg and look for the bubbles. You might need to get someone to help check the places you can't.

So I see you must have read my thread about truly embarassing underwater moments...for the record there are no leaks in 6gill's drusuit...

[MNJoe]

While I have not yet had to do this myself, so I am not sure how well it works, but I was told it works well, for what that is worth.

Take your drysuit and a flash light into a dark room, shine light into leg that is leaking water and look for a light leak.

From what I was told, this trick was used to find a leak that couldn't be found.

MNJoe

Edited by MNJoe, 11 April 2008 - 01:42 PM.

[gcbryan]

Another trick that works well (sometimes) is to put water in your suit and look for water leaking out.

[pir8]

Problem is if the leak is under a knee pad or such. otherwise you need to close up the seal with something like a childs ball (that is smooth skined) of the correct size can work on the neck. Put the flashlight in the leg first and don't forget new batteries and turn it on. Then pressurize and take in as dark a room as possible and bring a soapy spray also. Try multiple methods till something works.

Edited by pir8, 11 April 2008 - 02:22 PM.

[cmt489]

[P.S. at least my problem isn't that I am trapped in my drysuit, home alone, and half way through a bottle of wine...]

You know, if I didn't know better, I would think this comment was directed at me...

[ScubaDadMiami]

I use the soapy water trick mentioned above. I put something in the wrist and neck seals to block them. (Soup cans fit well in my wrist seals, and I use a round tupperwear bowl for the neck.) I inflate the suit, and then I spray some soapy water on the suit. You should see it bubbling at the leak site. I do not turn the suit inside out to do the testing.

BTW, I don't know why the gas should matter, but the guy that does a lot of repairs for Florida divers uses helium for the suit inflation when he tests. He seems to swear by it.

I have also heard about people using lights inside the suit to find pinhole leaks though I have never personally tried this method myself. The people that use this method say that it works well when they can't find the leaks by other testing.

[Dive_Girl]

[P.S. at least my problem isn't that I am trapped in my drysuit, home alone, and half way through a bottle of wine...]

You know, if I didn't know better, I would think this comment was directed at me...

what, who, me?

[Racer184]

... uses helium for the suit inflation when he tests

The helium molecule (He) is composed of a single atom of Helium. Nitrogen and oxygen are composed of 2 larger atoms. Therefore the helium molecule is much smaller than nitrogen or oxygen molecules so it leaks a LOT faster.

Industry standard technology for testing things for very very small leaks is to use a "helium mass spectrometer". Helium is used as the test / tracer gas. Where the helium is leaking out can be detected by the mass spectrometer as the background level of helium is so low in nature.

Think of your birthday party balloons, they leak faster than the ones you blow up with your breath. In fact helium will leak so fast that it cannot be used for some types of leak testing, such as testing membrane filters. Heard of microfiltered beer? The beer is filtered so fine that it does not need to be Pasteurized. These filters are tested with sulphur-hexafluoride in a 'diffusion test'. An advanced method of diffusion testing with sulfur hexafluoride based upon photoacoustic leak testing of which I am co-inventor. Sulphur hexafluoride is a very inert gas. It is so inert it is used as an insulator for high voltage equipment and is even used for surgery.

Edited by Racer184, 12 April 2008 - 08:20 AM.

[Blue-Fish]

Hi Dive Girl,

If it's in the leg it should be pretty easy to find. Wait for a dry day. Grab a sharpie and a paper towel. Turn the suit inside out and put a hose into it. Fill th legs until it is higher than where you think the leak is. You will see drops of water form where the leak is. Wipe it off if you are not sure and another drop will form. Mark it with the sharpie and dump the water out. Seal the spot on the inside with Aquaseal. Repeat as necessary. :-)

Works for me, but holes are starting to appear faster than I can find them. Maybe time for a new drysuit. :-(

Steve B