Dry suit maintenance

[Dominic]

I hang mine up in a wardrobe, after beeswaxing the zip & talcing the seals.

Didn't bother with a Dampire - filled a pair of tights with cat litter, they work a treat. Rinse the drysuit out with clean water regularly now as I don't have to do anything to dry them.

[daz]

Also I store with the zip fully open.

[Dominic]

Good point. Yes, store with the zip waxed and open

[John Gulliver]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (daz @ Nov. 12 2003,16:40)]Also I store with the zip fully open.

Yes, i forgot that bit, have now edited the post.

[ianbaker]

one thing extra on the maintenance side is checking th inflate valve isnt sticking (usually on) Ive seen several 'gum' up on divers because no one told to check it and usually its divers using lots of talc, which seems to get into the valve around the o rings, you'd think air coming in would blow it away,
If it is  gritty, or slow to close,you can clean the shaft  by removing the circlip , careful they are small and will fly off when released.press the shaft out.
Clean the shaft  with damp cloth with some washing up liquid on it , neat, and thoroughly wash off and dry, dont put silicone grease or WD 40 on it as this will cause things to stick to it and the the problem will come back faster than before.
Always check the valve works before diving as ive seen several divers find out the hard way on descending to about 5 -10 metres before putting some air in,  only to come back to the surface pretty quick, cursing and swearing, also  we all should practice releasing the hose under water before it happens to us.my mate has a blow-gun type fitting and claims its easier to release than the shreader types anybody got any thoughts on this.
And does baby oil or lotion rot neoprene cuffs?  mine are going after six years is this normal?