Oceanic Aerdura - Problems with dump-valve.

[JAG]

<font color='#000080'>Hi Guys,

I've been reading with great interest the debate on Autodump experiences. I had a bit of an experience yesterday that I'm not too sure what to do about.

I was trying out a new Wing so decided to dive first of all using the wing for buoyancy instead of the suit. Dump fully open. Whilst descending starting feeling a bit of a suit squeeze and added a touch of air to the suit just to ease it. Round about the 10-12 m mark, felt a sudden rush of cold under my dump valve, I presumed I had a leak. Whilst dekitting, sure enough I had a slightly damp arm. Nothing to much but noticeable. On the second dive decided to do the same kind of dive to try and prove the leak and ascertain under what circumstances it was happening. Sure enough, going down to 16m the same thing happened again. The dump was fully open and I used just a touch of air to try to ease the squeeze, but when I felt the rush of cold again under the dump valve my suit I was still in the process of easing the squeeze. On dekitting, again, it was nothing too much, just noticeable.

Is it &quot;normal&quot; for the dump valve to leak slightly under these conditions? If I had added more air to the suit would the pressure have stopped the leak from happening? I didn't have this problem when using the suit in a similar way at Horsea, which was a max depth of about 8m. Or should I contact the supplier (Kent Diving) and explain to them. It's only a few weeks old.

Many thanks,

Ian

[Andy Phillips]

Hi,

If it is the Apeks low profile version then this is one of the reasons why they get slated. The best thing to do it take it out of the suit and give it a really good clean in warm water.

When you put it back on do it up as tight as you can, then get it a little tighter than that. I used to give mine a little twist before each dive, and give it a really good soak each time I got home.

The Apeks high profile (old) type and the Sitek are much less prone to leaks.

Andrew

[Diving doc]

<font color='#728FCE'>hi exnavy boy. One problem you may be having is that, if i have read you story right, you are waiting until you get a slight squeeze before you put air into the suit. This may cause a slight reverse preassure on your dump forcing water in. Try putting a little air in as you descend. If i am teaching granny to suck eggs I apologize, but just a thought.

[JAG]

<font color='#000080'>Hi guys,

Thanks very much for that.

AndyP - I will remove and give a thorough clean.

Diving Doc - Spot on. Before yesterday I had been adding air on descent and not waiting for the squeeze and not had this problem. Yesterday I waited for the squeeze as I was using the wing for buoyancy. Being a newbie to drysuit diving (6 dives) you are far from teaching me to suck eggs. All part of my learning curve.

Once again, really appreciate your advice guys.

Many thanks,

Ian

[NamTinker]

I received the following response from Oceanic regarding leaks (also had some):
The valves (inflator and dump) are assembled via a machine. &nbsp;This resulted in quite a few suits developing small leaks. &nbsp;After some testing they found that by unscrewing the valves, coating the contact surface with silicone grease and re-tightening by hand, the problem stopped.
In any case, my valve leaks stopped.

[MATTBIN]

Be very careful how you take Oceanic dumps apart, read the manual, they must be depressed fully to remove/undo, else they break and then you'll be fully depressed.

Very, very easy to break. If you have a dive coming up I would have a replacement standing by. E-Bay often have 'old' high profile Apex ready and waiting for your bid.

I know - I broke mine, about £45 for a new one.

HTH
Matt