Drysuit - well nearly anyway

[MATTBIN]

After a trip to Stoney we decided that my sons suit leaks badly through the neck seal. When he dons the suit and leans forward there's a gap behind his neck and the seal, latex. So how do we solve that one, the seal seems quite short and somewhat floppy anyway, it is supposedly new, the suit was second hand and it didnt leak in the pool a couple of months back. Can I get a longer seal as the suit seams to fit well other than that. Any idea where (if?) I can get one pronto as he is down for another dunk on the 19th and I doubt if he's looking forward to it at all at the moment as his dry suit is wetter than his semi.
Matt

[Davey Willo]

Well if you ask Chasey he's suggest a tie wrap but apparantly the diver turning blue clashes with the yellow of the cylinder so don't bother with that one.. ;)

It sounds like a new seal is required Matt, not overly expensive I believe, but a pain in the neck none the less(no pun intended)

When you say that a gap appears as he puts his head forward is this when he's stood up with his rig on his back? the reason I ask is that my brother had similar problems and we found that it was the weight of the gear pulling down on the back of the suit, so before every dive he leans forward and does a little shuffle, jump and wriggle while I yank up on the back of his suit and pull all of the slack up, this appears to help and he doesn't get any water doen the neck... worth a try if you don't get the seal replaced quickly enough for your next dip

All the best mate
Dave.

[jjflash]

Matt

The other half had exactly the same problem ie only leaked when the head was forward and I have just put a new seal on the suit for her. Not been wet yet but my view is if it leaks then she's no worse off ! :wink:

Get a new seal kit and have a look to see if you fancy doing the job yourself - I dont think its that hard a job. I pulled the old one off and cleaned the mating surface up and then stuck and taped a new one on - the instructions (if I remember correctly) seemed to suggest cutting the old off and putting the new one over the remaining overlap I think which I reckon was harder than the way I did it. Just as a thought I'd try and get another tube of glue for the job 'cos I seemed to put quite a bit on as a precaution and used all the tube that came with it.

Even if you get the seal and dont fancy doing it yourself you can hand them both over to someone else.

Have fun
Paul

[John Gulliver]

As I mentioned elsewhere, the conical seal on Viking's drysuits is the best one, in my opinion. It is very long, so you can fold it inwards about an inch. Any air migrating upwards will then collect around the top of the seal and form a ring-shaped "balloon", thereby creating an even better seal. I'm not sure whether Viking (Trelleborg) make the seal themselves or buy it from elsewhere but I suggest you contact them and ask, Matt.

(Edited by John Gulliver at 5:14 pm on Jan. 1, 2003)

[Andy Phillips]

Hi Matt,

It did leak a tad didn't it. In truth the seal looked to big to me, you can get longer ones, if you look at the seal your Oceanic has you will notice it is a fair bit longer than your sons. In the back of one of last months Diver mags I noticed some body was offering a while you wait seal replacement service. I will try and track the advert down and post it later.

Andrew

[JohnK]

Matt - had the same problem with my old drysuit. 2 problems:

1. Neck seal loose
2. Suit a tad too small hence the neck being pulled down

I would go for a new neck seal first. When its done get the lad to crouch down (as if expelling air). If the neck seal moves any then the suit is too small. You could get around this with a longer neck seal

[daz]

Hi Matt,

Sorry I missed the 30th,  cold/flu still recovering.  My local shop fits neck seals normally within a week.  Although they will try to do it quicker if required.  I think they charge about £40 supply and fit.  

Personally I would not attempt it myself as if you screw it up you will probably have to get another seal and that would probably cost as much as having one fitted.  

I would recommend you find somewhere who will supply and fit and they should be able to try a few different sized ones on your son prior to fitting to the suit to get the best fit.

Also I would recommend going for one that was slightly too tight and then once fitted, stretch the seal over a 12l dumpy overnight before even thinking of trimming it.

Hope that helps.
Darren

[MATTBIN]

Thanks all. I measured Adams neck, a scrawny 13 1/2" as opposed to my muscular 16, but our suit seals are the same size and strength so that probably explains the leak(s). I have arranged to get the local shop to do the biz as they can have the suit back in time and will probably do a better job than me anyway.
Daz hope the flu gets better soon I've replied on Handbagnet to your question as well.
Matt