Tips finding a hole in a dry suit

[endoman]

Originally Posted by Steven

If you know roughly where leak is this works.

turn suit inside out
zip it up and tie suit to something solid so when heavy and full of water it won't move

use hose pipe through the neck to put water in - ie on the wet side of suit.

with the weight of the water you can see where it is leaking through to the inside of the suit which is currently outside and mark with something like chinagraph pencil when dry repair and then do test again.

If the problem is on an arm put bottle in arm and fill from the otherarm or neck.

hope it helps

cheers Steven

Seems the most sensible suggestion so far. Just becomes a bit more difficult if you have a leak in the torso I would have thought, that would need quite a lot of water.

[dry suit diver]

Originally Posted by Richard Mason

Yep, worked for me too. Scared the $hit out of my sisters Staffy though.

don't leave it outside or propped up against the wall otherwise the rozzers come knocking on the door due to reports of a ' body in the garden'

they did see the funny side luckily

[Keith Wood]

Good idea about filling it with water, but why turn it inside out?

[Finless]

Have a dish of curried beans. Don the dry suit and let nature take its course and get someone with a sensitive nose to seek out the source.

[Druid]

Originally Posted by Keith Wood

Good idea about filling it with water, but why turn it inside out?

So that you don't need to dry the inside of the suit afterwards?

[Richard Mason]

Originally Posted by Keith Wood

Good idea about filling it with water, but why turn it inside out?

I dunno - it's going to be very heavy if the leak is underneath and you have to lift it to find the dribble.

Also, if it's a very small slow dribble and you spilled any water over the suit while filling, it's going to be harder to spot.

And inside out? I repair both sides of a leak, like this:



So there's no particular benefit in finding the inside only.

[Keith Wood]

But would the boots not make it possible to turn completely inside out.

[Cyprian]

Originally Posted by Keith Wood

But would the boots not make it possible to turn completely inside out.

I'd be scared of causing further damage by trying to turn it inside out, you could stress the seals on the boots. Believe me it works by filling it from the inside, finding the leak, remembering to mark it and then stuff a towel in first to remove most of the water. Then partially turn the leg inside out to dry out over a couple of days in front of the aga. Once dry fix with aquaseal. By the way mine was a crushed neoprene suit.

Hwyl
Irfon

[Finless]

Originally Posted by Cyprian

I'd be scared of causing further damage by trying to turn it inside out, you could stress the seals on the boots. Believe me it works by filling it from the inside, finding the leak, remembering to mark it and then stuff a towel in first to remove most of the water. Then partially turn the leg inside out to dry out over a couple of days in front of the aga. Once dry fix with aquaseal. By the way mine was a crushed neoprene suit.

Hwyl
Irfon

If the seams can't handle the minimal strain of being turned inside out then there is a problem with the seam. Of course, you do not need to pull the sole part of the boot right through. Having said that mine is a Gates suit and is similar in style to a trilaminate material. Maybe neoprene is more prone to damage if stretched 'the wrong way'?

I do this to wash the inside of my dry suit and then dry it ....... occasionally ......... well, twice since I've owned it.

[Richard Mason]

Originally Posted by Finless

Maybe neoprene is more prone to damage if stretched 'the wrong way'?

If it's a leak in a neo, you might as well just cut it into little pieces and make pads for chair & table legs etc. You'll never fix it, not without using a weeks worth of the national supply of aquaseal anyway.

Just get a membrane......you know it's right.