Testing for holes and leaks

[jcbrown]

Hi,
I am trying to find a hole or leak in my suit but when I blow it up im not finding the leak when i submerge the inflated suit in water, any other sugestions ?
Thanks

[steveharriss]

Cover it with soapy liquid and look for bubbles forming?

[jcbrown]

and im still getting wet

[steveharriss]

Bit drastic but what about completely drying the suit then filling it with water and look for the damp patch?

[jcbrown]

That is a bit dramatic but guess its an idea if all else fails thanks for that

[steveharriss]

Not my idea..... but it makes sense.

This was posted by a Michael Fisch of Germany on another board. I have heard reports that it is a very effective way of locating hidden leaks.

Turn suit inside out. Use slats with c-clamps to seal off a wrist seal and the neckseal.
Lay suit down on the floor of the garage (if you can put some indoor-outdoor carpet under the suit to protect it thats a good idea. The arm that clamped off is now affixed in a frame to hold it up higer than the rest of the suit.
Put the garden hose in the arm that is held up high and turn the water on. Shut off the water just before the suit starts to overflow.
Now take a permanent marker and draw a circle around every drop of water that develops on the suit. Take a half hour break and draw circles around the waterdrops that have appeared in the last half hour.
Drain some water out of the suit, clamp off the top arm, and turn the suit over. Put the other arm up and refill the suit. Back to drawing circles.

After drying the suit smear a drop of aquasure inside every circle you drew. The suit should now be absolutely dry, until it develops the next microscopic hole.

[jcbrown]

Thans for that I will do it tomorrow ! any idea why this happens to neoprene suits and how to avoid it ?

[Allan Carr]

A short dip wearing light grey or blue thermals will show the general area and then you can really concentrate on that area with the soapy water. What sort of suit is it? Old neoprene suits can become a bit porous so that water soaks through without any obvious holes. This is what happened to my 14 year old suit.

[Twinsetmad]

I'd put the suit on and blow it up as much as I dare then get a freind/wife to go over it with spray bottle of very soapy water.... don't forget to do the souls of the boots.

[alrhem]

All of teh above do work.
However I had a problem with my suit but it was only visible when i was moving!!! (patch under left armpit - if the arm was directly down it was fine but it leaked under movement)


Neoprene suits degrade slightly with age. Tiny pinpricks can mkae you quite wet. Check the stitching and seams extra carefully.