Condensation or leak?

Martin Burnard · January 4th, 2007, 03:04 PM

I get a slight leak on my left wrist (skinny wrist, tendons, channels etc), but I have noticed that when I am wearing my new thinsulate undersuit the entire inside of my drysuit is wet. It appears to sit on the outside of my undersuit and on the inside of my drysuit. I can wipe it off with a towel. The outer fabric of my undersuit (polar bear) is of a windstop water resistent material the name of which I forget.

My Hellys and the inside of my bear are dry. So am I right to assume this is condensation?

Does anybody else have this, or am I just a sweaty git?

By the way I don't notice it with my ND300 Flectalon undersuit, but then it is a little more absorbant (hence condensation or leak would be absorbed).

Anybody else with the symptons?

Lou · January 4th, 2007, 03:07 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by Martin Burnard)

I get a slight leak on my left wrist (skinny wrist, tendons, channels etc), but I have noticed that when I am wearing my new thinsulate undersuit the entire inside of my drysuit is wet. It appears to sit on the outside of my undersuit and on the inside of my drysuit. I can wipe it off with a towel. The outer fabric of my undersuit (polar bear) is of a windstop water resistent material the name of which I forget.

My Hellys and the inside of my bear are dry. So am I right to assume this is condensation?

Does anybody else have this, or am I just a sweaty git?

By the way I don't notice it with my ND300 Flectalon undersuit, but then it is a little more absorbant (hence condensation or leak would be absorbed).

Anybody else with the symptons?

I used to get that with my thinsulate with a rip-stop king of outer, too. Don't get it in the same drysuit with Arctics so I always put it down to sweat...or condensation as you rather nicely (but inaccurately) called it

Martin Burnard · January 4th, 2007, 03:11 PM

I am a nice but inaccurate person (as my says)... maybe that why she calls me a pain in the a......

Ahmed Adly, Marlin Inn DC · January 4th, 2007, 03:47 PM

sweaty git

Martin Burnard · January 4th, 2007, 03:54 PM

Thanks Ahmed

Ahmed Adly, Marlin Inn DC · January 4th, 2007, 04:03 PM

Serious now.
I have a minor leajk that is driving me totally bonkers!!!!!! Maybe this will help you.

I had a minor leak that accumilated water around my waist line where my backplate contacts my hips. That is because water travel along the fabric and stops at the first place there is contact with the under garment.

I sent it to Germany, they tested it, found a hole in the biit, the zipper was screwed, they did it all up and it cost 500 euros due to a shipping communication slip.

It still leaked.

It was concluded that the neck seal was too tight and so I should trim it. Did that and it leaks much much less.
BUT
after about 45 minutes, I can "feel cool" at the waist.

Now, since I have a polartech, that absorbs water, the suit is pretty moist from the inside. I had a guy with me today with a thinsulate and a leaky dump valve, thus he was all moist.

nskdrs · January 4th, 2007, 06:09 PM

Sometimes it helps to investigate possible micro-leaks with a relaxing splash in that useful tool your avatar shows.
One layer of grey underwear only, dump gas to maximum so its nicely pressed.
Simulate some movements, sometimes leaks are only temporary you could also find out about wristseals not being tight enough...you could simulate some sexual activity, black suits only

Cheers,
hoffi

Martin Burnard · January 4th, 2007, 06:14 PM

Ahh Ahmed it's not in one place.

The entire inside of my drysuit is wet, the outer of my undersuit has beads of water on it. I am dry.

The bath is likely to happen!

Ahmed Adly, Marlin Inn DC · January 4th, 2007, 08:39 PM

Martin,

I am not too comfortable with the mentioning of "baths" and things that will "happen" please elaborate.

Michael-Fisch · January 4th, 2007, 09:03 PM

If you have any dampness in your drysuit after a dive shorter than 2-3 hours, and you haven't peed in your suit, you have a leak! Some leaks are easy to find, others cannot be found with the conventional techniques. This technique will find all leaks!

This is what I posted on at least 2 other "Fix a leaking drysuit" threads, it works.

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 isn't 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.

This is a pain in the a**and should be done slowly, but it will find every spot on a drysuit that is letting in any moisture.
After drying the suit smear a drop of Aquasure inside every circle you drew. The suit should now be absolutely dry, untill it develops the next microscopic hole.

One of my DUI clones now has over 90 (yes, ninety!) patched leaks, but is currenty absolutely dry.
The air, helium and light tricks only work on bigger holes/leaks and will not help you find the tiny leaking imperfections in the material, that are the cause of most of our slow leak problems.

You can also check out the following threads:

The Deco Stop

and

The Deco Stop

Michael

January 4th, 2007, 03:04 PM	#1 (permalink)
Martin Burnard(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Plymouth, UK Posts: 580	Condensation or leak? I get a slight leak on my left wrist (skinny wrist, tendons, channels etc), but I have noticed that when I am wearing my new thinsulate undersuit the entire inside of my drysuit is wet. It appears to sit on the outside of my undersuit and on the inside of my drysuit. I can wipe it off with a towel. The outer fabric of my undersuit (polar bear) is of a windstop water resistent material the name of which I forget. My Hellys and the inside of my bear are dry. So am I right to assume this is condensation? Does anybody else have this, or am I just a sweaty git? By the way I don't notice it with my ND300 Flectalon undersuit, but then it is a little more absorbant (hence condensation or leak would be absorbed). Anybody else with the symptons? __________________ I once enjoyed a sado-masachistic frenzy of total tintintabulation leading to a state of metampsychosis... or did I make that up? www.bananafrogcars.co.uk

January 4th, 2007, 03:11 PM	#3 (permalink)
Martin Burnard(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Plymouth, UK Posts: 580	I am a nice but inaccurate person (as my says)... maybe that why she calls me a pain in the a...... __________________ I once enjoyed a sado-masachistic frenzy of total tintintabulation leading to a state of metampsychosis... or did I make that up? www.bananafrogcars.co.uk

January 4th, 2007, 03:47 PM	#4 (permalink)
Ahmed Adly, Marlin Inn DC(Offline) New Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: hurghada Posts: 849	sweaty git __________________ It has just dawned on me.... We are all just recycled stardust Ahmed Adly, www.deepvoyage.com

January 4th, 2007, 03:54 PM	#5 (permalink)
Martin Burnard(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Plymouth, UK Posts: 580	Thanks Ahmed __________________ I once enjoyed a sado-masachistic frenzy of total tintintabulation leading to a state of metampsychosis... or did I make that up? www.bananafrogcars.co.uk

January 4th, 2007, 04:03 PM	#6 (permalink)
Ahmed Adly, Marlin Inn DC(Offline) New Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: hurghada Posts: 849	Serious now. I have a minor leajk that is driving me totally bonkers!!!!!! Maybe this will help you. I had a minor leak that accumilated water around my waist line where my backplate contacts my hips. That is because water travel along the fabric and stops at the first place there is contact with the under garment. I sent it to Germany, they tested it, found a hole in the biit, the zipper was screwed, they did it all up and it cost 500 euros due to a shipping communication slip. It still leaked. It was concluded that the neck seal was too tight and so I should trim it. Did that and it leaks much much less. BUT after about 45 minutes, I can "feel cool" at the waist. Now, since I have a polartech, that absorbs water, the suit is pretty moist from the inside. I had a guy with me today with a thinsulate and a leaky dump valve, thus he was all moist. __________________ It has just dawned on me.... We are all just recycled stardust Ahmed Adly, www.deepvoyage.com

January 4th, 2007, 03:07 PM	#2 (permalink)
Lou(Offline) New Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Bucks Posts: 194	Quote: (Originally Posted by Martin Burnard) I get a slight leak on my left wrist (skinny wrist, tendons, channels etc), but I have noticed that when I am wearing my new thinsulate undersuit the entire inside of my drysuit is wet. It appears to sit on the outside of my undersuit and on the inside of my drysuit. I can wipe it off with a towel. The outer fabric of my undersuit (polar bear) is of a windstop water resistent material the name of which I forget. My Hellys and the inside of my bear are dry. So am I right to assume this is condensation? Does anybody else have this, or am I just a sweaty git? By the way I don't notice it with my ND300 Flectalon undersuit, but then it is a little more absorbant (hence condensation or leak would be absorbed). Anybody else with the symptons? I used to get that with my thinsulate with a rip-stop king of outer, too. Don't get it in the same drysuit with Arctics so I always put it down to sweat...or condensation as you rather nicely (but inaccurately) called it

January 4th, 2007, 06:09 PM	#7 (permalink)
nskdrs(Offline) Towboy Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: berlin, europe Posts: 244	Sometimes it helps to investigate possible micro-leaks with a relaxing splash in that useful tool your avatar shows. One layer of grey underwear only, dump gas to maximum so its nicely pressed. Simulate some movements, sometimes leaks are only temporary you could also find out about wristseals not being tight enough...you could simulate some sexual activity, black suits only Cheers, hoffi

January 4th, 2007, 06:14 PM	#8 (permalink)
Martin Burnard(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Plymouth, UK Posts: 580	Ahh Ahmed it's not in one place. The entire inside of my drysuit is wet, the outer of my undersuit has beads of water on it. I am dry. The bath is likely to happen! __________________ I once enjoyed a sado-masachistic frenzy of total tintintabulation leading to a state of metampsychosis... or did I make that up? www.bananafrogcars.co.uk

January 4th, 2007, 08:39 PM	#9 (permalink)
Ahmed Adly, Marlin Inn DC(Offline) New Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: hurghada Posts: 849	Martin, I am not too comfortable with the mentioning of "baths" and things that will "happen" please elaborate. __________________ It has just dawned on me.... We are all just recycled stardust Ahmed Adly, www.deepvoyage.com

January 4th, 2007, 09:03 PM	#10 (permalink)
Michael-Fisch(Offline) New Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Germany Posts: 263	If you have any dampness in your drysuit after a dive shorter than 2-3 hours, and you haven't peed in your suit, you have a leak! Some leaks are easy to find, others cannot be found with the conventional techniques. This technique will find all leaks! This is what I posted on at least 2 other "Fix a leaking drysuit" threads, it works. 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 isn't 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. This is a pain in the a**and should be done slowly, but it will find every spot on a drysuit that is letting in any moisture. After drying the suit smear a drop of Aquasure inside every circle you drew. The suit should now be absolutely dry, untill it develops the next microscopic hole. One of my DUI clones now has over 90 (yes, ninety!) patched leaks, but is currenty absolutely dry. The air, helium and light tricks only work on bigger holes/leaks and will not help you find the tiny leaking imperfections in the material, that are the cause of most of our slow leak problems. You can also check out the following threads: The Deco Stop and The Deco Stop Michael