How To Repair Sailing Drysuit Leaks
Due west hen a drysuit leaks, information technology tin be tricky to conduct a leak exam and discover the exact spot. When y'all were wearing the suit, you probably noticed a leak in a general surface area—the left pes, perhaps, or the correct side under the armpit—but when y'all accept the adjust off, at that place's enough moisture spread around then that you lot can't tell exactly where the water came in. And if y'all can't practise that, you can't prepare it.
Here's an piece of cake, DIY method to test a drysuit for leaks and place their exact location.
How to leak-test your drysuit
Step 1: Gear up your workspace
Work on a flat hard dry surface. On a nice 24-hour interval, a paved driveway works best. Otherwise, a garage floor will do. Cover a large surface area with make clean, dry corrugated cardboard. Open up the drysuit's entry zipper and close the relief zipper if it has one. Plow the suit inside-out and lay information technology flat.
Step 2: Plug the wrists
Plug the wrist gaskets with FULL 12-oz. cans. (Empty cans volition crush and won't work.) If your suit has ankle gaskets, treat them the same way. If it's a slightly loose fit, you lot can use a larger can or tighten up the seal by wrapping it with painter's tape. If your gaskets accept very pocket-size openings, use a smaller tin can like the kind tomato paste comes in.
Pace three: Add hose
Put the end of a garden hose through the neck gasket. A hose nozzle with an on-off control that you can operate through the cloth is nice to have. If you don't have ane, just the manifestly hose terminate will do.
Step 4: Close entry zipper
Reach into the suit through the neck gasket and close the entry zipper. Pull it tight and make certain it'due south completely airtight.
Footstep v: Tie off the neck
Wrap the neck gasket tightly around the hose, so necktie it in place. If y'all use string, have several wraps around the gasket before tying the knots: this volition help forbid the string from cutting into the latex. Heavier cordage, like the 3/8″ rope shown, is less likely to cutting. Prop the cervix up off the ground half-dozen″ to 8″. A plastic tub works well for this.
Step 6: Beginning watering
You're ready to go. Plow on the water and lookout man carefully for whatsoever major leaks where the gaskets or zippers might not have been closed off completely. Small leaks in the adjust itself are non likely to prove up immediately.
Step 7: Fill up one-half way
Permit the h2o run until the drysuit is ane/three to 1/2 full then plough it off. Do non fill the suit completely—that volition make it too heavy to move.
Step 8: Check for leaks
As the adjust is filling, gently elevator the areas where leakage is suspected. If the adapt isn't torn, then leaks are most likely to occur at the seams.
Footstep 9: Expose the seams
Lifting all effectually the suit, exposing the seams on the underside and checking for leaks. Exist careful not to motility the suit around at this point. Afterwards you lift a section, let it settle back to the same spot.
Step ten: Be patient
Leaks volition be obvious when water drips onto the paper-thin. It may take several minutes for the water to inch its way through the seam, so have your time.
Step 11: Marker the leaks
Marker the area of the leak with a permanent marking pen like a Sharpie.
Step 12: Mark the paper-thin
Go over the unabridged accommodate, lifting information technology gently in small sections to check for leaks at all the seams on the underside. Draw circles effectually the wet spots on the paper-thin so that when you turn the suit over, you lot'll be able to distinguish them from any new leaks that occur.
Step 13: Check the other side
Turn the suit over. This isn't equally easy as it sounds, since there is a lot of weight in water in there. Lift the right leg to drain the h2o out, then cross it over the left leg. Lift the cervix and chest to drain water toward the legs, and then shift the left arm under the arrange toward the right side. Pull the right arm over to the left side, then gently roll the body of the conform and reposition it on the cardboard. If there were whatsoever leaks on the first side, position the legs, arms, and main body seams so that they are not over the marked wet areas.
Over again, take your time and look several minutes for water to work its fashion through any dubious seams. Lift the unabridged suit gently, in modest sections, looking for new wet spots on the cardboard. Marking the offending seams and circle the wet spots on the paper-thin.
Stride 14: Bleed the adjust
When you lot're sure you've establish all the leaks, pull ane of the cans from a wrist gasket to begin draining. If you're working inside a garage, the whole setup—suit and paper-thin—should be dragged outside before you lot bleed.
Step fifteen: Hang to dry
Hang the suit inside out (out of direct sunlight) to dry the inside, then turn it rightside-out to dry the exterior earlier repairing the seams.
Bob Holtzman is the president of Mythic Drysuits, makers of affordable drysuits for recreational paddlers.
Source: https://paddlingmag.com/gear/leak-test-drysuit-how-to-seal-and-check-for-leaks/
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