Relief Valve Duckbill Failures

I just got back from a dive trip during which my wife was complaining of wetness in her drysuit leg. On inspection I found that the balancing duckbill was deformed such that it remained substantially open. Lacking a spare with me I fabricated a rubber slug to act as a plug and she went with alternate relief.

I had also been noticing wetness that seemed out of proportion to condensation and saw that my balancing valve was also open. Mine wasn't as significant and dove with a pad against it to allow continued use.

These valves have seen about 15/40 dives and are regularly flushed with alcohol / vinegar. I noticed in the very beginning that even when flushing I needed to limit the process to a gravity flow or the balancing valves would weep into the suit.

These are Delrin body DR-EX2744EQ valves. Do I have duds or what?

Pete

Hi Pete,

Thanks for the post. I'm sorry to read about the leak. If you back out the retaining screw a bit it should cause the valve to "seat" correctly and mitigate the problem, but it can be tempermental. You shouldn't have duds. See if this works and write me back.

Thanks,
Kathleen