Question for the she-p users...

[piikki]

Well, I've pretty much given up the hope that I will ever be truly dry.

Have you ever been able to replicate the leak on land? As in if you hook everything on except glue the She-P on - then push water through. You can probably get enough pressure by using syringe and directing it to the neck part of the She-P. Can you pinpoint the trickle?

I know you can't take whole p-valve off but I can take it up till the part that is glued to the suit. Maybe if the first test did not reveal anything, you could then slap the She-P on, stand in shower, block the suit end of the tube and pee. Now you created a pressure. See where gives. Will something trickle somewhere on the tubes or will the She-P seal burst? (Naturally do not block the flow too forcefully!) Change position and twist the hose too.

The latter requires some playing with pee but if you do not know for sure where the urine is ending on your undies maybe a secret will be revealed. If there is a problem with the hose/connections it should be easily mended. I don't know what it can be still other than 'break' in the line (you've checked the fuel line is intact?) or something is cracked. You are sure your She-P does not have some odd miniscule tear in the front/neck?

I know it's frustrating to think you're the only one. I hate it sometimes that my buddies are getting bone dry dives when I get leaks 50% of the time. I keep thinking it's my sweat that must be toxic. I know some people who have had front leaks have had way too short wieners and pull and also PUSH (to tuck) too much when attaching the valve. Make sure you are not doing that. Make sure you always hear that positive click when you attach the QD.

 

[ligersandtions]

I actually think doing a "leak test" might be helpful. I'll have to find a day (maybe after my dive on Friday) to stand in the shower all hooked up, but with the drysuit not zipped....maybe I'll be able to find the location of the leak. I'll try to vary my position such that if it is the top portion of the she-p that it leaks (i.e. won't be able to stand straight up, as gravity will take care of that issue for me).

Nice to hear that at least one other person can commiserate with me (though I hope you are able to resolve your 50% leak rate as well!)....seems that everyone else I talk to is always bone dry and it makes me jealous (or want to pee on them ).

 

[TSandM]

I'm not always bone dry. Which is why I try very hard always to wear a pad or something, so that if I DO have a leak, my undergarments aren't urine-soaked.

Thicker Urobond is better, and letting it sit until it's really tacky is better still. If I'm doing multiple days of diving, I don't even clean all the adhesive off the thing between days, because as it gets thicker, it seems to work better.

Laura has specially machined plugs that fit in the female end of the QD -- when you go to disconnect the apparatus, if you put a little pressure on the reservoir (or in a bathroom, if you lean forward and let it drain) and put the plug in, you won't have dribble problems. Of course, if you put the plug in WITHOUT emptying the reservoir, and sit down . . . well, let me just say that Urobond, no matter how thick you apply it, has its limits

 

[DiverLaura]

First of all, i want to thank all you girls who keep trying... i know the learning curve is steep and hearing stories of dry dry dry can be frustrating.

I always wear a poise pad "just in case". Heleen doesn't. Chantelle doesn't. i think it ends up being a personal preference and trust thing My suit is a CF200 and i dive thinsulate undies, so i don't want to have to wash/dry the system.

the "butt shaper" underwear is actually a great idea from Chaela. I just use the boyshorts, but it would make sense to try out some of the more supportive foundation products... I'll try it with my SPANX one of these days, and then i'll look oh so svelte in my drysuit to boot

I grabbed this excerpt from the Deco Stop thread. it sounds like boys have the 'residual' issue also... (they are discussing QD'S in a thread over there)

The male side being open allows me to put the cath and male part of the valve on at home before I get to the dive site and still be able to pee before I suit up. As mentioned, you do get some liquid trapped in the cath side when you disconnect that you need to "shake out" before before you tuck yourself back in.

fwiw, lynne has a point, 'even the strongest urobond has its limits'. Although I'd love to say that the Urobond will hold through thick and thin, if you are climbing over rock piles on hot days and sweating buckets, after a 5 hr car ride, expecting the urobond to be 100% might be a bit optimistic. this is where 'grab yer crotch and pee' comes in to play for some women, the adhesive is pressure sensitive, so if you press it into place whilst peeing you might have better luck. when grabbing the crotch, you can also press a bit more of the urine from the reservoir out the pee valve, and reduce the slosh factor.

 

[Chaela]

I say a sense of humor about the whole thing is a MUST. Pee running down the insides of my legs? No problem! Carrying a plastic bag to store wet undies and undergarments? Joke's on me!

On another note, I got a UTI after my last dive. I had used vinegar (which I read to use) and a hydrogen peroxide solution on all the tubes and blue weenie. I guess THAT didn't work. I spoke with Laura and she recommended using rubbing alcohol to disinfect everything. I wonder if anyone else has had any UTI problems? Definitely not fun.

 

[ligersandtions]

First of all, i want to thank all you girls who keep trying... i know the learning curve is steep and hearing stories of dry dry dry can be frustrating.

I'm going to keep trying till I figure it out (or give up trying to figure it out, but keep using it, considering more of the pee goes outside the suit than inside ). I must admit, though, that it is nice to hear that I'm not the only one who has the occasional leak (though mine aren't occasional, but whatever....still nice to hear that others understand my pain!).

I say a sense of humor about the whole thing is a MUST. Pee running down the insides of my legs? No problem! Carrying a plastic bag to store wet undies and undergarments? Joke's on me!

Agreed, a sense of humor goes a long way into making this more tolerable. After the last catastrophic failure, I got out of my undergarments (after another dive...) and said to my buddies, "Sorry I smell like a homeless person!" The time before, I mentioned to my buddies that "you have to ride the ferry home with the girl who peed her pants!" And after every dive I use it, I mention to my hubby that I "have to wash my dirty pee pants"

BTW, what are these butt-shaper underwear you're using? I'll have to look into them (though I'm not convinced that my issue is necessarily related to the adhesion of the she-p to me...).


Gonna try to do a leak test this weekend....hopefully get some clues as to where the failure is. Wish me luck

 

[Chaela]

I walked into a Fred Meyers and found these spanx clones for the butt/hips. Don't remember what brand. They are black stretchy but super snug.

 

[TSandM]

Nicole, a thick pad or a pair of Depends will avoid the wet undergarment issue. I've pretty much learned to feel if things are as they should be, and if they aren't, I just stop peeing. Of course, there WAS the 2 1/2 hour cave dive where the tubing got disconnected about an hour into it (early part of dive, successful peeing, and then suddenly NOT) and there just wasn't any choice. That's when you're really happy your condo has a washer and dryer!

Karen Cleveland has told me she doesn't have leaks at all any more, and I'd love to know her secret

 

[piikki]

"you have to ride the ferry home with the girl who peed her pants!"

Hee. I have to say that I had way less of my sense of humour when I had the original problem with the p-valve vs this piddling problem with the She-P giving up now and then. The original problem was easier fix (POS check valves) but it meant I leaked on my thigh and ... well.. smelled it ... and had to launder after every dive. So I feel for you.

If your leak is close enough to crotch quarters just do what suggested and go for big enough back up diaper. I do that all the time because I just can't deal with the uncertainty. Depends takes care of the accident, smelly undie issue and even let's you have one whiz with blown device if you have to. And you do not need to launder UG:s unnecessarily.

I use some form fitting regular Hanes boxer briefs for women, and with Depends they create a pretty tight package:
Amazon.com: 2-Pack Hanes Women's Authentic Boxer Brief 21342, Grey Heather, S: Clothing

 

[BabyDuck]

heh heh heh...she said 'package'...