Drysuit trouble...

[beachdude]

I went one week ago to Catalina Scuba Luv and got dry suit certified. Everything was fine. The past two days have been bad.
Today I did a shore dive off of Topaz St. in Redondo with an very experianced dive buddy. I was Ok as we decended to about 40-50 ft. I had 26 lbs in BC and further weight by using a 130 PSI Tank giving me 34 lbs. I was at the bottom touching the sand so I inflated the dry suit to get a few feet above the sand. We went to 70 ft. OK then we hit this big sand bar and started ascending. I tried to deplete air in my suit to get rid of the air pocket and it went to my feet. I was upside down. My buddy grabbed me and took me deeper I was ascending out of control. I knocked off his face mask and finally pulled my neck to release air. Then I was OK. We started back and again as we got at 30 ft depth by suit did the same thing. I could not release air as I was trained by raising my left arm. I use a DUI dry suit. I surfaced without a safty stop. I was thinking maybe I had too much weight. Maybe I over compensated by putting too much air in the suit. I checked the suit when I got to shore and filled it up then raised my arm and it released. I kept the valve open turned counter clockwise the entire time. When I attemped to release air with my left arm above my body it didn't work. Not really sure what went wrong. It was way scarry and dangerous loosing control. Any thoughts?

 

[leapfrog]

It sucks! Seriously, is that a PADI certification you got? Did the suit come with the course as a deal?

 

[Thalassus]

Hard if not impossible to diagnose without being there, but there could be several things:

My first thought is that your undergarment was clogging up the space under the valve; you didn't mention what kind you were using but it's fairly common if you have a loosely fitting or fluffy undergarment (like a normal fleece as opposed to a dry suit undergarment). Try putting a band of some kind (like neoprene) around your bicep underneath the valve location to keep that from happening.

I also see divers raising their arm to vent without actually having that part be the highest point on their body; make sure you are horizontal if not slightly head-up when venting.

Also, you may have had too much weight, which would exacerbate any of these - you didn't mention your own weight - did you do a buoyancy check before descending? Sounds like some pool practice might be in order. "Tuck & roll" should have been the first reaction to feet full of air.

 

[300bar]

Did you check if the dumpvalve was open.

 

[medic001918]

Did you check if the dumpvalve was open.

+1. It sounds like it might not have been venting at all. I always check the dump valve before entering the water. It's good practice and it also ensures that it operates freely.

Shane

 

[Randy43068]

couple of things. No matter what PADI or any other agency says don't use your suit for buoyancy control. No one.. no good diver does that. Use your BC or wing for buoyancy.. why? Because that's what it's made for. The DS is to keep you dry and warm. You can use it for inflation if you really must.. but.. use the wing or BC.

Second, maybe you have a valve stuck or something is blocking it, like your undies. Or you have really, really floaty undies.

These are just a couple of things that come to mind.

 

[dannobee]

Are you sure that you turned the dump valve the correct way?

One quick check: As you get into the water, some air should come out of the dump valve before you even descend. You'll get used to hearing the whooshing sound as soon as you get chest high in the water.

Also, most, if not all valves, will dump if you push on them. Make sure yours does.

Ditto on the undergarment check. I had a DUI 400 gm suit that wouldn't dump worth beans. Put some rivets in it near the dump or even duct tape on the undergarment under where the dump valve goes.

 

[SlowRain]

I will ask the not-so-obvious question here (as did Randy). Why use the dry suit as a means to control bouyancy? If I understood you correctly you put air in to stay above the bottom? I have read a couple of threads lately where people seem inclined to do this and I guess I am a bit mystified by that.

I have been diving dry suits (when water temp mandated) since the mid-80's and always kept enough air in the suit to keep from being squeezed...and that's it. Bouyancy control is obtained by using my wing. Perhaps it was because when I started they didn't have the "auto-dump" valves they do now...and dumping air from the suit had to be done manually.

As the other poster's commented if you have "furry" undergarments they might be blocking the valve but I suspect more likely you might have to work on being sure that your arm is the highest point of your body when expecting the valve to work. I have also seen people raising their arm for the valve to work and not realizing that they actually had their lower body higher, which is where the air was.

 

[HBDiveGirl]

Practice, practice, practice.

Beachdude, you are asking all the right questions and you WILL get this stuff sorted out.

Topaz Jetty and Redondo Canyon are the most challenging sites for dry suit diving in the entire L.A. area. It's a very shallow slope as you ascend, and most new drysuit divers "get behind" on venting their suits as you get few visual cues that you are ascending. This makes it a GREAT place to learn, and also a frustating experience when you are new. Been there.

When I learned, I blamed it on my undergarments, my valve, the fit of my suit... everything I could.


Then I learned that it was a skill issue with several parts:

• Learn to feel the feedback of your suit. It tells you when you need to vent, but it's subtle. You'll learn. You'll recognize signals from your feet, legs, back... it's amazing!
• Plan ahead. Vent your suit dramatically before beginning your ascent.
• Stop immediately if you become positive. Fix the problem.
• Ask a skilled drysuit diver-buddy to watch you vent your suit underwater. It's likely that your body position is preventing air from moving to the dump valve.
• It takes longer to vent a drysuit than it does to vent your BC or wing. Contrary to an extreme view point offered earlier, it's OK to use both your wing/BC and your drysuit for buoyancy. You'll learn what works for you. There is no one right answer for all divers in all situations.
• Keep trying, and be safe by NOT approaching your NDL limits on these early dives. This lowers the risk in case you ascend more rapidly than you intend.
• Vent "early and often" as you ascend.

There are many experienced drysuit divers in the Redondo/SoBay area.

Shoot out a call and many of us would be happy to mentor and answer questions.

Welcome to the warm side. You are going to LOVE it!!!

~~~~~
Claudette

 

[Gombessa]

Are you sure the suit is not venting? at the exhaust valve? Usually, you can press down on the entire valve body, that will open it regardless of what position you have it set to. I would try this to see if the valve is actually working.

Venting air is not as easy as it sounds. You have to have your left arm positioned higher than the rest of your body, and sometimes you have to raise the arm to get all the air pocket up there, and then make a chicken-wing motion to squeeze the air to the valve.

Someone asked why you are using the suit for buoyancy. That's the right question, but I think the answer is that's how a lot of classes (and drysuit manufacturers) teach it. They do so because it's easy (that way you're only dealing with one bladder and set of valves, rather than two). Unfortunately it's way harder and slower to vent from a drysuit than from a BC. IMO, the better solution is what others here are saying: inflate the suit only minimally to account for squeeze, and use the BC for all buoyancy control.

Best of luck, it takes 5-10 dives but you'll get the hang if it quickly.