Anyone know what it costs to put a Pee Valve in a Dive Rite 905 drysuit? Or can I do it myself. I imagine if someone else is going to do it for me, that someone will be Gamble. But is it simple enough to do myself?
What's your thoughts?
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Anyone know what it costs to put a Pee Valve in a Dive Rite 905 drysuit? Or can I do it myself. I imagine if someone else is going to do it for me, that someone will be Gamble. But is it simple enough to do myself?
What's your thoughts?
It is actually very easy to do,just unnerving to cut a hole in your drysuit. Steve will do a professional job,and remove any anxiety you may have.
this is what Steve Gamble quoted me a few weeks ago:
"Light Monkey balanced 110usd installed. Unbalanced 90usd installed. Dive Rite 140usd installed." Doesnt include shipping.
I havnt had a break in diving, so I havent shipped my drysuit to him yet. especially since it is getting cold up here.
I would check with him to make sure the quotes are still good.
Scott
shipping won't be an issue, he's on the way to Madison for me.
Ok, next question. Which Pee Valve do I buy? I'm going to try it myself based on Kelly's recommendation (and the fact that i'm cheap)
you could see which ones are addressed in Forrest's UTI report to make a decision. :rollguy
Scott
i'd just get an unbalanced valve. I had issues with balance chambers leaking. they're more trouble than they're worth
Whoa! Did he get a bad infection from one?
Litehedded, are all unbalanced valves created equal or should I grab a specific one?
No, he just started a thread about Pee Valve related UTIs
http://www.cavediver.net/forum/showt...rious-problem.
Scott
I got this balanced one and had Gamble install it for me(when I did it he only charged me 20 bucks to install it), the only thing I don't really like is how big the screw is, but it really hasn't got to much in the way.
http://caveadventurers.com/store/ind...roducts_id=386
The unbalanced one is even cheaper but I haven't used it to give any feedback on.
http://caveadventurers.com/store/ind...roducts_id=385
Love my Light Monkey balanced Relief valve. No leaks and it works wonderfully.
Installation manual I used:
http://www.halcyon.net/files/manuals...alve_08web.pdf
Installed mine in the hotel room after a day of diving JB. Used a soldering iron to cut the hole instead of a die. 2 hours later it was ready to dive but I waited until the next day to use it.
I am installing mine this weekend. Another manual can be found at:
http://www.diverite.com/downloads/diverite_147.pdf
I installed mine, and couldn't WAIT to cut the hole my brand new Pinnacle! One tip I was given (thanks Tegg) was to make a template out of duct tape (two pieces wide) of the p-valve. I cut a hole the size of the valve into the duct tape, put the duct tape on the suit, and then applied the Aquaseal. After it set a bit, I pulled off the duct tape and had a very clean ring of Aquaseal to apply the valve. It's been 2 years and no leaks yet. Hehehe, so easy, a girl can do it ;)
When you install it, cut a piece of neoprene to go on the inside of the suit between the pee valve and the trilam. This will prevent the movement when swimming from tearing a hole in the suit. Gamble did that on my roommates suit and it makes sense, to me at least.
I've installed three of them now, and only had leaking problems with the one I put on a compressed neoprene suit. (Learned a lot from that one.)
I use the Halcyon balanced valve, and this was after reading a bunch of feedback from women using the She-P, where minimal resistance to flow is pretty important. (The adhesive on the device fails more often, I think, than catheters blow off men.) But there is a theoretical reason for men to choose the lowest resistance system they can, as well -- there is no "safety valve" for excess pressure in the p-valve system for men, so any resistance can cause reflux into the bladder, and thus a higher risk of UTI. In women, there is a low pressure alternative, so although we have shorter urethras, I wouldn't be surprised if we end up being less susceptible to p-valve UTIs than men are.
Very easy to install. I bought a punch when I installed my first one about 8 years ago, I think it was $10? I like using the balanced P-Valves from Salvo (now out of business...) and now I think I have an OxyCheq one. They are cheap and rock solid, nothing to maintain on them except for the typical post dive vinegar rinse.
I figure out where I want the valve. Then I put a towel in my suit, then put a small wood block on the towel underneath where I'm going to punch the hole. Put the punch on the mark and *wham*, drill it hard with a hammer. Actually takes a few good whacks to bust through good trilam.
I like to dab a little Aqua Seal on either side and then screw it down tight. Leave it sit overnight, dive and pee to your hearts content.
It literally took only a few minutes to do - super simple install!
If you have a crushed neoprene suit, be careful how tight you screw it down. It can cause the neoprene to squeeze out from under the washer. It will even stretch the hole to about double size. Just tighten them enough to partially compress the neoprene, the Aquaseal will do the rest.
Regarding the block of wood inside the suit. Find a piece of hardwood (Oak or Maple) My first attempt was on a DUI CF-200 and the peice of 2 x 4 pine split in two and the punch made its way to the other side of the leg. A testament to the CF, the punch did not penetrate the suit twice!!!
Yikes! Luckily that didn't happen to me :)
maple is not considered a hardwood. oak really isn't either, but certainly harder than pine.
I got tons of it around, I am/was a cabinet maker.
SYP is 870 on hardness scale, oak is 1290 and maple is 1450. You don't really get into hardwood until Pecan, Walnut, Hickory, etc. Above 1500 hardness scale. At least that's how Lowe's sells it.
All that said, who cares right? Point is, make sure you don't put a hole punch through both sides of your drysuit. Hehe.
I bought one from edd. unbalenced oxycheq. the cheapest he had. put it in my slef. not a big dea. I burned a hole in the suit. didint want to cut it and risk it running or something. intalled the valve sandwiched between two pieces of neprene then aquaseald the heck out of it. no problems yet..
Adam -- What was the cheapest one? I just called DR for their's and it was pretty pricey even at my cost.
Uh... no thanks. :)
unbalanced p valve for 40 bucks at extreme exposure. it's in the clearance corner so if I had to guess I'd say it's old salvo stock. if it is, it's the one I use and very nice
http://www.extreme-exposure.com/?q=product/clearance
Thanks for keeping an eye out for me, but I bought a dive rite valve.
no problemo. maybe someone else can use it
After the recent thread on UTIs, I've made my decision - real men hold it.
i've never claimed to be a real man...
If you can hold it u aren't hydrated enough!
Someone told me that once
I just put one in my whites dry suit. No leaks yet. I used a hot screw driver to make the whole then used aqua seal. Works great. When I get a black ice though I think I will have it come with one.