Drysuit Pee Valve Installation

[michael-fisch]

I've installed about half a dozen pvalves on all sorts of drysuits. Then one day I really hosed one up. Pun intended. I took it to gamble to fix it. He charged me $20 to install the pvalve. I paid $12 the week before for aquaseal. For $8 difference, I just let him do it now.

No clue what his pricing is now after his move to the other company. But to know it's done right, easier to just pay him. We're not talking big money.

Gamble was 1st class 20 odd years ago and thank god, he is still first class! If you want it done right, the first time, take it to Gamble.

Michael

[twaldo]

When you use a punch to cut the hole in the leg, put a backing board inside the leg. If you forget, you can either patch 1 hole or use 2 P-Valves. :-(

The best way is to glue a trilam patch on the inside of the leg, punch the hole, punch holes in 2 pieces of car innertubes which are then glued to both sides of the drysuit hole and screw everything together - It'll never leak around the hole and the trilam has been well enough supported that it wont ever go bad. I like Blackwitch glue best for glueing the material together.

Michael

Punching the hole was the hardest part for me (Tri-Lam) I eventually gave up trying to "punch" a hole and used scissors to very precisely cut a hole. Other than that... very small amount of AquaSeal on both sides, tighten just "enough" and looks perfect no leaks.

[MORGAN]

Best way to cut the hole is with a hole punch of the type used by leather craftsmen. They are inexpensive and with a tap of a hammer will cut a perfectly round smooth hole of the proper size.

[PfcAJ]

A .40cal case works as a pretty good punch

[jlillest]

A .40cal case works as a pretty good punch

and they're readily available at some Florida dive sites! Does it cut clean without filing the edges? I suppose heating it first is a good option too.

[twaldo]

A .40cal case works as a pretty good punch

What I attempted to use as a hole punch.... heating might have made it better.... TriLam is pretty tough stuff, I couldn't get a hole all the way through.

[rddvet]

What I attempted to use as a hole punch.... heating might have made it better.... TriLam is pretty tough stuff, I couldn't get a hole all the way through.

Highly dependent on the quality of the punch. A good quality punch and a hard wack should cut the hole easily. The cheaper punches, especially the ones at Harbor Freight won't cut anything. Unfortunately it's getting harder and harder to find consistently good quality tools.