Hot water vs cold water for drysuit valves - which side are you on?

Last Tuesday on a job in Portland harbor, I spent 20 minutes stuck in a freeze-up because I always use cold water to flush my exhaust valve, but the old-timer I was with swears by warm water to prevent ice. Which method do you run and have you ever had a valve seize mid-dive?

2 comments

2 Comments

diana7229d ago

You ever had to explain to a supervisor why you're stuck on the bottom for 20 minutes? Cold water every time for me. Hot water can melt the ice but then you get that weird refreeze right after you close the valve. Seen it happen to a guy in Alaska and he was cursing up a storm.

riverwhite28d ago

My buddy Rick learned the hard way that hot water isn't always better. He was diving in the Great Lakes, flushed his exhaust valve with hot water before a deep wreck dive. Everything was fine until he hit the thermocline at 80 feet, that cold layer just locked his valve solid. Took him almost half an hour to work it loose while his hands went numb from holding onto the line. He told me after that he switched to cold water rinses and never looked back. Have you tried pre-lubing your valve with silicone spray? That helped Rick a lot too even with cold water.