trying to get as much info on placement and fixing of hotwater hose into wetsuit from heat exchanger
My inexperienced thoughts, are I would say maybe allow the diver to be able to have a quick release - so make it easily accessible by the diver, so maybe not on their back or hard fixed?
If for whatever reason that no one can think of but might happen, the diver starts getting burned they should be able to quickly release it rather than get back to the dredge and turn something off during which time they can cook.
I am super paranoid about burns having seen pics of what has happened to a few people and prefer, possibly stupidly, freezing rather than the low but possible risk. Even though thats possibly throwing the baby out with the bathwater. But I am often by myself without a tender.
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Have a secondary hose that you poke down the front of your wetsuit at your neck long enough on the outside down to your hip long enough on the inside to go down your back below weight belt line. Tuck the hose into your harness weight belt. One the outside end you want a piece of hose even garden hose will do. Larger diameter than delivery hose. Long as your delivery hose can fit inside it. That is the join and easy to pull it out if you have a problem. Highly recommend a reserve tank. As I have been burnt badly back in the early 90s winter time by running a straight hose out of heat exchanger. Not nice and extremely painful. Delivery hose is important and needs to be the type that can’t kink. Ie. high pressure hot water hose off a water blaster. Or simply. You will have all sorts of problems with inferior hose that heats up and can kink. Especially in winter everything is on a dredge, breakdowns are exasperated. Speaking from experience. Hope this helps.
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good dry suit , soon as you turn dredge off your wet and cold with a hot water system
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thanks heaps mate for your knowledge fully appreciate it…!!!
yea thanks and very true i am also very often alone with no tender too the heat exchanger has a built in safety relief valve set at a certain temp that goes off and lets the hot water discharge should it get to hot but yea all the info and knowledge and opinions i can gather before cutting holes in my expensive wettie is a real help so i thank you heaps for sharing your knowledge…thanks fella
I second getting a dry suit. You can wear polar fleece or normal clothing underneath so no cold moments when you strip off the suit after getting out of the water.
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yep im going to get one of those i see oceandry wetsuits make one specificly for southern dredgers but thats going to have to wait till i have a few more dollars to throw at it as there quite expensive …i just brought a heat exchanger for my dredge so im going to defintly run with that for a while and then in time a dry suit suit …i have heard pros and cons of both heat exchangers and drysuits so yep im going to give them both a go but for now i have a decent heat exchanger and just dont want to put to many holes in my wettie and want to get a bit of feedback on those that have heat exchangers and have a good set up of the hose going into wetsuit …big thanks mate
no cold moments sounds good man im bit of a wimp when it comes to the cold so yep i hear ya
How do the drysuits go for wear and tear? I imagine once theres a hole in one they aren’t to good? Cheers
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Hi mate, any suggestions on where to source a reserve tank or blueprints to build one? Cheers
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I’ll take a couple photos of mine tomorrow. Made from pvc thick walled pressure pipe. And heaps of good marine adhesive. You can make it out of any cylinder type. Countersunk cap at each end small tap on the bottom to drain it. 2 8mm id pipes one out of the heat exchanger is longer internally one out of reserve tanks shorter about 3” internally - this prevents scolding from hot water. If you do a search on this site someone’s drawn a picture of a reserve tank. You’ll get the idea.
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I use neoprene drysuits for just that reason they are tougher and warmer than the shell ones
I have a shitty old one for cleaning boat hulls and crawling into holes for crays. I bought it second hand and put in a new zip neckseal and extra length in the legs with new boots that was 20 years ago and it’s still going strong.
And a nice flash one for instructing and guiding.
Never had a leak from a tear and they are repairable.
If you are working solo you may need to get creative with a coat hanger to do the zip up if it’s across your back rather than in front.
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Awesome mate, I like the sound of that, to be honest I never thought of pvc, great idea! cheers mate!
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Awesome, Il look into those. I do a lot of work in shallowish bedrock, 6-8 hours a day over the summer months and use sealant and kneepads on my wettie, yet still tears up and Im constanly repairing it. My only worry with the drysuit is that one tear or the wearing out would comprimise the whole suit… whereas thats not such an issue with the wettie… but as youve mentioned the drysuits seen a bit tougher wearing Il have a look into it, cheers mate
hi mate i am just wondering do you have any pics of your hoses into wetsuit ?
This works for me. Hoses go down to my toes & out to my wrists. Main hose goes between long johns & suit top then back up under weight belt. air hose connections quick to undo if there’s ever a prob. Heat & Pinch the hose ends off then poke tiny holes every 8" with a hot needle. Uses very little hot water.
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awesome mate thank you the photos are so easy to see how its working thanks again mate for taking your time to share your knowledge with me…!!!
do you think top qaulety garden hose from heat exchanger to waist line of diver is good enough? i see your using some reinforced hose…your set up looks pretty good all the way to arms and toes very cool im just trying to get as many ideas from all you guys that have years of experience and knowledge and then put mine together…i am also going to have a quick release system near my weight belt in case of problems…so yea any knowledge of which hose etc to use would be great i have the heat exchanger and a very expensive no kink garden hose from weta 15mtrs that i plan to insulate with foam tubing and tape…i see you are using brass fittins on your hose and then some kind of splitter 4way that allows you to use smaller tubing to go into your wettie…
Air compressor hose is cheap & much stronger than any garden hose. Buy it made up from the tool shed or mitre 10. The splitter is just a few small tees held together with a tiny zip tie. You need a mixing chamber after the heat exchanger so you can regulate the temp with cold water. Put a low pressure valve on it to vent steam. I don’t use foam insulation as it makes the hose float & I have surplus hot water anyway. Are you on the coast?
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