Drysuit Inflator Valve Nipples

[Nickpicks]

I'm checking a drysuit out for one of my new students. It's a Mares suit and the inflator valve has an "unusual" nipple - the nipple has a single hole, so when I connect a "standard" (miflex) drysuit hose, the nipple doesn't push the schraeder valve in, so I can't inflate the suit.

Do I need to gat a specific "Mares" drysuit hose, or would I be better off swapping the nipple to one that works with a standard hose?

This suit has a nipple like the 3rd from left in the photo - I've only seen the other types, either with multiple holes or a bar to press the schraeder valve.

[Allan Carr]

It looks a bit like a type of CEJN connector but not the usual type that I have on my suit.

[Woz]

I'd change the nipple out. What's the point of having a connector that you can't connect to with a standard hose?

[Energy58]

I'd simply swap it out for a different nipple - I have not seen that one, unless its the "high capacity" one used on the Mares Air Control combined octo and inflator (like the Air 2 but Mares own version) which would make some kind of sense if Mares are trying for the Apple "not compatible with anyone else" route. The Air Control comes with a special inflator hose that uses a proprietary fitting that is not compatible with anything else and is a right PITA as well as being even worse than the standard "short" octo if used in anger. The suit probably came with an inflator hose to fit which has gone AWOL somewhere

[Paulo]

I do not understand how there can be so many variations of such a simple, generic part

[notdeadyet]

Swap it. If you're passing it on to someone else then it just opens up a load of hassle for them to have an oddball hose.

Assuming they haven't also put an odd thread that no-one else uses on the nipple as well.

[Allan Carr]

I do not understand how there can be so many variations if such a simple, generic part

Our club BCD's have three different fittings for direct feeds. One hose will fit jackets A&B and another will fit Jackets B&C but none will work with all three although they will connect to all of them.It is all to do with the length of the piston in the Schraeder valve. On some, it is too long and continually inflates while others are too short and will not inflate!

[Nickpicks]

I was in the process of swapping it, when I realised that it works differently to what I'm used to. There's a plastic rod up the middle of the nipple, so when the valve is squeezed, it pushes the rod onto the shraeder valve. It works perfectly with a standard miflex hose. (the plastic rod is like the green bit in the photo above)

All the drysuit inflators I've come across before have a nipple that pushed the shraeder valve pin, then the button opens a valve inside the valve body.

[Allan Carr]

The CEJN fittings don't have a spigot in the midddle, they push the valve back over a wider area. I've got a CEJN fiiting on my drysuit since I finfd them much easier to connect and disconnect under presure. I suffer from Reynauds in cold water and anything that helps manual dexterity is welcome.

[N Bailey]

One thing I have seen a few times with the CEJN is the central cap in the centre of the hose fitting being dislodged leading to a freeflow from the fitting. If the person connecting the hose was not experienced and let go the hose can then whip around the head.

[Woz]

One thing I have seen a few times with the CEJN is the central cap in the centre of the hose fitting being dislodged leading to a freeflow from the fitting. If the person connecting the hose was not experienced and let go the hose can then whip around the head.

This sometimes happens if you try and push one onto a standard nipple especially if it has a sticky up bit on it.

[Woz]

Our club BCD's have three different fittings for direct feeds. One hose will fit jackets A&B and another will fit Jackets B&C but none will work with all three although they will connect to all of them.It is all to do with the length of the piston in the Schraeder valve. On some, it is too long and continually inflates while others are too short and will not inflate!

If they are AP ones that have the "bloody annoying not quite standard" fitting then if you grind a little bit off the nipple on the inflator you can get a standard hose to fit. It's just enough so the balls drop into the groove.

[Energy58]

If they are AP ones that have the "bloody annoying not quite standard" fitting then if you grind a little bit off the nipple on the inflator you can get a standard hose to fit. It's just enough so the balls drop into the groove.

Indeed - the AP fitting which you can almost get a standard hose to connect to and not quite work but which only reveals itself 4 miles off shore! Particularly for club kit. There is a special place in hell reserved for whoever is responsible for that.

[Allan Carr]

It's the Mares ones in our club BCD's which are the most pernickety.

[Woz]

Indeed - the AP fitting which you can almost get a standard hose to connect to and not quite work but which only reveals itself 4 miles off shore! Particularly for club kit. There is a special place in hell reserved for whoever is responsible for that.

It's the other way round. If you can get a standard hose on an AP nipple (about 50% of the time) the gas flow is fine. The other way round- an AP fitting will always go onto a standard nipple, but the gas flow is tiny as the nipple isn't long enough to press the Schraeder valve down in the standard hose. And yes I agree there is a special place in diving hell for whoever decided that was a good idea. Right next to the idiot who designed the pocket reel. I notice there is an updated bigger version of this as well. That's right. Take a bloody awful product and make a bigger version of the same bag of shite.