Snorkel Problems

[pongo1976]

I have just bought a new snorkel and it leaks in the mouth piece after I have breathed in a couple of breathes of air. I have checked the snorkel for leaks and splits and the purge valve seems ok and it still floods with water, does any one have any suggestions as to what is causing this problem.

[Nigel Hewitt]

I have just bought a new snorkel and it leaks in the mouth piece after I have breathed in a couple of breathes of air. I have checked the snorkel for leaks and splits and the purge valve seems ok and it still floods with water, does any one have any suggestions as to what is causing this problem.
If it has a purge valve it is way too complicated.
A snorkel is a piece of pipe.
A really super high-tech snorkel is still a piece of pipe but one that rolls up and goes in your pocket and when you pull it out *BOING* It's your good old piece of pipe again.

Snorkels are usually half full of water. When it gurgles as you breathe in blow out sharply and it goes all over your mates.

[IainC]

your lips make the seal with the mouthpiece, If you grin or you bite too hard it will leak around the mouth.

Also it is very easy to get water in the top if you aren't careful with how you move your head and position the snorkel

[pongo1976]

It has nothing to do with the position of the top of the snorkel as it is way out of the water and it has a protective guard to stop water from entering it.
I have checked the whole snorkel and there is no grit or dirt in it,and it is brand a new item.I have had other divers down the pool go under the water and try to monitor whats going on when I breath in and out, and everything apears ok, and it still floods with water. The snorkel in question is a Dacor Integra II.

[micromouse]

We had a couple of tusa snorkels and discovered that they only work on the left hand side. When we swapped them over to the right the purge valve was pointing slightly up and then didnt' work. So have you tried reversing the snorkel on the other side of your head?

Wayne

[pongo1976]

I have tested the snorkel in the sink wearing it to the left hand side of my head and the mouthpiece flooded. I tried wearing it to the right hand side of my head and it was fine the mouth piece didn`t flood and it was working ok. On the basis of this, then hopefully I have cured the reason as to why it is flooding, I will test it down the pool next week. I would like to thank you very much for this advice. I just wish that the manufacturers of the Snorkels would specify this on the instructions section on the packaging. It would solve a lot of problems with using the products.

[northern_diver]

WO WO WO WO:confused: :( :o lets stop a second, when did i miss the memo saying that some snorkles could only be used on one side? Am i the only one that thinks that is about the stupidist thing he's heard this week?

What sort of people would make this (bar money grabbing cretins) and if you know about it, why would anyome then buy it?

Im starting to get really sceptical in this day and age. My cheap 5 quid lidl jobie is 'multi-sided';) and does the job...that been simple as all it has to be is a pipe.

talk about over engineered...

John

[pongo1976]

I very much agree with what you are saying. It should be universal as to what side you prefer to wear the snorkel and it shouldn`t effect the performance of the equipment. When I bought it and tried it out I thought that the snorkel was deffective. Its plain crazy.

[Tony Dwyer]

I very much agree with what you are saying. It should be universal as to what side you prefer to wear the snorkel and it shouldn`t effect the performance of the equipment. When I bought it and tried it out I thought that the snorkel was deffective. Its plain crazy.

I find myself somewhat baffled.

A snorkel is merely a tube and is the single simplest and most effective piece of underwater kit.
Many have drain valves and many don't. While a simple bent tube is admirably effective as a sucky tube, I personally prefer my cheapie (also < £5 from Lidl's) that has a drain valve below the mouthpiece. Clearing it is an effortless task.

Does your tube have such a valve and have you checked that it works correctly. Method: Block the open end of the tube and suck. No air or water should come in.

I suspect that the leaky tube has nothing to do with the tube, but lots to do with how it's positioned on your head and how you hold your head in the water.

A thought, does the tube have a bend in it to 'wrap' around your head (I've seen some like that)? If so you might need to rotate the bottom bit to have the mouth piece in the right place. Assuming it isn't fixed of course.

I reckon your best bet might be to present yourself to an experienced snorkelling instructor, he or she may well be ble to spot what's happening.

[Tony Dwyer]

I've had a look at your tube on the Interweb. It's a basic simple design, though Nigel would eschew the drain valve. It's very similar to the cheapie one that I use.

The wave splash guard is a waste of effort. Most water ingress will be due to the top being below the surface of the water. The wave guard won't stop that.

I'm convinced that if the drain valve at the bottom is OK, then the issue is with your technique.

[PeteM]

I'm convinced that if the drain valve at the bottom is OK, then the issue is with your technique.

Assuming the OP's head is reasonably symmetrical it must be

[ChristianG]

I've had a look at your tube on the Interweb. It's a basic simple design, though Nigel would eschew the drain valve. It's very similar to the cheapie one that I use..
Tony,

I think that there may be other people out there who also think the way Nigel does - like me.

I don't have/use a snorkel. If I need one I borrow one, preferably as simple a one as possible.

A snorkel, to me, should be a bent tube with a good quality mouthpiece at the bent end. It should be no more than 15mm in diameter (10mm is better) and made of hard, but not brittle, plastic. It needs no holder, stuff it under the strap of your mask, probably immediately in front of your ear - unless you are a freak of nature. It quite certainly doesn't need a purge (nor does a mask for that matter) which can go wrong and it quite certainly doesn't need some kind of waterproofing to stop water ingressing from the end that sticks out of the water to allow you to breathe. Nor does it need fancy shapes.

Here we go again, anyone heard of the KISS principle lately? :)

[ChristianG]

your lips make the seal with the mouthpiece, If you grin or you bite too hard it will leak around the mouth.
Does that also apply to 2nd stages? ;)

[micromouse]

WO WO WO WO:confused: :( :o lets stop a second, when did i miss the memo saying that some snorkles could only be used on one side? Am i the only one that thinks that is about the stupidist thing he's heard this week?

What sort of people would make this (bar money grabbing cretins) and if you know about it, why would anyome then buy it?

Im starting to get really sceptical in this day and age. My cheap 5 quid lidl jobie is 'multi-sided';) and does the job...that been simple as all it has to be is a pipe.

talk about over engineered...

John

Ask Tusa. The drain valve on the bottom is curved down and in. Wear it on the left and the curve is down, wear it on the right and it curves up and out. It feelts a bit like using an octo upside down... you get air, but very very wet.

Wayne

[Tony Dwyer]

Generally I agree with you. I just prefer my comfortable bendy tube, which works well for me.

I have a reasonable selection of snorkels, most of which I have found over the years, lying unattended on the sea bed. I keep finding the things and keep giving them away.

I only bought the cheapie at Lidl's because SWMBO commented on the general decrepitude of my snorkel collection just before our last Red Sea trip. :)

I used the stiff U bend type sucky tubes for many, many years. My Lidl's special is just so much more comfortable. :)

I don't like stuffing the tube under my mask strap, I find the pressure against my temple uncomfortable (I have a large brain case ;) ). I use a silicon figure eight thing to hold the tube on.

[northern_diver]

Ask Tusa. The drain valve on the bottom is curved down and in. Wear it on the left and the curve is down, wear it on the right and it curves up and out. It feelts a bit like using an octo upside down... you get air, but very very wet.


Shouldnt have a drain valve that is poorly placed.

Shiney syndrome apart, i think the more time you have involved with a event, the less time your have for new gimmick etc I was out and about diving the other day and looking at the other divers gear and you dont half see some upper jokes of kit that seeminly is designed to look pretty in the mirror rather than look after you so you can look in the mirror again.

KISS :) gotta love it, even its abbreviation is simple

John

[Vic]

Shouldnt have a drain valve that is poorly placed.

The drain valve needs to point straight down. This gives the designer a simple choice: make the mouthpiece point straight up in use (uncomfrotable), or make the snorkel handed.

If you put a handed snorkel in upside-down, the drain valve will no longer point straight down. That will cause it to leak.

This isn't about poor placement; it's a simple matter of geometry.

Vic.

[pongo1976]

It has nothing to do with my technique or the postioning of my head in the water. I have been snorkelling for years and I have never had a problem before. For some reason this snorkel will only work on the right side of my head and not the left hand side as it continues to flood. The snorkel has been tested by other divers in the pool and it had exactly the same effect as them when they wore it on there left hand side of their heads, and they were very experienced divers, the faults remains with the snorkel its self.

[Tony Dwyer]

It has nothing to do with my technique or the postioning of my head in the water. I have been snorkelling for years and I have never had a problem before. For some reason this snorkel will only work on the right side of my head and not the left hand side as it continues to flood. The snorkel has been tested by other divers in the pool and it had exactly the same effect as them when they wore it on there left hand side of their heads, and they were very experienced divers, the faults remains with the snorkel its self.

I'm fascinated. I don't understand how a sealed (well at one end anyway - by mouth and valve) tube doesn't leak when worn on the right but does when worn on the left.
Given the design of the particular snorkel involved, I just can't see it. As I said, I have a very similar tube myself.

I would welcome the chance to try the thing myself, but that isn't going to happen. :)

If you're convinced it's no good, just junk the thing and make your way to Lidl's or Decathlon and buy a cheapy.

[northern_diver]

its a wate of time,dont need the drainvalve,dont have one fitted.

simple j-snorkle, people coped with out them.

im not a snorkler though, so i dont value them. if i use it, i'll be divinng so can just use my reg...

my issue is with overly complicated designs, which effect the usefulness.

john