I really like the Black Ice dry suits, so much that I own two of them. I've recently come across a problem with them and I'm posting this in hopes someone has a possible solution. I have a leak in one of my dry suits, actually a couple of leaks.
The first leak came after the neck seal was replaced. The original neoprene neck seal finally got too stretched and wasn't doing much to keep water out. I've always liked latex seals more so I replaced it with one. It did fine for a few weeks but then I started feeling water seeping in around the neck. I had to take the suit in for a zipper replacement anyway so I had Steve Gamble take a look for the leak while it was there. Zipper replaced and Steve found the leak. He pulled the neck seal off and reapplied it. Still leaking. He added aquaseal. Still leaking. He diluted the aquaseal down with cotol. Still leaking. Basically what is happening is water is leaking between the seal and the suit along the merino wool lining. The lining isn't soaking up the sealant enough to keep it from seeping water through it. Steve suggested shaving the merino wool lining and applying more aquaseal, but aside from that, he said there's nothing else he can think of. I was finally able to stop the neck seal leak by attacking it from the other side where there is no merino wool, but I'm not sure how long that will hold before I have to fix it again because it's on the part of the seal that sees some stretching to put on and take off. I can already feel some of the sealant peeling off.
The second leak is under the attachment point for the suspenders. When this first appeared I sent the suit back to Pinnacle and they applied some sealant around the edge, which seemed to work for a while. Now it's leaking again. I applied some more sealant but it continued leak. I peeled back the attachment tab and applied seal cement under it and around it, reapplying the tab. After that dried, I applied aquaseal over it. It held for about 2 dives and is seeping through the wool lining again. My next step is to try to shave the wool off as Steve suggested, but I'm concerned I may end up damaging the suit in the process.
Anyway, I'm posting this in the hopes maybe someone else will have some other ideas on stopping this leak. Like I said, I like this suit, but it doesn't do me a lot of good if I can't stop leaks! Oh, and I already thought about getting it from the outside, but I can't tell where it's coming from because of the lining on that side.
The first leak came after the neck seal was replaced. The original neoprene neck seal finally got too stretched and wasn't doing much to keep water out. I've always liked latex seals more so I replaced it with one. It did fine for a few weeks but then I started feeling water seeping in around the neck. I had to take the suit in for a zipper replacement anyway so I had Steve Gamble take a look for the leak while it was there. Zipper replaced and Steve found the leak. He pulled the neck seal off and reapplied it. Still leaking. He added aquaseal. Still leaking. He diluted the aquaseal down with cotol. Still leaking. Basically what is happening is water is leaking between the seal and the suit along the merino wool lining. The lining isn't soaking up the sealant enough to keep it from seeping water through it. Steve suggested shaving the merino wool lining and applying more aquaseal, but aside from that, he said there's nothing else he can think of. I was finally able to stop the neck seal leak by attacking it from the other side where there is no merino wool, but I'm not sure how long that will hold before I have to fix it again because it's on the part of the seal that sees some stretching to put on and take off. I can already feel some of the sealant peeling off.
The second leak is under the attachment point for the suspenders. When this first appeared I sent the suit back to Pinnacle and they applied some sealant around the edge, which seemed to work for a while. Now it's leaking again. I applied some more sealant but it continued leak. I peeled back the attachment tab and applied seal cement under it and around it, reapplying the tab. After that dried, I applied aquaseal over it. It held for about 2 dives and is seeping through the wool lining again. My next step is to try to shave the wool off as Steve suggested, but I'm concerned I may end up damaging the suit in the process.
Anyway, I'm posting this in the hopes maybe someone else will have some other ideas on stopping this leak. Like I said, I like this suit, but it doesn't do me a lot of good if I can't stop leaks! Oh, and I already thought about getting it from the outside, but I can't tell where it's coming from because of the lining on that side.
