DC ring glove installation tips

[jepuskar]

LG, you had no problem going from inverting the arm back to its regular position...specifically getting the ring lip over the suit?

 

[LG Diver]

LG, you had no problem going from inverting the arm back to its regular position...specifically getting the ring lip over the suit?

No, I didn't have any real issue with that. I did it as follows:

- turn arm inside-out
- feed ring through arm sideways (90 degrees from final position)
- once ring is in seal, turn 90 degrees into final position
- install o-ring in 3rd groove
- turn ring 90 degrees again
- reach through sleeve and grab ring
- pull through arm

After I had the ring out of the sleeve the trickiest part was turning it back 90 degrees into it's final position without popping the seal and o-ring off the ring. I think the fact that my suit is crushed neoprene and has some stretch to it helped a bit. I took it slowly since I didn't want to tear the seal or pop the o-ring off, but it wasn't especially difficult. Once the 2nd o-ring is on it's pretty stable. Mine also came with some neoprene covers that look like wrist bands. These sit over the ring, covering the exterior o-ring. Besides making the whole finished assembly look cleaner, they also protect the exterior o-ring and help ensure it doesn't accidentally get pulled off. I hadn't seen these in anyone else's pictures, but they're pretty slick.

 

[jepuskar]

I have a TLS350 and it was a PIA getting the suit over that ring...so much so i just said no way...i thought it was gonna break a seal.

 

[LG Diver]

I have a TLS350 and it was a PIA getting the suit over that ring...so much so i just said no way...i thought it was gonna break a seal.

That's strange. I've heard of people having a tough time with the install, but I haven't heard of anyone that wasn't ultimately able to wrangle them on there. Did you give up and go with other rings? If you're going to try again, maybe slather some KY or talc on the rings to help ease them through.

 

[jepuskar]

I went with the SI-Tech and have about 5-6 dives on them with no problems. I got both systems at the same time and my intention was to test both out....well, the SI-Tech was extremely easy to install and for me the DC system was not. I did not use any lube during the install.

My buddy has a neoprene drysuit and we are going to exchange the XL DC system for the Small DC system....The install on a neoprene suit looks easier.

It came down to just not wanting to wrangle anymore...didnt seem right, but lube would have helped...at this time though...I'm happy with the SI-Tech.

J

 

[Dan Gibson]

That's typically caused by inserting the ring to close to the TLS material when you rotate it 90 degrees before pulling it through the wrist hole. Give yourself more seal (about 3/4" of an inch IIRC) between the ring and TLS material and it's a lot easier to get the ring through the arm. Use your thumb in the area to keep the O-ring from rolling off. The stretch of the seal makes it easy to do. Also try not to let the seam on the arm work against you.

I have a TLS350 and it was a PIA getting the suit over that ring...so much so i just said no way...i thought it was gonna break a seal.

 

[jepuskar]

Dan that makes sense...where were you a couple weeks ago?

 

[Dan Gibson]

Timing is eveything, isn't it

Dan that makes sense...where were you a couple weeks ago?

 

[jepuskar]

It is, but thats ok...I'm happy with the SI-Tech system.

Now here is a question ole wise one....do you have wrist seals with yours or no? If you do, do you allow air into the gloves? If so, what do u use?

 

[Mark Vlahos]

I have a CLx450 that I purchased used with standard seals. The seals were in excellent shape with one minor flaw, the previous owner was about one or two rings larger than me. The wrists and neck did seal, but it was not the best seal. My solution was to replace the existing standard seals with ZipSeals as had been my intent from the beginning. Ken (Mo2vation) is a buddy of mine and he has the DC ring system installed on his ZipSeals. It looked like a good idea to me, so I recently picked up a DC system used and have just finished installing the rings onto my ZipSeal wrist seals. Installing the rings on the seals (removed from the arms) was a snap. I took it real slow and easy and it took me about 5 minutes per seal. Admittedly I did help Ken with his original installation so I was familiar with the general idea. I spent a fair amount of time making sure the ring was as close to the Zip as I could get it. I did not have any written instructions, but I am pretty good at visualizing how things go together so I made a few sketches on a pad of paper and off I went.

I have yet to get the new gloves wet, or should I say dry, but I look forward to it soon.

Mark Vlahos