Drysuit KIN Zipper; any experience?

[Roberto Inzerillo]

I am going to have an old drysuit zipper replaced with this one

drysuit zipper & diving suit zipper - KINsealed waterproof zipper Co. Ltd

drysuit zipper, 8TZ CR airtight diving suit zipper replacement, airproof zipper, close end, gas-tight zipper,quality sealed zipper

kinzip.com

It's cheap, it comes from China and I don't really know what to expect.
It's going to be mounted on a very old drysuit anyway.

I wonder if anyone alread has some experience (good/bad) with this product.

 

[Roberto Inzerillo]

Update, I got the drysuit back with the replaced zipper.

First impression: it's a lot hard to open and close compared with then the old one, the slider doesn't slide on the pins as smoothly, even after smearing it with paraffin.

I have to say, before the first pass of paraffin it seemed almost impossible to move the slider without feeling it breaking apart .. horrible. The paraffin helped a lot but I'm not yet satisfied. I will keep on applying paraffin hoping it's going to be smoother in time.

I really wonder how long will it last. My biggest concern with cheap/china products is the quality, time will tell.

 

[Snusmumrik]

Me used chinese drysuit zippers for at least 4 years (somewhat around 100-150 cycles) with no issues.

 

[happy-diver]

I'm trying to free up a newly installed BDM zipper I had in stock that I can't close easily on a neoprene suit

not the purchase you get with a fabric suit, ha ha ha plus the suit isn't finished so no lube yet bad for glue

and who cares anyway the BDM falls to pieces earlier than I would expect anyway I'll go Chinese next time

 

[Roberto Inzerillo]

Me used chinese drysuit zippers for at least 4 years (somewhat around 100-150 cycles) with no issues.

Same brand/model as the one I got?

 

[mr_v]

Update, I got the drysuit back with the replaced zipper.

First impression: it's a lot hard to open and close compared with then the old one, the slider doesn't slide on the pins as smoothly, even after smearing it with paraffin.

I have to say, before the first pass of paraffin it seemed almost impossible to move the slider without feeling it breaking apart .. horrible. The paraffin helped a lot but I'm not yet satisfied. I will keep on applying paraffin hoping it's going to be smoother in time.

I really wonder how long will it last. My biggest concern with cheap/china products is the quality, time will tell.

You get what you pay for. There are companies that manufacture quality zippers: YKK (Japan) and TZIP (Germany). The rest are imitators.

YKK is a conglomerate that has consolidated zipper production by purchasing various manufactures. BDM zippers are very good. I have had medium and heavy duty zippers on my dry suit. New zippers will require paraffin lubrication and will become smooth over time. Heavy duty will be very stiff, like you describe with the cheap Chinese zipper, but will loosen. Medium duty is almost smooth out of the box.

TZIP makes plastic zippers that are quite good too. These zippers require extra care but are worth it. I had it on one of my suits and it lasted, like, forever.

If I were you, I'd seriously consider whether diving with a cheap zipper is worth the hassle. A long zipper costs $200 and you can _probably_ replace it yourself if not then on the second or third try.

@Snusmumrik - zipper life is measured in zip cycles. Good zippers will last about 500 zip cycles but if my memory serves me right YKK says about 300 is the limit. 150 is about half way, so be careful ;-)

 

[Snusmumrik]

@Snusmumrik - zipper life is measured in zip cycles. Good zippers will last about 500 zip cycles but if my memory serves me right YKK says about 300 is the limit. 150 is about half way, so be careful ;-)

I have spare zipper. And a some experience to hassle with it

Same brand/model as the one I got?

IDK - no markings. Zip is aliexpress sourced, but link is dead now.

 

[Roberto Inzerillo]

Update: after a couple dives it seems better than at first.
After a few passes of paraffin it runs much better

 

[mgilli71]

You get what you pay for. There are companies that manufacture quality zippers: YKK (Japan) and TZIP (Germany). The rest are imitators.

YKK is a conglomerate that has consolidated zipper production by purchasing various manufactures. BDM zippers are very good. I have had medium and heavy duty zippers on my dry suit. New zippers will require paraffin lubrication and will become smooth over time. Heavy duty will be very stiff, like you describe with the cheap Chinese zipper, but will loosen. Medium duty is almost smooth out of the box.

TZIP makes plastic zippers that are quite good too. These zippers require extra care but are worth it. I had it on one of my suits and it lasted, like, forever.

If I were you, I'd seriously consider whether diving with a cheap zipper is worth the hassle. A long zipper costs $200 and you can _probably_ replace it yourself if not then on the second or third try.

@Snusmumrik - zipper life is measured in zip cycles. Good zippers will last about 500 zip cycles but if my memory serves me right YKK says about 300 is the limit. 150 is about half way, so be careful ;-)

TIZIP says their products can last for thousands of cycles, at least when you follow the instructions for handling and storing them. They've got a "hydrolysis protected" version now, which stops the TPU coating from aging and leaking. A lot of manufacturers are already using this version because it's a huge step forward in durability.

 

[jellycatsdad]

I have a KIN zipper waiting to be installed on an old DUI drysuit. It seems well-made but I’m not mucking around with it until the zipper is installed. I’m also going to use AGS Door-Ease instead of beeswax or paraffin wax(I have plenty of snowboard wax here) to lube it before the first un-zip.