Drysuit repair-wish me luck!

[spectrum]

Another product I have used on dive gear is called SEAM GRIP. It is sold in camping outkets for seam sealing of tents. I've had great luck using it to bind lioose ends of suit stitching.

It is a clear material in a tube. I dries to a vey pliable state, not unlike silicone sealant. It may have the flexibility and permeability to work for you.

Pete

 

[DivingCRNA]

Most of the cement had lifted off of the seams, so I pulled it all off in about 5 minutes.

I am back at square one with the seams.

 

[DivingCRNA]

I called John at North East SCUBA Supply today. He said what I had learned-the aquaseal cement is not for sealing seams. It is for bonding things to each other. So-don't try THAT at home.

He did say to use seam seal-a thinned version of aquaseal and that should do the trick. I will let you all know how that goes.

 

[oly5050user]

I called John at North East SCUBA Supply today. He said what I had learned-the aquaseal cement is not for sealing seams. It is for bonding things to each other. So-don't try THAT at home.

He did say to use seam seal-a thinned version of aquaseal and that should do the trick. I will let you all know how that goes.

as I said thin out the aquaseal with cotol -it definitely is what dui uses on their suits-all of them.clea n the are ,use a fine sandpaper aqnd wipe down with cotol before applying mixture.

 

[CWMurf]

I am more than a little discouraged. I did learn that it does work to zip yourself in a back entry suit using a dog leash as a helper.

I am really at a loss for what to do now. I am thinking that the cement and aquaseal are not sticking to the laminate of the suit to form a seal.

I was so damn proud of myself for putting new wrist and neck seals on and the seams are giving me hell.

What am I going to do? I am open to ideas.

First of all, don't get too discouraged. We are all here going through this with you. I am sorry to see that this attempt didn't work out but you are getting close. I can't wait to hear about the cotol/aquaseal mix that you will try next. I am expecting it to be the end of your seam leaks.

Secondly, I will not discourage you from closing your zipper by yourself, I bbelieve strongly in self-sufficiency. I would just like to remind you to be very careful about the angle at which you pull the leash. I ruined my zipper at about 2" in from each end because I let the angle become too great as I pulled across those spots. It will pull out just one tooth. Unfortunately, once the zipper is broken it must be replaced. No repairing it.

I reseated and aquasealed the popped tooth a couple of times just to get me through but had to use pliers after the first zip or so to get the tooth back in enough to get the pull past it. Just don't want you to have to replace the zipper too soon after all this other work.

On the flip side - once you replace the zipper you will have practically a brand new suit.

 

[DivingCRNA]

Secondly, I will not discourage you from closing your zipper by yourself, I bbelieve strongly in self-sufficiency. I would just like to remind you to be very careful about the angle at which you pull the leash. I ruined my zipper at about 2" in from each end because I let the angle become too great as I pulled across those spots. It will pull out just one tooth. Unfortunately, once the zipper is broken it must be replaced. No repairing it.

On the flip side - once you replace the zipper you will have practically a brand new suit.

I was so paranoid and careful about the angle of the zipper! LOL It took about 5 minutes to don and doff so that I only pulled the zipper in the right direction. It is an old suit, and I have a lot of respect for being good to the zipper. It was a little anxiety producing, but the zipper is still great.

I had to send off for the seam seal. We do not have a great source for this stuff around here. So it will be next week before the next try.

Thanks for your support!

 

[gcg]

man can respect how you feel. i bought a suit on th cheep from an auction here in florida. my seals were good. the inflator valve was broken, fixed that. the boots were to big, so i put latex socks on. pumped her up and three minuts later it was flat as a pancake. so i went through the process of glue removal, pain in the arse. ordered heat applied seam seal tape from england, put that on and it took forever. pumped her up. this time took a half an hour to go limp. but hey never when completely flat. so i did the bubbe test again, marked my bubbles. i used thinned aquaseal to fix the spots there were a few of them. pumped it up again and seemed to hold air well. so tomorow night im going to the university pool during our scuba classes pool sesion. if this works i'll let ya know. also if your intrested in the heat applied seam tape let me know. here's a question for everyone why is it so much cheaper to get the seals from england? $10 for wrist seals $15 for neck or latex sox shipping is only five bucks. 10m of seam tape was $6.

 

[Scuba Cowboy]

I had a customer who was visiting from England tell me they can get DUI drysuits way cheaper there than here. Hard to figure, I live about 3 hours from where they're made.

 

[gcg]

well my seals didnt leak but my suit sure did, but not as bad as it did before. maybe we should get together and have a drysuit fire. back to the bubble testing for me.

 

[DivingCRNA]

well my seals didnt leak but my suit sure did, but not as bad as it did before. maybe we should get together and have a drysuit fire. back to the bubble testing for me.

How bad did it leak? Were your undergarments wet, or was there water in the legs up to your knees?

I am waiting on some sealant to get here in the mail. I live in a small town and have to mail away for a lot of stuff. How was the heat activated seam tape to put on? Do you have a link for where to order it?

I also won a cheap 3 mm compressed neoprene drysuit that is being shipped as we write. I may have 3 projects going. When I get them both dry I will probably sell one.