Drysuit Seal Adhesive

[FoxHound]

Hey Folks, I know the PB stuff is the preferred for replacing seals, however I'm in a small town in Canada and only have access to home depot, home hardware, and Canadian tire.

Does anyone have a good brand of contact adhesive that would work for attaching the seals before I start randomly picking haha.


Thanks!

 

[scubadiver888]

Hey FoxHound,

Rather than risk a flooded drysuit you might want to consider ordering seal adhesive online. Might take a couple of days to get it to you but better than spending days drying out the inside of a flooded drysuit.

 

[spectrum]

I did a D.S. zipper with Weldwood.

 

[jvanostrand]

My suit was fixed at a dive site once by a fellow who said he preferred a contact cement from his local hardware store over the dive industry specific stuff, as an American he didn't have access to Cad Tire or Home Hardware.

I used to use contact cement in my job decades ago and there is a big difference between retail contact cement and heavy duty stuff, which can sometimes be found in retail stores. I decided to buy several types and compare.

To compare I took an old bicycle inner tube (ask for the old ones at a bike shop) and cut 1x2" pieces to test glue. I carefully cleaned the pieces with acetone and sanded them making sure not to touch the prepared surfaces and I tried three cements. I scoured Canadian Tire and Home Hardware for glues and ended up with a Lepage one, a non-flammable kind, and some heavy duty stuff I got from a rubber supply store in Kitchener. When finished I'd try tearing apart the pieces. They all came apart, it was a matter of which one resisted best.

The non-flammable one was the worst and the heavy duty stuff was the best.

Before doing the test I used some heavy duty retail stuff on my seals and a couple of friends. They've been for hundreds of dives and are still fine.

When doing seams I'll finish it off by masking a 1/4" strip along the edge of the seal with masking tape, then apply a mixture of aquaseal thinned with some Cotol or Acetone, remove the tape before the Aquaseal dries and if you like a cleaner finish dust the glue, when tacky, with a little talc to give it a matte finish.

One more piece of advice. I use two layers of aluminum foil, shiny side down, on the Aquaseal tube before putting the cap on. It seems to keep Aquaseal fresh for months. Without it I'd find most of the tube solid after a month of two.

 

[FoxHound]

I just used the Lepage heavy duty.....very easy to work with and right now the seals (wrist and neck) are all good after pressure testing the suit. Next check will be in the water Wednesday.

I also did some repairs to the pocket that was peeling a bit....good strong hold on right now

I haven't bothered with the aquaseal along the edge but I may....undecided yet.

 

[Buoy_A]

I just used the Lepage heavy duty.....very easy to work with and right now the seals (wrist and neck) are all good after pressure testing the suit. Next check will be in the water Wednesday.

I also did some repairs to the pocket that was peeling a bit....good strong hold on right now

I haven't bothered with the aquaseal along the edge but I may....undecided yet.

There are tons of good adhesives that *will* work; many contact cements. Like spectrum mentioned, DAP Weldwood works great (don't use the non-flammable type; doesn't work as well). However, if you want it done properly, you should use a drysuit cement that will un-glue when heat is applied. This makes it easier to correct mistakes you make at the time of application (you would apply heat and re-do it) and then it makes it easier to apply new seals when you need to remove the old ones. For proper drysuit glue, the only readily available ones I've come across are PB-300 from OS Systems in Oregon or Dive Right In Scuba in Illinois. I personally prefer Dive Right In Scuba.

Aquaseal along the edge is a great idea when you have suspicions that there might be "channels" or wrinkles that were created when you glued the seals on. Many times there will be a seam right at the location of where you're applying the new seals. The seam interferes w. the perfectly flat application of the seal. This is a great place to use the Aquaseal trick. However, you usually know that there's a potential for a channeled leak at the seam or that you've screwed up and that's what prompts the Aquaseal trick. Otherwise, I've found that a perfectly flat glue job does not need any Aquaseal. Aquaseal is messy to work with and will interfere w. your next seal replacement, so I'd avoid it if I can.

I know you've already fixed your seals, but just adding this for future knowledge.

 

[divad]

There are tons of good adhesives that *will* work; many contact cements. Like spectrum mentioned, DAP Weldwood works great (don't use the non-flammable type; doesn't work as well). However, if you want it done properly, you should use a drysuit cement that will un-glue when heat is applied. This makes it easier to correct mistakes you make at the time of application (you would apply heat and re-do it) and then it makes it easier to apply new seals when you need to remove the old ones. For proper drysuit glue, the only readily available ones I've come across are PB-300 from OS Systems in Oregon or Dive Right In Scuba in Illinois.

Thanks. I think they're both made in Clifton NJ..............will definitely try the "other" one..