Drysuit YKK Proseal BDM zipper tiny leak - quick fix

[irsubmarine]

I have a snazzy drysuit that has been flooding the last few dives. Entry point seems to be the zipper bottom stop. I can feel a little water trickle in when I descend. At the end of the dive I have a few cups of water in my neoprene socks. This happened twice before when I didn’t properly close the zipper flush with the bottom stop. Since I was pretty sure I did close it properly during today’s dive, I wonder if the seams at the bottom stop have given a little way. I’ve attached some pics so you can see what I’m talking about.

In this first pic, where the arrows point, that area was previously fixed together. It has somehow loosened or ripped slightly apart.

Some more pics for angles.

I don’t have time to return the suit to the manufacturer for repairs as I’ll need it for the next 2 weeks for courses I’ll be doing. I’m looking to jury rig a quick fix. I’m having difficulty locating Aquasure here on Gozo. I will make one final attempt and visit as many dive centers as possible to find it. All I have is some Black Witch adhesive which is intended for neoprene and other rubber surfaces. Since the inside of the zip (the black bit in the middle of the photos) appear to be partly rubber, I wonder if I should just dab a bit of Black Witch on it. My theory is if it helps seal it a little, the leak might stop. Am I crazy for attempting this? What do you guys recommend for a quick fix?

Below the answer to my problems?

 

[kelemvor]

I'm curious to see what responses you get. I had a zipper fail in the exact same way a few years ago, and I had to forego the use of my drysuit until the manufacturer replaced the zipper. I could have had the replacement done third party but they're expensive and the suit was under bare's lifetime warranty...

 

[lexvil]

Try it, I suspect it won’t work but maybe it will. If it holds baby it in that area. Mine failed in the same bend stress area but rather than pull apart it at the end it started losing the seal area between the teeth.

 

[Alastor]

If you are in Gozo, go a try to Marsalforn - Atlantis Diving and ask for Brian (the owner), he has always something up his sleeve.
He can have suitable adhesive and patches.
In the worst case you can use Black Witch, if it does not adhere will cause no more harm.
Good luck

 

[irsubmarine]

If you are in Gozo, go a try to Marsalforn - Atlantis Diving and ask for Brian (the owner), he has always something up his sleeve.

Thanks for that, I ended up finding all the Aquasure adhesive I needed in Victoria. I'll be sure to try Atlantis next time I need more.

So quick update, I've dabbed Aquasure onto the top of the tear. Tried to saturate the entire part that separated. Holding it together with a cheap stationary clamp. I've tried to get rid of any excess adhesive. Will wait about 6 hours for it to cure a bit more.

I'm holding my breath. May the diving gods have mercy on my drysuit.

 

[Alastor]

Well done ! Happy diving !

 

[fmerkel]

Good try, good luck, but probably won't work. The sealing area is around the smooth rubber inside around the small brass nibs the other side of the big zipper teeth. Your obvious tear is inside of that. That probably is not the leak but is an indicator of the stresses the area has received. This is common on this style of suit/zipper.

It would have been useful to do a pressure test first to see where it was actually leaking.

Personal opinion - I never put aquaseal on anything I don't consider permanent. Good for some repairs, horrible for others. I see people recommend it for seal replacement all the time and just cringe. How do you get if off the next time you need a seal replacement?

 

[irsubmarine]

Good try, good luck, but probably won't work. The sealing area is around the smooth rubber inside around the small brass nibs the other side of the big zipper teeth. Your obvious tear is inside of that. That probably is not the leak but is an indicator of the stresses the area has received. This is common on this style of suit/zipper.

It would have been useful to do a pressure test first to see where it was actually leaking.

Personal opinion - I never put aquaseal on anything I don't consider permanent. Good for some repairs, horrible for others. I see people recommend it for seal replacement all the time and just cringe. How do you get if off the next time you need a seal replacement?

I suspect the rubber sealing parts are fine. When you close the zipper the bottom most part of the zipper itself (the part that faces the bottom stop) does not pull those rubber bits together by design, only the top part does. So I am assuming that that rubber fin like bit which I'm gluing acts as an additional water stop when water gets in-between the rubber bottom stop and the bottom part of the zipper when it is not completely flush. Here is a pic showing what I mean:

The reason I think this is the issue, is that in the past, I've not properly closed the suit. I left an approximately 1mm gap by accident between the bottom rubber stop and the zipper. That caused a slow trickle that felt exactly like the trickle I am feeling now. Hence, I suspect that bit I'm now gluing is the culprit.

On the other hand, I've not put the suit through any particularly heavy abuse. So I'm surprised the zipper would be so sensitive to these issues especially since I would also assume, like you mention, that wear and tear is common on those areas. I had the impression that these YKK Proseal zippers were good for a bit of rough and tumble.

Yea, I wish I had time for a pressure test. I'll have to switch to a freezing wetsuit in the worst case scenario. Either way, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks for the good luck, I'm going to need it haha.

 

[irsubmarine]

Quicky update: I did 2 dives today. Both dives were dry! Aquasure seems to have fixed this, for now. I'm a little paranoid donning the suit in case I rip the same area again so my buddy has to wait twice as long while I put the suit on. I'll do another update if the leak shows up again.

 

[Alastor]

Good for you !
Nice to know and I'll remember the successful fix.
Happy diving.