Drysuit zipper leaking

[Robert Phillips]

I had a DUI Vector bi-laminate that was given to me (I think it was from the late 80's) and I found one hole in it that I patched and then took it diving. I was soaking wet on my chest after an hour dive. At first I thought it was the exhaust valve so I took it in the pool without purging the excess air and saw bubbles coming from the top of the zipper area. I had cleaned and waxed the zipper and checked the teeth but did not check the material. It had the same degradation as yours does, just in a different location.

What I am circuitously getting to is that I have no idea if it was age or lack of care that caused the zipper to fail, but there is evidence that it was not the first zipper in the suit and I have no idea what type of maintenance was done on the suit if any.
Zippers fail after a few years. I have a TLS 350se that needed a zipper replacement after 11 months (just before the warranty expiration, luckily.)

Good luck,
Robb

 

[Robert Phillips]

Not to hijack the thread, but how does one properly clean a drysuit zipper?

Tanks

Jim

I used an old toothbrush and a diluted dishsoap solution. There are zipper cleaning solutions that you can buy, but why?

 

[MarkH]

This zipper problem is common. I wonder if drysuit manufacturers consider repairs (post-warranty) to be a significant part of their profit margin? I think any suit over $1000 should have a heavy-duty zipper. It's strange that very few do for such a common failure point.