Drysuit zipper repair

[CWMurf]

Two teeth in my drysuit zipper are loose. The part of the zipper that holds the teeth seems to be dammaged. The zipper does not leak and can still be opened and closed but sometimes becomes jambed at one of those points. Does anyone have any ideas on how to repair these spots so I can keep diving until I can afford to replace it?

Thanks,

Murf

 

[CustomTech]

I have never found a good way to do that. Bad teeth on a zipper can be a problem to repair. If it was either at the begining or end of the zipper. you could stitch it closed and then Aqua seal it. Maybe someone has a better idea. I would like to hear it also.
Allen

 

[Shadow]

If your zipper fails at depth, you have a big problem. Hopefully, either you have 80 lbs lift in your wing, or you are diving in a location and have sufficient air to crawl along the bottom and up the shoreline to the surface!

 

[Shadow]

I recently heard from a drysuit manufacturer that people should apply silicone to the material in which the zipper teeth are embedded. This is supposed to help prevent that rubber-like material from drying out, and thus prevent the teeth from falling out. It probably won't help if your teeth are already loose, but it may slow the deterioration, and help preserve other teeth.

I've had my suit for four years, and have never heard about applying silicone. It wasn't mentioned in the PADI drysuit course, the PADI drysuit manual, or the drysuit's owner's manual.

Anyone else ever heard of applying silicone to the zipper material?

 

[Diver0001]

Two teeth in my drysuit zipper are loose. The part of the zipper that holds the teeth seems to be dammaged. The zipper does not leak and can still be opened and closed but sometimes becomes jambed at one of those points. Does anyone have any ideas on how to repair these spots so I can keep diving until I can afford to replace it?

Thanks,

Murf

The zipper is screwed and there's nothing you can do to repair it. All you can do is be careful with it and delay replacing it. I wouldn't worry about it coming open at depth but it will eventually start to leak and there will come a day when you can't get it closed before the dive. Keep a pair of needle nose pliers handy.

R..

 

[Diver0001]

I recently heard from a drysuit manufacturer that people should apply silicone to the material in which the zipper teeth are embedded. This is supposed to help prevent that rubber-like material from drying out, and thus prevent the teeth from falling out. It probably won't help if your teeth are already loose, but it may slow the deterioration, and help preserve other teeth.

I've had my suit for four years, and have never heard about applying silicone. It wasn't mentioned in the PADI drysuit course, the PADI drysuit manual, or the drysuit's owner's manual.

Anyone else ever heard of applying silicone to the zipper material?

You need to keep them lubricated there are several kinds of "goop" and wax that will do the job. I use bee's wax on mine and it works pretty well as long as you do it religiously.

R..

 

[CWMurf]

Thanks to everyone who posted. I was able to make the repair. I pulled the loose tooth out at an angle and used a matchstick to place a dab of aquaseal underneath it and between it and the tooth next to it. Then I took needlenose and poped the tooth back into the rubber socket, cleaned and aligned it, and let it set up. Works smoothly now.

With a little care and caution when opening and closing, it should keep me dry and toasty until I can buy a whole new zipper.

 

[Bob3]

I use silicone on my Unisuits, it never seemed to bother any repair/glue jobs. I wouldn't use it on a laminated suit though.
Flooding a suit at depth isn't a problem; we made a video of doing just that, unzipped the whole zipper & were able to swim it up w/o using a BC as an "elevator".
Crawling up the ladder was a tad clumsy though.
When it comes time to replace the zipper you might want to consider a HD (heavy duty) zipper, their teeth are actually riveted in place.

 

[CWMurf]

When it comes time to replace the zipper you might want to consider a HD (heavy duty) zipper, their teeth are actually riveted in place.

Will do, thanks!

 

[tedwhiteva]

I use silicone on my Unisuits, it never seemed to bother any repair/glue jobs. I wouldn't use it on a laminated suit though.
Flooding a suit at depth isn't a problem; we made a video of doing just that, unzipped the whole zipper & were able to swim it up w/o using a BC as an "elevator".
Crawling up the ladder was a tad clumsy though.
When it comes time to replace the zipper you might want to consider a HD (heavy duty) zipper, their teeth are actually riveted in place.

I agree with Bob - leaking at depth isn't the problem - other than suddenly being in a wet suit rather than a dry suit. Its the getting out of the water thats the problem - have also seen a newbie make an entire dive with the inside (main) zipper open. wasn't an issue until he became michelin man trying to get out. The bottom line is - your gonna have to replace the zipper eventually, and it ain't cheap.