Drysuit zippers: care, problems, life span

[knowone]

You cut or arrest the thread fray not the rubber.

An arrest in time adds life

Perhaps there is a higher end or Mk2 zipper where the machine as it embeds the teeth into the rubber and also cuts the edge at the same time has a heated cutting wheel.

In order to uncomplicate my previuos post, the internal thread or fabric is polyester(nylon or plastic) comprising multiple miniscule strands within one thread.
Running a lighter along for a few inches at a time at the correct speed then smoothing with a finger may be suggested against because for some there is a fine line between sealing and incineration.

Yes stick with the suits you love as it is the manufacturer, YKK owns most these days and I have been using their product for decades in clothing manufacture and my mother for decades more and diving suits although I have a BDM on my dry which I think is now also owned, or the batch.

 

[FlyinV]

I was wondering if using something on that rubber edge would keep it from fraying.
Something like McNett Zip Care or a very thin coating of silicon?

Just something to keep is slippery so the zipper body just slides over.

I very lightly put some aquaseal over my major fray area where it actually frayed down into the rubber and almost into the interior teeth. 4 dives on it so far and it appears to have stabilized that area. I am hoping to get another month of diving then off to the repair center.

 

[beekeeper5]

I very lightly put some aquaseal over my major fray area where it actually frayed down into the rubber and almost into the interior teeth. 4 dives on it so far and it appears to have stabilized that area. I am hoping to get another month of diving then off to the repair center.

That's what I also did too but it actually made it worse. Regardless, I was able to get about a month of diving. My drysuit (Bare trilam) is now at Bare. I'm trying to get the new TIZip installed on it. What drysuit do you have?

 

[fstbttms]

Run some marine rubber compound along the edges with your finger before fraying becomes obvious because it is already there because a thread reinforced rubber sheet has been cut leaving the thread exposed.

Product name, if you please.

 

[FishDiver]

My husband got about 350 dives off his Bare drysuit before the zipper developed a leak, and it wasn't from damage to the teeth. The fabric of the zipper along the teeth frayed and leaked.

I am having the identical experience. Did the replacement zipper last any longer?

 

[FlyinV]

beekeeper5 - I also have a Bare Trilam, about a year old, always cleaned and waxed.
Awesome suit ... Zipper I wish it was up to the same standard.

Maybe the next zipper will be better

 

[beekeeper5]

beekeeper5 - I also have a Bare Trilam, about a year old, always cleaned and waxed.
Awesome suit ... Zipper I wish it was up to the same standard.

Maybe the next zipper will be better

I talked to the Customer Service at Bare asking about installing the plastic TIZIP on my drysuit. She said that the Bare Trilam 2011 model *MAY* have the plastic TIZIP just like the entry level Bare Nexgens. She didn't sound too confident though.

Anyway, they left me a voicemail stating that they only have BDM zippers for the Trilam. I'm trying to see if I can get the TIZIP zipper from somewhere and have them install it. Hmm..?

I don't understand why the DUI BDM zippers are better built than the Bare BDM zippers in terms of less fraying. They come from the same zipper manufacturer.

 

[fstbttms]

I have a Mares Isotherm semi-dry suit with the TIZip. I am always afraid that I am going to bust it open while in the suit. It is dry but just does not seem particularly robust. Further, it has "gapped" on me several times while zipping up. This is realtively easy to remedy (although it means doffing the suit) but it does not instill confidence. I much prefer the heavy-duty, metal BDM zippers in my Harvey's and Bare neoprene drysuits and custom Otter Bay wetsuits.

 

[divingsteve]

I talked with the owner of the dive shop this weekend and he told me Bare has an option when you buy the suit to install a Heavy Duty Zipper, for more money of course, it's still a BDM but Heavy Duty. I wonder if DUI uses the Heavy Duty in all there suits and that's why it's better? Does anyone have that answer?

The owner also said they are going out to DEMA and will bring this up with Bare, so I will let you know what they have to say after that.

 

[beekeeper5]

I talked with the owner of the dive shop this weekend and he told me Bare has an option when you buy the suit to install a Heavy Duty Zipper, for more money of course, it's still a BDM but Heavy Duty. I wonder if DUI uses the Heavy Duty in all there suits and that's why it's better? Does anyone have that answer?

The owner also said they are going out to DEMA and will bring this up with Bare, so I will let you know what they have to say after that.

I talked to Bare and they said it is a BDM zipper. As for being "Heavy Duty", they said you don't need one in a front entry suit. The normal BDM zipper is good enough. However, I don't think it's good enough since the Bare zipper is more prone to fraying than the DUI zipper.