Fusion SLT (Si-Tech) cuff ring issue

[Aqua-Andy]

Since purchasing my Fusion I have had a hard time getting my arms in the sleeves far enough. I always had a hard time getting the undergarment to not ride up on my arm and cause a cold spot on my wrist and also the cuff ring would end up around my palm and I could not get it to go further up (just try to attach or remove a stage bottle with a big ring around the palm of your hand.). I never had a problem with my Bare suit with these same cuffs so I figured the sleeves on the fusion were too long. So last night I pulled the wrist seals out of the cuffs to see if there was an easy way to shorten the sleeves and this is what I found.

If you look at the picture the inside of the ring is all puckered making the hole smaller than it should be. If you flip the cuff ring inside out you will find the ring sits right and is not puckered .

What I think happens is when Whites builds the suit they have the whole suit inside out when they sew on the cuff rings. When you turn the suit back the right way this happens because now the suit is on the inside and it pulls the ring in. I figured what the hay and hacked up the suit to try and fix this problem. These is the after pictures.


I put the suit on with my heaviest undergarments, SubX and the rings sit on my wrists mow and I actually have better mobility due to I'm not stretching the sleeves to far. I have not put the velcro back on yet because the old velcro was about an inch to short and I have to pick some up tonight. This project took about an hour to complete after the velcro is reinstalled I will have less than two hours into it. If anyone wants to try this mod I can post a step by step with pictures.

 

[Peter_C]

A couple other tricks that might help if I may. Sailkote was recommended on here for the older black lined suits to make them slicker, but guess what? It works great on the grey lining too. Approved by the manufacturer too.

I am very familiar with the cold wrist syndrome and one of my first cold water dives with my suit I immediately got back out of the water thinking there was a leak at my dry glove. The solution I have found it to pull my thumb loop really hard thru the cuff until I feel my undergarment is in the correct place. Then push the thumb loop back into the wrist ring until just a tiny bit is exposed to allow air flow into the glove. This will destroy the thumb loop fairly quickly but it is easy enough to sew a replacement in.

I just installed the Anteras/oval ring system onto my suit and slightly shortened the sleeves. First I put the rings into the suit, then carefully put the suit on and saw just how much material to remove. I wanted to cut off the sewn part anyway and just took about another 1/4" for a total of about 5/8". After installation with the wrist seals in place my suit seems to sit about perfect, not too short and not too long. Instead of sewing the cuffs back in (Neither one of my sewing machines can do cuffs), I just used Aquaseal so I will have to see how it holds up long term. Appears to have made a good bond, and there wasn't any bunching.

Curious how you plan to reattach the 1/2" velcro?

Also I am not clear on what your actual fix was? Did you take the sleeve off and completely redo it? Or did you just redo the tape?

FWIW If you have time you can get 1/2" velcro from Ebay for $5.00 and gives you three times more material than what your local fabric store will probably offer for $3.99 + tax.
Black Sew on Velcro Hook Loop Tape Roll 1 2" x 10 Feet Free US Shipping | eBay

 

[Aqua-Andy]

Peter, Yes I totally removed the rings and installed the rings with the suit on the outside of the ring and used the heat tape from DRIS. I was using the thumb loop trick you talked about but I kept tearing them off and it was still a fight to get the undergarment far enough down into the cuff. Thanks for the link. I could not believe how easy this repair/mod was. I'm planning to use Woodweld contact cement to hold the Velcro, unless someone comes up with a better solution. This is a before picture of the outside

 

[Peter_C]

Okay so the suit was sewn onto the inside of the ring? Weird. I folded my ring, inserted it into the sleeve and it expanded perfectly into the inside of the suit. Didn't know I did it wrong...errr right. Gluing the rings in was a pain, but I felt it was the strongest alternative to sewing.

I ordered the velcro and it hadn't arrived by my trip, so went without it. I still need to attach it, which is why I was asking what you planned to use. I agree either a thinned contact cement with MEK (I use PB300), or a thinned Aquaseal with Cotol 240. Either should work. I wouldn't bother with the stick on velcro stuff as it won't hold.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

Ya, I also thought it was weird they sewed the sleeve to the inside. The problem I was having was not that it was hard to slide my arm through the sleeve, it was that the hole in the cuff ring was to small due to the puckering of the ring for the undergarment to pass through. Now that I installed the rings like you did "on the outside of the ring" it slides right on with no problem. I has some of the heat tape so I thought I would give it a try, it seams pretty tough and that id what DRIS uses to do the installs, only time will tell if it will be an issue.

 

[TSandM]

Please do! I have thought the sleeves on my Fusion were too long from the beginning. I'll have to look at my suits when I get home and see if they match your photographs.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

A couple other tricks that might help if I may. Sailkote was recommended on here for the older black lined suits to make them slicker, but guess what? It works great on the grey lining too. Approved by the manufacturer too.

I am very familiar with the cold wrist syndrome and one of my first cold water dives with my suit I immediately got back out of the water thinking there was a leak at my dry glove. The solution I have found it to pull my thumb loop really hard thru the cuff until I feel my undergarment is in the correct place. Then push the thumb loop back into the wrist ring until just a tiny bit is exposed to allow air flow into the glove. This will destroy the thumb loop fairly quickly but it is easy enough to sew a replacement in.

I just installed the Anteras/oval ring system onto my suit and slightly shortened the sleeves. First I put the rings into the suit, then carefully put the suit on and saw just how much material to remove. I wanted to cut off the sewn part anyway and just took about another 1/4" for a total of about 5/8". After installation with the wrist seals in place my suit seems to sit about perfect, not too short and not too long. Instead of sewing the cuffs back in (Neither one of my sewing machines can do cuffs), I just used Aquaseal so I will have to see how it holds up long term. Appears to have made a good bond, and there wasn't any bunching.

Curious how you plan to reattach the 1/2" velcro?

Also I am not clear on what your actual fix was? Did you take the sleeve off and completely redo it? Or did you just redo the tape?

FWIW If you have time you can get 1/2" velcro from Ebay for $5.00 and gives you three times more material than what your local fabric store will probably offer for $3.99 + tax.
Black Sew on Velcro Hook Loop Tape Roll 1 2" x 10 Feet Free US Shipping | eBay

I installed the Velcro the other day using the WoodWeld glue, Peter, Aquaseal never even crossed my mind as I am unsure how to remove it. Once Aquaseal is on can it be removed, and if so how? I guess I'm just paranoid about this stuff.

 

[Peter_C]

Aquaseal is tough stuff. It can be cut off, sanded off, and ripped off. It is more impervious to chemicals than contact adhesive, but with a heavy soak does soften. With a lot of chemicals and rubbing it does come off. Use it when looking for a more permanent solution, or as a thin sealing barrier after using contact adhesive. Like when installing a glued on wrist or neck seal, put a thin bead around the inside edge. The contact adhesive will not always seal our water 100%. Heat tape also works in Aquaseal's place.

When I mounted my oval rings I wanted them on there permanently. They will remain in place until my suit wears out, and then I will decide if they are still serviceable and worth removing. If my suit gets sold they will remain with the suit and the new owner will just have to like using silicon wrist seals or else...

I still haven't glued my velcro on yet, but need to do so soon as conditions are showing 2-3' for Friday which is exceptional for around here. Haven't decided what I am going to use yet.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

Aquaseal is tough stuff. It can be cut off, sanded off, and ripped off. It is more impervious to chemicals than contact adhesive, but with a heavy soak does soften. With a lot of chemicals and rubbing it does come off. Use it when looking for a more permanent solution, or as a thin sealing barrier after using contact adhesive. Like when installing a glued on wrist or neck seal, put a thin bead around the inside edge. The contact adhesive will not always seal our water 100%. Heat tape also works in Aquaseal's place.

When I mounted my oval rings I wanted them on there permanently. They will remain in place until my suit wears out, and then I will decide if they are still serviceable and worth removing. If my suit gets sold they will remain with the suit and the new owner will just have to like using silicon wrist seals or else...

I still haven't glued my velcro on yet, but need to do so soon as conditions are showing 2-3' for Friday which is exceptional for around here. Haven't decided what I am going to use yet.

Thanks for the info, I guess this is why I chose the heat tape.

---------- Post added January 16th, 2013 at 02:36 PM ----------

Peter, With the glowing reviews the Sailkote gets I ordered myself up a can to try out. What I was wondering is do you wash down the inside of the bag first or just spray it on?

 

[TravisD]

FYI, I got my new suit yesterday and of course since I can't get in the water right now, I figured I might as well figure out how it works. After finally figuring out how to pop the seal rings out, I checked any my suit (factory installed rings) seems to have the drycore attached to the *outside* of the permanent ring. There's some black seal tape on the inside, but looking under the velcro of the outer skin, it's clear to see that the fabric of the suit is on top/outside of the ring. There's no bunching like you showed looking thru the wrist.