Leaky DS zipper quick fix?

[Gunpowderboy]

We just discovered that my wife's DS zipper is leaking the last 5cm (2 inches) on her shoulder. The zipper closes from shoulder to hip and she can get into it without opening the last few cm (no she doesn't normally do this. The suit was bought used and I believe the zipper was bad from the start).

How bad of an idea is it to just aquaseal the last bit of the zipper on the outside and inside until we can replace it?

Thoughts, comments?

 

[dave4868]

I never Aquasealed a leaky zipper, but I think it would work and not create any problem for the future replacement.

My preferred solution was to place a towel and sheet of plastic under the leak and just change the towel between dives. It was probably leaking about 400cc an hour. I think I did that for over a year before finally getting around to replacing the zipper. Worked fine.

Dave C

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Drysuit zipper replacement can be pricey. Stop-gap measures include several variations of what dave4868 has suggested (deal with incoming water by absorbing it with something) and creative uses of duct tape, Aqua-seal, etc.

In the end, the best solution is to simply replace the drysuit zipper. The sooner you do it, the better. Why subject your wife to semi-dry dives? You've already made the investment in a drysuit, so it should be a no-brainer to do the mandatory maintenance on it.

 

[jqjcn]

relace the zipper.it is easy

 

[Peter_C]

I won't use the term easy, but zipper replacement is not overly hard. They can be had for around $120 and are offered in a couple different brands. Tizip, YKK, and the guy above has another brand offered. There are some good threads covering replacement and some simple logic fills in any gaps.

Paying someone to do a zipper replacement is expensive.