Narrowing (cutting and gluing) of neoprene wrist seals

[Lovro]

Hi all,

I have a question regarding the neoprene seals on the neoprene dry suit.
Both me and my wife have Nemo neoprene dry suits with neoprene seals which aren't tight enough so we both get a huge leakage
I tried with bio-seals under but it doesn't help. The temporary solution is the use of electrical isolating tape over the seals, and it does the job perfectly. Of course, this is pretty anoying and not a permanent solution.

What I had in mind is cutting a small piece (triangle cut) and gluing it back together to decrease the circumference of the seals and making them tighter, but I never done it myself.

Has anyone here done such or similar thing to give me some advice, or your oppinions and/or suggestions about this?
I have McNett Aquasure glue, is it an appropriate glue for this job?

Thank you,

Any help appreciated!

Lovro

 

[Storker]

My LDS does this routinely with neoprene neck seals on the DSs they sell, to make them fit the customer. They use exactly the method you're thinking of and AFAIK they use Aquasure for the glue job (at least, that was what I used to fix a job I wasn't quite happy with...).

I'd be careful to make sure that the parts are perfectly aligned. You may want to put some neoprene tape on the outside of the seal. I don't have that on my neoprene neck seal, but AFAIU the wrist seals can get a little more abuse than the neck seal, so I'd at least consider it. If you really botch it up, you can always remove the neoprene seals and mount latex seals instead. They work fine, too, and there are a few tutorials on gluing on new seals out there on the 'net

I'm a little surprised, though, that you have an issue with the wrist seals. Do you have particularly narrow wrists?


EDIT: I see we're living in the same country. The LDS I'm talking about is one of the two in that large-ish city some 4-500km North of you In that case, fue.no in Oslo may be a source for both neoprene tape and some sage advice...

 

[Lovro]

My LDS does this routinely with neoprene neck seals on the DSs they sell, to make them fit the customer. They use exactly the method you're thinking of and AFAIK they use Aquasure for the glue job (at least, that was what I used to fix a job I wasn't quite happy with...).

I'd be careful to make sure that the parts are perfectly aligned. You may want to put some neoprene tape on the outside of the seal. I don't have that on my neoprene neck seal, but AFAIU the wrist seals can get a little more abuse than the neck seal, so I'd at least consider it. If you really botch it up, you can always remove the neoprene seals and mount latex seals instead. They work fine, too, and there are a few tutorials on gluing on new seals out there on the 'net

I'm a little surprised, though, that you have an issue with the wrist seals. Do you have particularly narrow wrists?

Takk for hjelpen!

The thing is I couldn't find any video, pictures, or written tutorial on cutting the neoprene seals specifically. Maybe you know of some?

An if I do a cut, should I do it along the vertical seal and all the way up to the horizontal (seal end) seam and should I do it in a form of triangle or rectangle? Too many questions
Both me and my wife have quite narrow wrists. I have 18cm and she 16cm in circumference

 

[Storker]

The thing is I couldn't find any video, pictures, or written tutorial on cutting the neoprene seals specifically. Maybe you know of some?

Not for neoprene seal adjustment. I've seen a few about fitting latex seals, though. The student club up here do that routinely themselves for their loan suits, so it's pretty straightforward. AFAIK you don't want to use Aquasure on that job (gluing the seal to the suit), since it would make it a mite difficult to change the seals the next time...

An if I do a cut, should I do it along the vertical seal and all the way up to the horizontal (seal end) seam and should I do it in a form of triangle or rectangle?

My neck seal had a triangular cut-out for the adjustment. I imagine it'd be difficult to get a good seam if you cut out a rectangle. It went from a few cm away from where it's glued into the suit, all the way out to the edge. After all, most wrist seals are conical anyway, and that way you only adjust the already conical profile.

BTW, I'd be careful to use a razor-sharp knife and make sure the cut surface is ninety degrees to the seal surface.

 

[Lovro]

Not for neoprene seal adjustment. I've seen a few about fitting latex seals, though. The student club up here do that routinely themselves for their loan suits, so it's pretty straightforward. AFAIK you don't want to use Aquasure on that job (gluing the seal to the suit), since it would make it a mite difficult to change the seals the next time...

Here in Bergen, in the student's diving clum I'm in everybody's using latex seals and can help me with that and almost no one even used neoprene
Is there any alternative to Aquasure, i know of Black Witch?

My neck seal had a triangular cut-out for the adjustment. I imagine it'd be difficult to get a good seam if you cut out a rectangle. It went from a few cm away from where it's glued into the suit, all the way out to the edge. After all, most wrist seals are conical anyway, and that way you only adjust the already conical profile.

BTW, I'd be careful to use a razor-sharp knife and make sure the cut surface is ninety degrees to the seal surface.

Do you mean that I should sew it and glue it on the cut or just glue? So, I should cut even above the seal/suit "border", cut into the suit (sleeve)?
And about this 90 degrees, you mean the triangle's "middle line", not the sides is 90 degrees to seal's surface?

Sorry for stupid and potentialy confusing questions!

 

[Diver0001]

The seals will take a lot of stretching and abuse with putting the suit on/off.

I've repaired the neck seal on my drysuit like this. A couple of things that are important:

1) any cut you make must be *absolutely* straight. Cut with a very very sharp knife and do it surgically.
2) I don't know what drysuit manufacturers use to make seals that are not sewn but you definitely do not have that kind of glue in your house. Neither does the dive shop. If you don't want to send it to the manufacturer for this adjustment then you're absolutely going to need to SEW the seal. Especially a seal like a neck or wrist that is going to be subject to a lot of stretching. If you're like me and all thumbs when it comes to sewing then don't be penny-wise/pound-foolish. Take it to a professional to get it sewn.
3) Then you can cover the stitches and the cut with Aquasure on both sides. Let it cure for several days. Put the Aquasure on like you're making fine art, not like you're trying to glue a pair of hiking boots back together in an emergency. The cleaner it looks, the better it will seal.

good luck.

R..

 

[Storker]

So, I should cut even above the seal/suit "border", cut into the suit (sleeve)?

I would NOT cut into the suit/seal joint. Even less the suit itself. I'd start the cut just a little away from the suit/seal joint.

And about this 90 degrees, you mean the triangle's "middle line", not the sides is 90 degrees to seal's surface?

I mean that the cut should go vertically through the seal material. That is, vertical when the seal material is lying on a horizontal surface.

Sorry for stupid and potentialy confusing questions!

No prob.

[video=youtube;x-rGhMQn9Ls]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-rGhMQn9Ls[/video]

any cut you make must be *absolutely* straight. Cut with a very very sharp knife and do it surgically.

Totally agree.

I don't know what drysuit manufacturers use to make seals that are not sewn but you definitely do not have that kind of glue in your house. Neither does the dive shop. If you don't want to send it to the manufacturer for this adjustment then you're absolutely going to need to SEW the seal. Especially a seal like a neck or wrist that is going to be subject to a lot of stretching. If you're like me and all thumbs when it comes to sewing then don't be penny-wise/pound-foolish. Take it to a professional to get it sewn.

Although I agree that sewing is best, I'm pretty convinced that my neoprene neck seal isn't sewed all the way. I think it only has a couple of stitches at the edge. And the part my LDS cut out and re-glued isn't sewn. It has held together since I got it as my first suit, although it doesn't see much use now since I got a nice, comfortably roomy trilam suit with space for real undergarments.

Problem is, I don't use my neo DS much these days, so I'm not 100% certain I remember the details correctly. I'll try to dig it out tonight and double-check. I might even take a couple of pictures with my phone

 

[Diver0001]

What I'm saying is that if you don't have the same kind of glue as the manufacturer, you'd better sew.

R..

 

[Storker]

OK, I've dug up my old/warm weather DS and checked the neck seal.

I was wrong about the manufacturer not sewing the whole of the join:



The LDS never sewed the join in his adjustment, but he used some kind of tape/band on the inside:



And I'm pretty certain he used Aquasure as glue. He told me as much when I was there to point out a hole in the seam, and since I had a tube of the stuff I'd rather fix the issue myself than have him do a quick job like he wanted to.

 

[Littlerayray]

My lds uses a blind stitch to sew any modifications as well as neoprene glue sold through titan he then depending on where the modification is will use neoprene tape and aqua seal and when he aqua seals it's put on smooth he did this to the torso of my drysuit I needed it longer in the torso by 6 inches he swears by the blind stitch since you don't fully pierce the neoprene