Neck seal degrading.

[Skookumchuck]

The latex neck seal on my suit has become soft and sticky. Just the top half inch and with no gradual deterioration. I pulled it out of the bag on Saturday and the seal was stuck to itself. I rinse it after every dive and use Seal-Saver before every dive, except this one. I hang it upside down to store it and I'm very carefull that it doesn't contact sunscreen or bug repellant or the like. Anyone have any experience like this?

 

[Hawkwood]

Wow, that's interesting to say the least. I went to wax my zipper after a day out diving yesterday and noticed a large area on the neck seal that was soft and sticky - stuff was stuck to it. The rest of the seal was cracked, all around the sticky area. I was diving the previous day and I swear it was not there at that time.

I lubricate often with Seal Saver as well. I'd be interested in hearing what folks say. If I didn't know any better, I say some type of solvent got in there - nothing else seems affected and my son's suit is fine.

 

[jiveturkey]

How old is the seal? Your skin produces lots of oils and they get absorbed by the latex and cause it to deteriorate. You have to replace these seals every so often. You seals will get soft and sticky at some point, no matter how well you take care of them. It's time to change the seal.

 

[crpntr133]

Yep, mine did the same thing this year. Time to replace. I did read where using the talc that comes with the suit will also help absorb the oils so the seal doesn't.

 

[TSandM]

I go through a latex neck seal in about 70 dives, and as it fails, those are the symptoms. Next it begins to leak, and then it tears. This is why I have neoprene seals on my suits now.

 

[eelpout]

Dear Skookumchuck,

It sound like your neck seals are just aging with time. Hopefull you have owned the suit longer than a year.

Based on 25 years of diving with a latex neck seal, I average 16 months pers neck seal. It has gotten better in the last few years since I have DUI Zip Seals.
A couple of things that can affect the seals.

1. How long do you wait to wash the seals? The longer you wait, the longer your body oils have to act on the latex seals.

2. What do you wash it with? If youo just rinse it that won;t take the oils off. If you use a detergent that is not designed for latex, you will accelerate the deterioration of the seal. If you then put seal saver over that, it will preserve the chemical that is deteriorating the latex.
3. Where do you hang it to dry? Any area that has chemical vapors (garage) , Ozone (electrical appliances) will speed up the deterioration of the latex too.

With the DUI Zip seals, I can remove the seals, washe them in Mcnett wetsuit shampoo, rinse it , dry it, seal with Mcnett seal saver, and then store it in a zip lock bag that goed into the drysuit bag zipped and stored in my diving locker.

Feel free to PM me if you have questions.
Jim

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I have averaged 4-5 years per neck seal over 15 years of dry suit diving - with about 100 dives per year on average - less dives per year for the last year or two.

I take the suit off, let it dry and powder seals with talc. That's it, no washing, rinsing etc.

I also do not generally use insect repellent or sun tan lotion on my neck.

I have had one seal do what you describe and it did it in the same really rapid manner. Obviously some unknown substance got on it. My other seasl just loose some of their stretch and begin to leak as they get too old.

 

[crpntr133]

So which is better to replace it with? One of the "bellow" type or the straight cone?

 

[Skookumchuck]

Thanks to all. The seal is just over a year old and has just over 100 dives. I guess its time to replace it. Maybe when I'm in Bonaire in October as I don't think I'll need it there.

 

[Rainer]

Mine's also on the way out. I think I managed closer to 200+ dives on it this time, so not too bad. I'll probably go neo to see what all the fuss is about.