Replacing front entry Zipper- Plastic or Brass?

[DivingRhino]

Hello! I'm replacing my Diving Concepts metal front entry zipper that failed at the shoulder.

What recommendations does anyone have for the best replacement zipper? I'm looking for durability. I want something that's not going to fail for as long as possible, but also be usable (front entry, heavy duty may not be flexible enough?) Price isn't a huge factor since I'm saving so much doing it myself.

So, plastic? Brass? Regular or heavy duty?

Best Brands?

Recommendations for reliable sources online?

Again, this is a front entry zipper measuring 31 3/4" teeth to teeth, and 33 1/4" outer edge of stopper to outer edge of stopper. The opening on the drysuit appears to be 33 5/8" (as measured glue mark to glue mark on the zipper.) (Image Attached)

Thank You!

 

[runsongas]

ykk either way you go

 

[Dark Wolf]

I just got my Diving Concepts suit back from having a new zipper put in last month. I went with regular/brass on mine. I have never used a plastic one, so can't comment on them.

ETA-I considered doing mine myself. But I don't have an industrial machine, and didn't really want to hand stitch it. So, I sent mine off. Looking forward to following your progress.

DW

 

[DivingRhino]

I just got my Diving Concepts suit back from having a new zipper put in last month. I went with regular/brass on mine. I have never used a plastic one, so can't comment on them.

ETA-I considered doing mine myself. But I don't have an industrial machine, and didn't really want to hand stitch it. So, I sent mine off. Looking forward to following your progress.

DW

Mine did not appear to be stitched. This is a 15ish year old suit I think.

 

[Dark Wolf]

Mine did not appear to be stitched. This is a 15ish year old suit I think.

The shop I sent mine to glue in the new zipper, double stitch it, and then seal the stitching. That was the deciding factor for me. I don't think twice about putting new seals in myself, but I decided against doing the zipper.

DW

 

[DivingRhino]

Just to follow up and for other people...

Based on the measurements in my first post, I think I'll be doing a 32" YKK standard metal zipper.

My dive shop said it's a toss up... the plastic didn't seem as rugged in what I read, given the stress the front zipper appears to be taking at the shoulder, I am going metal. And, it's what was in there to start with, so it's not "wrong."

Removal wasn't too bad. It was not stitched. Used a heat gun, and for lack of any info anywhere on temperature I when with 280-350 degrees F for the heat gun temp (my gun has a digital indicator of the setting.) Seemed to work without damaging anything. This may be too hot... some people said to just use a hair dryer. Again, didn't find much info on temp.

I'll now be contacting - Scuba Gear - Diving Equipment a site I found with YKK zippers to confirm sizing.

Again, just posting all this for the next guy.

Note, the suit is neoprene. Most videos I found on how to do this were for other than neoprene suits... rubber, etc.

 

[EireDiver606]

Doesn't matter if its brass or plastic as long as its ykk and you lube and wash your zip every now and then.

Stay away from t zip.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

The new T Zips are perfect. There were multiple failures with the old ones. I had new plastic T Zips installed on two suits from Superior Diving Repair and they have been leak-free and much easier to zip than brass zippers. I've had at least ten brass zippers fail in the past twenty years.

Check out this post from DRIS.

 

[Curious_George]

Good idea to replace yourself. Zippers are easy to replace on neoprene suits. Clean all the old adhesive off on the inside of the suit with a dremel sanding drum. No need to remove the aquaseal lip where the old one was sealed as long as the new zip is the same width. Multiple layers of contact adhesive (I use wood weld) following standard instructions. Attach carefully, and roll everything very firmly. Seal well with aquaseal on the inside. I can give you some more detailed instructions if you want. Toughest part is not making a mess with the aquaseal. Sewn in zips on trilaminate are a bit more difficult.

 

[DivingRhino]

The new T Zips are perfect. There were multiple failures with the old ones. I had new plastic T Zips installed on two suits from Superior Diving Repair and they have been leak-free and much easier to zip than brass zippers. I've had at least ten brass zippers fail in the past twenty years.

Check out this post from DRIS.

Are any of your plastic zippers front zip?