Seal Saver for Dry Suits

[garyw90]

It seems like I have seen some conflicting information on seal savers. For example, McNett makes a 1 1/4 oz bottle of seal saver juice. The PADI Dry Suit diver manual says

Don't use silicone spray or any other product with silicone on the seals or any other part of the suit. Silicone makes it almost impossible to replace the seals when it becomes necessry. Note that some "preservatives" have silicone and are not recommended by some manufacturers.​

On the other hand the old guys at my LDS had recommended this stuff when I bought my dry suit a year ago.

The McNett bottle says it contains silicone. My dry suit has latex seals on it, and I just got it back after replacing the neck seal on it for some small pinholes. I expected the seals to last longer than 1 year.

So should I use the seal saver, or not?

 

[Mitchell Teeters]

I've read some good stuff about the tribeolube seal saver, I have it on order with my new dry suit.

sent via nookcolor N2A.

 

[Jax]

It seems like I have seen some conflicting information on seal savers. For example, McNett makes a 1 1/4 oz bottle of seal saver juice. The PADI Dry Suit diver manual says

Don't use silicone spray or any other product with silicone on the seals or any other part of the suit. Silicone makes it almost impossible to replace the seals when it becomes necessry. Note that some "preservatives" have silicone and are not recommended by some manufacturers.​

On the other hand the old guys at my LDS had recommended this stuff when I bought my dry suit a year ago.

The McNett bottle says it contains silicone. My dry suit has latex seals on it, and I just got it back after replacing the neck seal on it for some small pinholes. I expected the seals to last longer than 1 year.

So should I use the seal saver, or not?

Had an S&R diver tell me he used it. Just don't get it off the seal.

When you replace the seals, go with the SiTech ring system. Then you won't have to worry about it any more.

 

[TSandM]

I use Seal Saver on my latex seals. I put it on the end of the seal that's in contact with my wrist, and it never gets anywhere near the suit. There have been no issues with seal replacement on my suits. And nowadays, as Jax says, I have the Sitech system, and it's not an issue.

 

[garyw90]

Thanks for the replies soo far.

The main thing I was hoping to get out of this thread is whether the seal saver is harmful to the seals, and I have not yet seen any clear answers to that part of the question. I was told that it is supposed to get rid of harmful chemicals such as diesel exhaust from dive boats.

I checked out the thread below for the SI Tech systems. This looks like something where I would need to have experience with changing out the seals myself. I am not opposed to that, given the proper instruction. I first thought the SI Tech system was like DUI's Zip Seals. I guess I don't know what is different about the SI Tech system.

 

[tc]

It won't harm the latex seals, it helps them. The question is if it will make it more difficult for them to put new seals on they next time they need to be replaced from the silicone soaking into the suit fabric.

Whites recommends its use, the seals on the whites suits are heat sealed onto the suit so it's less likely to cause a problem, other manufacturers that have glued on seals it may cause a problem, best bet is to check with the suit manufacturer and get their recommendation.

 

[boat sju]

Gary,

The McNett website makes a point of saying not to get the Sealsaver on the adjoining drysuit fabric. It's 100% silicone. I use the UV Tech instead, which was recommended by my LDS.

boat