Silicone on latex seals

[buff]

I just read in a dry suit book-written by DUI-that you SHOULDN'T use silcone on your latex seals. The authors claim that it damages your suit and makes it difficult or impossible to apply new seals once silicone is on the suit.

I told this to my LDS and they said "Youpve read that dry suit book by the owners of DUI-right?" They said they have never had a problem with applying silicone to a suit and putting on new seals.

So what it is the correct thing to do? Silicone or no silicone?

 

[trymixdiver]

I heard the same thing. Only i read mine in a book other than yours. No silicone on latex. Personnally, i like the viking powder aon all my latex ( well not all seals. I have had great luck with it so far, infact Viking says not to use silicone on the latex as well.

Be nice to know why

Andy

 

[VTWarrenG]

Silicone oil dissolves plastics and rubber. It makes them all shiny and purdy, but it actually ruins them over time. Don't use silicone products on anything you like -- your car, your drysuit, or your wife, for example. If your wife is not made out of rubber, it might ok, though.

I recommend Vinylex and Aerospace 303 for plastic protection. Neither are silicone based, neither are greasy, and neither damage plastic or rubber.

- Warren

 

[buff]

Silicone is recommeded on my Sea and Sea O rings to keep them from drying and cracking and the O rings are made of a carbon based material-perhaps silicone.

So why can't you put silicone spray or gease on latex seals?

 

[Arduous]

KY jelly works great on Latex seals. It will not damage your suit and lets you slide into your seals with ease. But I hate to go into a store and ask for it, You get that look you know …………

Dive Safe ......................Arduous

 

[VTWarrenG]

Arduous...

Especially when you carefully explain to the checkout girl that you're "just using it to lubricate your latex seals so they can fit over your enormous head."



- Warren

 

[randyjoy]

OK, an NDR K-Y story...

When I was a Paramedic Instructor, the class was getting ready to learn naso-gastric tube insertion. Back in the old days, before manikins and indigent patients, the students actually had to insert the tubes down their partner's nose. We used the smallest tube possible with lots of lubrication, but still no fun. Well, we were out of K-Y. So, another instructor and I go to the grocery store, and get one tube per group.

We're at the check out: 2 guys with 12 tubes of K-Y. Not being able to resist, I ask the teenaged checkout girl, "Bet you can't guess what we're gonna do..."

She told us she didn't even want to know and turned a little pale. Guess telling her we were going to shove rubber hoses down people's noses would have really gotten her!

 

[Bob3]

A lot of the sucess of a glue joint will depend on surface prep & the type of glue.
The type of suit you have will determine if you can get away with silicone or not. Nylon laminates will soak up the silicone, making a contact-type cement less likely to bite. It has little effect on vulcanized and neoprene.
I did a test on the Viking Xtreme where I soaked both fabric and seals in food grade silicone overnight & was able to get a frogbutt tight glue joint, testing it to the point of destruction.
The seal material tore before the glue let go, which is better than some mfgr's suits when they're brand new.
Don't use aerosol silicone or any kind of automobile products on dive gear.

 

[buff]

DUI says just what Bob3 said "It's difficult to reglue new seals on a suit after silicone has been applied" This maybe true.

silicone doesn't get underneath the seal-you spray it on top of the existing seal. When you change seals you remove the old and expose the area of suit that has never been exposed to silicone-cause there was a seal on it before.

It doesn't make any sense. And as Bob3 has said it's all in the surface prep and application of glue. Silicone may make glueing more difficult but the area of the suit that will have glue on it will not have any silicone on it since it was covered to begin with.

It doesn't make any sense.

I think it's an excuse for sloppy dry suit repair work. So repairer can say "Oh, you used silicone that's why it didn't work"

 

[rcontrera]

OK ... here's the straight skinny on silicone use for seals (Ray's deviate on OS Systems first law).

Pure silicone is an excellent preservative for rubber products. It will work great on your seals and any rubber items that you own in that it seals the surface pores against air (and the rubber eating ozone in the air).

Now, that said, it is very hard to find pure silicone. Most sprays or oils use a carrier or thinner that CAN damage rubber. For example, WD-40 is a silicone product, but has kerosene as a carrier so it dissolves rubber. Many (not all) of the dive industry spray silicones are a food grade (which is safe on your latex) but doesn't use a food grade carrier.

I have been recommending using silicone grease/gel for years. It is cheap, easy to carry and isn't thinned down with anything.

The next best product is silicone oil. However, the only distributor in the diving industry of the stuff seems to be constantly thinning it down (to make more profit, I assume) so I moved it from first place to second.

There are also several silicone pump sprays that use a water carrier. It takes a lot more to do the trick (messy) but it works OK.

The most important thing you can do for your seals before applying silicone is to wash with soap and water. Applying silicone over a contaminated seal can actually accelerate the decomposition of the rubber.

Now, the biggest reason that other manufacturers say NO to silicone is that their glues are softened by the stuff. Additionally, it takes a bit more effort to clean up a repair site on suits that use silicone and some companies just aren't going to spend the extra time.

Now, all THAT said, it is best to use what your suit manufacturer recommends and ignore the rest of us.

Just my $.02

Ray Contreras
OS Systems Drysuits