Small rips at the top of a neoprene neck seal

[BlueTrin]

Hi, I seem to get small rips on the top of my neoprene neck seal about every year.

Usually I get the neoprene neck seal replaced. But I was wondering: could I just fix it with some black witch to get a bit more use of it and avoid sending the suit for repair for a while?

It seems that the santi neck seals are quite thin, they are comfortable but seem to rip more easily than the ones I had previously from Otter.

Does any of you repair them with black witch to get a bit more life out of them?

Thinking of getting one of these silicone ring systems so I can replace the seal myself: is there any drawback to them?

 

[L13]

Hi, I seem to get small rips on the top of my neoprene neck seal about every year.

Usually I get the neoprene neck seal replaced. But I was wondering: could I just fix it with some black witch to get a bit more use of it and avoid sending the suit for repair for a while?

It seems that the santi neck seals are quite thin, they are comfortable but seem to rip more easily than the ones I had previously from Otter.

Does any of you repair them with black witch to get a bit more life out of them?

Thinking of getting one of these silicone ring systems so I can replace the seal myself: is there any drawback to them?

I have never tried the neoprene seals, only ever dove the DUI zip silicone seals, so I can't compare them. However, the silicone seals have worked well for me. In about 150 dives, I have only had to replaced the seals once. I find them comfortable and robust, and easy to replace when needed.

I just ordered a SeaSkin suit with the Si-Tech neck seal system. I hope it works as good (or maybe even better).

 

[stuartv]

Thinking of getting one of these silicone ring systems so I can replace the seal myself: is there any drawback to them?

I have patched a couple of holes in one of my neoprene neck seals. I used Aquaseal and a couple of small circles of wetsuit repair patch material on the nylon side. I have no idea about repairing tears at the end. Do you think it might work to just trim the end of the seal back to just past the ends of any tears? I don't know about yours, but on my neo neck seals there is plenty of length in the seal that tucks in that I could lose probably an inch of length of the neck seal without it starting to leak. I think, anyway.

I have Si Tech Quick Neck systems in 2 of my drysuits. I especially like having that and using the Waterproof replaceable neoprene neck seal. If you like neo neck seals, it is a great way to go. I really like neo neck seals myself.

Potential downsides:

- if your head is too big to fit comfortably through the neck ring. I wear a size XL motorcycle helmet and my head fits, but if my head were much bigger, I'm not sure it would.

- if you are particularly narrow of shoulder, your BCD shoulder straps might run across the neck ring. Some people say that is uncomfortable for them.

- if you are particularly thin, front to back, that can make the neck ring bend so sharply as it runs up your chest, over your shoulders, and down the other side, that it causes the spline ring that holds the neck seal in place to pop out of its channel, resulting in a leak at the neck ring.

These are all the reasons that women often have trouble with the Quick Neck system.

If you are reasonably close to average in size, I can't really think of any drawbacks.

 

[Dsix36]

I have actually cut 2 "pie" shapes out of each side of a neoprene neck seal and glued it back together to make the seal smaller. Worked perfect for several years. I used McNett Seal Cement only on the ends to glue it back together.

 

[BlueTrin]

I have actually cut 2 "pie" shapes out of each side of a neoprene neck seal and glued it back together to make the seal smaller. Worked perfect for several years. I used McNett Seal Cement only on the ends to glue it back together.

Oh wow that’s interesting.

Some people buy this bioseal for when the neoprene neck gets too loose.

I never managed to make the santi one last more than a bit more than 100 dives tbh.

I fixed it with some black witch, will try it in a quarry to see if it seals.