Whites Dry Seals Stitched??

[Rick Inman]

My LDS had a falling out with the DUI rep and booted DUI from the shop, so they're pushing the Whites now. Anyway, looks like nice suits for the price, except that the latex wrist and neck seals are actually stitched into the fabric of the suit. Huh??? How do you do a replacement? Do you have to send it in??? That would be bad. I asked my LDS and they said, "Gee wiz, good question."
Anyone know?

 

[wedivebc]

My LDS had a falling out with the DUI rep and booted DUI from the shop, so they're pushing the Whites now. Anyway, looks like nice suits for the price, except that the latex wrist and neck seals are actually stitched into the fabric of the suit. Huh??? How do you do a replacement? Do you have to send it in??? That would be bad. I asked my LDS and they said, "Gee wiz, good question."
Anyone know?

The instructions that come with the suit show you leaving a small amount of the old seal in place and gluing the replacement over top overlapping about 1" of the old seal. I have done that several times successfully but I have often wondered what if the seal had ripped at the seam.

 

[Rick Inman]

The instructions that come with the suit show you leaving a small amount of the old seal in place and gluing the replacement over top overlapping about 1" of the old seal. I have done that several times successfully but I have often wondered what if the seal had ripped at the seam.

Humm.... Otherwise, what do you think of the suit?

 

[diver_paula]

I love my White's drysuit. It has latex wrist seals and a neoprene neck seal. I sent mine in to have the seals replaced but hadn't done any investigation prior for alternatives. However, I can say that my seals seemed thicker than non-White's suits and to last forever. I've changed them once after 4 years. I'm guessing 250 or so dives.

I have thought at different times that it might be possible to replace the latex seals the non-stitched way. The suit material is similar to many drysuits. & the seals are glued after being stitched. I always looked at the stitching as an added adhesion method.

If no one is able to give you a more definitive answer, call White's. I have a couple times and the workers / owners have been very helpful! Even when I told them I didn't like the 'stupid white bear' that used to be on the rubber knee pads.

Paula

Paula

 

[diver_paula]

p.s. Love the boots! The ones I have are neoprene lined rubber. & thick. I dive with no socks on and my feet stay toasty warm during all my Great Lakes diving.

 

[wedivebc]

Humm.... Otherwise, what do you think of the suit?

I have the catalyst self entry, 300 dives and the lower black is fading to browney gray but the original zipper is still working fine. Have changed neck and wrist seals but went to dry glove cuffs so the wrist seals are a breeze to change.
Had a dui clx 450 before this.

 

[Rimp]

My buddy and me just ordered one whites catalyst and one aqua pro suit. We went with the dry cuffs and gloves because you just need to pop the seal out, it's not even glued in place. The cuff is permanently mounted. A real cool system.

The neck is still glued on however. I didn't see any stiches on it.

 

[Padipro]

I just got a fairly new/used Northern suit off Ebay. I couldn't pass up the price. It had the heave duty boots on it and the waters down here never get cold enough for something like that. I took it to a local shop that does custom wetsuit work and was told that no one would touch the suit because of the type of material Whites uses. The typical glue used to repair neck and wrist seals will just peel off after several weeks. Whites uses a special heat activated glue and the suit must be sent back to the factory for any complete boot or seal changes. I haven't gotten the suit back yet so I can't tell you the quality of work they did but I had dry socks installed in place of the heavy duty boots and also had the wrist seals changed. The suit should be back sometime next week and I'm looking forward to trying it out on nice long deco dive shortly after it arrives.

 

[Curt Bowen]

I own the Whites rescue suit and like it lots. I have owned a couple DUI suits in the past, but actualy like the Whites much better.

 

[GDI]

My last DS was a Whites Pro. Actually I still have it and have used it replacing only the neck and wrist seals to latex. The suit was ourchased from the factory in Seot 1991, Neoprene