Zip seal cuff tear - repairable or replace it?

[crzyfish]

Just got a used (built 9/2004) DUI CLX 450. It has the Gen1 Zip Seals and I was inspecting the suit this morning. The neck collar seems good. The wrist cuff, one of them has a small split on the outside. I guess this is to be expected for a 15 year old suit plus storage technique. Something was pressing the cuffs so they're a bit oval instead of round.

I was going to look into using Tear-Aid and some drysuit glue to seal up the small rip. I use this stuff on my inflatable plus some marine sealant to keep it airtight. For my boat - that's a permanent solution. I don't know about the drysuit. I feel that if one cuff is giving up the ghost, both will fail soon.

Or, should I send it in to DUI to replace the zip seal cuffs (both should be changed) or get DRIS to change them out to Si Tech permanent cuffs? I'm leaning toward the Si Tech cuffs.

https://www.amazon.com/Tear-Aid-Vin...ild=1&keywords=tear+aid&qid=1580669934&sr=8-3

 

[Poseidon_Man]

My DUI suit has the zip wrist and neck seal but I have decided to replace them both with Si Tech ones.
The initial cost is expensive since you're replacing the entire neck and wrist system but you will save in the long run for sure.
Generic seals are so cheap in DGX or other online store and it's widely available in all most shops too.

 

[tmassey]

I just last week replaced my perfectly functional generation one cuff seals with SI Tech. My reason is that I’m pretty hard on seals, and you can’t get silicone wrist seals for the G1. So I decided to swap them out.

New zip seal cuffs would’ve meant sending it to DUI, and the associated cost would have been much higher. Superior dry suit repair in Minnesota already had the suit, and they could put the SI Tech cuffs on. I already had the quick glove system, so I went ahead with the quick cuff rings. This will allow me to use generic silicone wrist seals while using the gloves at the same time. When you’re diving in under 40° water with deco obligations, the idea of a flooded suit does not appeal to me. I like the back up of having the wrist seals.

i’m sticking with the zip seals for the neck. You can use silicone seals there. In fact, I have now for a few years. I haven’t had to replace the neck seal once. With latex, it was just about an annual occurrence.