Cheap dry suit repairs?

[Tim M]

Can anyone recommend somewhere that does repairs at low cost? I've got about 5 suits all of which need new neck and wrist seals. I got a quite from one place and nearly had a heart attack. If not I might buy the bits and teach my self how to do it!

[Razorbill RIBs]

Originally Posted by Tim M

Can anyone recommend somewhere that does repairs at low cost? I've got about 5 suits all of which need new neck and wrist seals. I got a quite from one place and nearly had a heart attack. If not I might buy the bits and teach my self how to do it!

Tim, I'd do the latter tbh....it's really not that difficult...Just don't use too much accelerator like I did when I first tried....you'll end up wasting lots of glue!

[rchrdleigh]

I've done it myself and it is not difficult.
I ordered the seals, glue and accelerant from www.ewetsuits.com.

Basically you remove the old seal, leaving about a 1 cm wide band which you use to make attaching the new seal easier. Apply the mixed adhesive and attach the new seal and let it dry.

I've done a neck and wrist seal and both are fine and fully watertight.

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by rchrdleigh

I've done it myself and it is not difficult.
I ordered the seals, glue and accelerant from www.ewetsuits.com.

Basically you remove the old seal, leaving about a 1 cm wide band which you use to make attaching the new seal easier. Apply the mixed adhesive and attach the new seal and let it dry.

I've done a neck and wrist seal and both are fine and fully watertight.

yep, snot hard to do.

A pack of balloons helps a lot-blow them up inside the arms or neck to keep the shape while you replace the seals. Get long balloons for arms and round ones for doing neck seals..

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by rchrdleigh

Basically you remove the old seal, leaving about a 1 cm wide band which you use to make attaching the new seal easier. Apply the mixed adhesive and attach the new seal and let it dry.

Don't do that if the old seal is rotted/cracked/sticky. You'll be gluing to a deteriorated base. Fine for an emergency/temporary repair, but I would try and get to the base fabric if possible. Gentle heat will usually soften the old adhesive and allow you to peel the old seal off. A solvent wipe with MEK should help even out any remaining adhesive.

A large cirular ring of thin plywood or acrylic and some binder clips will hold the suit neck opening flat and make for easier positioning of the seal.

For the wrists, it's easiest to prep everything, and use something like a soda bottle to hold everything open. Position the seal over the sleeve, then fold back the portion of the seal that gets the glue. When ready, roll the seal back down over the seal, and burnish everything in place.

Not rocket science, but it's usually a one-shot deal on positioning.

jky

[Nasher]

Tim

As had been said it really is quite easy to replace them yourself.
The last pot of glue and seals I purchased were from Solent Divers in Pompey.

I have a flat disc of plywood that I covered in flowcoat to hold the neck seal flat, but have also used a space hopper or traffic cone before now to hold the opening in shape. The bonus with the traffic cone is that the small end can also be used for the wrist seals.

Nasher.

[kelson]

Here is a link to some excellent instructions. I used a tapered glass vase as a plug or form for my wrist seals.
http://www.ossystems.com/maintenanceandrepair/repr.htm

[Glenn collins]

I've used a diving cylinder to stretch the kneck over. It's just the right diamiter. Likewise a 3ltr pony bottle is the right size for a wrist seal.

[m chappelow]

i use a football when doing neck seals and empty 2 litre fizzy drinks bottles for the wrist seals , just take your time and plan it out with a few dry/glue free dummy runs before you actually do it ,,its not a bad idea with the neck seal to put some chalk marks about every quarter of the way around on the new seal and the coller that way as you are locating it you can keep it even all the way around . also have somewhere that you can place the seals on/around when the glue is drying as they can have a tendency to curl up before you stick it to the suit ,best of luck mart

[biffer]

i used to own a dive shop and had a padi and bsac school as well so i've done heaps of suit's, the best thing for a neck seal is a water bottle from them office despensers and the cuff's a 2 litre coke bottle, jam them up into the old seal, it is quite easy to do once you've got them steady enough