Drysuit gaket repair

[ND]

Hi folks,
Somebody at an ISKA meet - I think Streamstown - mentioned a place installing soft latex gaskets on dry suits... does it work well (no leak/seeping through, durable), on any dry suit (I have a kokatat), contact details?
I only had my dry suit about 2years, do the gasket go that quick?
Thanks
Nic

[knotman2]

Niall.
Seemingly air,surprisingly, is one of the seals worst enemies. Air dries them out and sets up loads of little cracks which you will see on stretching the seal. I usually rub in a liquid silicone designed for the job and then reverse tuck the seal up into the sleeve out of the air for storage after every use.
This treatment has worked really well on my Kokatat(3 years old) and Chillicheater( 5 yrs at least old) seals and they are still as good and supple as the day I bought them.

A diver\'s trick to mind tight seals on drysuits is to have a small plastic bag placed over your hand before forcing the seal over your wrist. My inexpert opinion is that with moderate use I would expect to get way more than 2 years out of seals. Hope this helps with your next set.

I have no idea who would refit .
Sennen

[JamieD]

Nic

The life of the seals/gaskets depends entirely on the amount of use and care they receive, it would also depend on how long your suit was in storage post manufacture before you got it.

Many of the Scuba Dive centres including ScubaDive West offer a drysuit repair service which includes replacement of neck and wrist seals which are similar to the seals on paddling suits. I have gone this route and also replaced seals myself, the professional opion would tend to be relatively expensive compared to DIY but the sucess of DIY depends on how handy you are with such things (my first attempt was pathetic but with practice I\'ve improved).

There is a good guide to the DIY option here: http://adrianshanahan.com/wordpress/ind ... -seal-101/ The traffic cone trick is particularly useful but I have also heard of people using a deflated football placed inside the seal and then carefully inflated.

A quick google of \'drysuit repairs\' will give you a list of professional diving services to consider depending on where you are.

Good luck

Jamie

[alandoyle]

Hi Nic,

I gather iCanoe will repair gaskets and do a good job. They\'ll also sell you a repair kit which works well. I used it for my neck gasket about 20 months ago and it\'s still going strong: the most difficult part was plucking up the courage to start. After that, it\'s just a case of, be careful and follow the instructions.

Alan

[derek]

I have used the Rubberman for years. http://www.rubberman.co.uk/home.html

[tee]

Hi Nic

I might have been talking to you about seals at Streamstown. I found this supplier of neoprene seals http://www.seaskin.co.uk/acatalog/Drysu ... Parts.html. As you\'ll see, there are lots of options in terms of size, thickness and shape.

I\'m guessing it would not be any more difficult to replace neoprene seals than latex. If you are not all thumbs and have all the necessary \'tools\', I\'d say go the DIY route.

Adrian Shananhan has a 2nd howto here http://adrianshanahan.com/wordpress/ind ... -take-two/ which is essentially the method Kokatat suggest. This is the approach I took and it turned out OK though could have been neater (next time will be better...)
Biggest problem I had was with the over cuffs and outer neck which got in the way - other than that, it\'s straightforward enough

Gerry

[ND]

Thanks all for this info, cheers - Nic

[martinguilfoyle]

This whole issue would make a great article for Tna D. How about it one of you knwledgeable guys?
Martin