To repair or not......

[mstrdvr]

I have a 2005 Atlan neoprene drysuit with less than 25 dives on it, all less than 60'. Due to poor info about this suit I replaced the neo. neck seal with latex in 06 . 2 weeks ago, the exhaust valve semi quit working. Thinking I had this issue resolved, I put it in the pool, valve working again. Went to remove suit noticed wrist seal torn nearly 2" (neo) I am struggling with repairing this suit or limiting my season. I do have a good wetsuit altho ice diving makes me a little nervous. Any thoughts?

                                                Randy

[matt t.]

If the wrist seal appears to be good (except for the obvious tear) I would order some of the Melco seam tape and fix the tear. You could have the wrist seals done for well under $100. I think I payed $60 a few years ago for H.D. latex from Superior Diveing Repair in Brainerd, Minesota. It depends on how much you like the suit and/or can afford. You can ice dive in a wet suit, but it gets cold after the first dive.

[Vtach]

Take pics and send them to Superior Drysuit Repair or just email him with an idea of what you may need done.  Mark will have no problem giving you a repair estimate.  He does great work.  I am sending one of my suits up there today for a tune up and new drysuit rings.

[mstrdvr]

Have been trying to contact Mark,hasn't returned email, hasn't returned phone calls. Is he still in business? Quite frankly I'm about to can the whole drysuit thing , I'm tired of dumping $$$$ into it.

[matt t.]

They've always been kind of hard to get a hold of. That can be a problem with a good business, they're busy! Keep at it and they'll get it worked out.

[MikeS]

Try Drysuits Plus:

[mstrdvr]

Thanks for the info guys. I was able to talk to Mark and get a price. Talked to Jeff at drysuits + , he does'nt do neoprene wrist seals. Still not sure if I'm going to sell it after repair or not.
  Thanks

  Randy

[matt t.]

They don't do a lot of stuff at Drysuits Plus. Superior is top notch.

[Tamara Thomsen]

Randy- If the tear is a "clean tear", meaning that both edges are pretty sharp and untattered, we have glue for that in the shop.  Bring it into Madison the next time you are coming in to town and Isaac or I can fix it for you while you wait.  This happens to all of our rental drysuits from time to time and it won't require shipping your suit anywhere.

A rip in a neoprene seal can be avoided if you lubricate your wrists prior to inserting them into the suit.  I'm sure this is going to be joke fodder on this site...but buy a tube of KY Jelly or some generic lubricating jelly.  It is water soluble and won't have any adverse affect on your suit or seals.  It works great- you'll slide right into the seal with little further stress or strain on the seal itself.

Let me enter this one caveat- KY works great except for the teasing that you may receive at the dive site while suiting up. 

tami

[Dewit2it]

Try the Wet Platinum lube.  It's silicone based, and is more or less like McNett Seal Saver.