Latex Seal Durability

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I am curious if diving environments have an impact on the life of the seals.

My suit is just about always used in fresh water, with the occasional trip to the coast for some terrific ocean diving off Vancouver Island.

My wrist seals are always under the dry gloves so they are only "exposed" to me.

No sunscreen when I am using the dry suit either.

We had a bad year last year for mosquitoes. The shop went through seals like crazy on the rental suits - folks using repellents.
 
Possibly, 80 % of my dives are saltwater. That said, I've gone through more seals lately when lake diving but these tend to be tears versus degradation leading to failures. I'm very thankful to zip/Si Tech seals.
 
Here is one "off the curve":

100% Freshwater diving. I use baby shampoo for lube (perhaps it helps with cleaning), and talc them heavily after rinse and drying, storing the whole suit in a large zip-loc (minimize ozone)and then in the gear bag. Suit sees 12-15 dives a year, and the seals are the original from about 14 years ago.....

perhaps the materials were better then.... I'm afraid for when I need to replace them.....


When I am diving it, I avoid as many chemicals as possible (lotions, sun screen, hair products, etc.)
 
When I am diving it, I avoid as many chemicals as possible (lotions, sun screen, hair products, etc.)

A while ago, people diving Whites dry suits around the world were plagued by problems with latex seals. I later learned that the problems were happening with a number of brands--the Whites owners were just a lot more vocal about it. The symptoms were different from the dry rot described by the OP. Without any warning, a section of the seal wold turn gooey. Once that happened, your seal was done and needed to be replaced. The explanations offered by the manufacturers all blamed chemical contamination. (Te fault of the user, of course--another way of saying "not our problem.") The two most often named suspects were petroleum from outboard engines floating on the surface and, believe it or not, copper from handling pennies. (People from Australia, which has no copper coins, called BS on that one.)

Everyone I knew was having the problem. The dive shop where I worked lost all the seals on all their suits in a matter of months. Frustrated, I took some seals, cut them into squares, and contaminated them with everything I could think of that could ever come into contact with seals. I tried copper, petroleum products, different suntan lotions, shaving cream--everything. I gave the contaminant being tested prolonged, concentrated contact. The results? Not a single contaminant I tried had any noticeable effect on the latex. The latex tested came out of the test as good as new in every case.

I talked with two Ph.D chemists about it, and they both said the same thing. They said the contaminants suggested by the manufacturers were so clearly wrong that they had to know it and should be ashamed for suggesting it. They said that based on what I described to them, the most likely blame for the problem lay with the manufacturer. Creating latex is a chemical process, and they said the seal manufacturer must have been using faulty procedures in making the latex. They both said the problem sounded to them like the chemical structure of the latex was breaking down because it was not properly created in the first place.

It should be noted that dry suit manufacturers do not make their seals. They purchase them from a separate seal making company, and multiple dry suit manufacturers use the same seal makers. It should also be noted that I have not heard of anyone having that problem for several years. Apparently they are getting it right now.

As I said, this problem is different from the OP's. My purpose in this post was to detail how my experiments showed no bad effects from any of the common potential contaminants I tested.
 
I remember that, maybe 10 years ago. The seals were just yucky after time. Gooey and then just ripped.
 
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I remember that, maybe 10 years ago. The seals were just yucky after time. Gooey and then just ripped.

I didn't know about 10 years ago--I'm just talking 5 years ago. What you describe is what happened, though.
 
Personal Lub is not just good for getting wrist seals on but off also. Smear some on the back and side of your hand from the seal down to the knuckles and seal slides off as well as it went on.
 
If you have ever worn latex gloves and worked around different oils and chemicals your opinion of damage to latex might change. Transmission fluid eats latex very quickly. For fun I used to throw a latex glove in the solvent tank, back when it was real solvent, and watch it grow to over twice it's original size. As a guess I would say our body oils, sunscreen, etc do not deteriorate the seals in a couple of days, but slowly soak into the latex, and take a couple of months to cause an issue. I have often seen one small bad spot on an otherwise good seal, so again the chances are it is contamination, not a manufacturing process, as the latex would be well mixed and the issue would be over the entire seal.
 
I have often seen one small bad spot on an otherwise good seal, so again the chances are it is contamination, not a manufacturing process, as the latex would be well mixed and the issue would be over the entire seal.

It is usually one spot, not the entire seals. Your argument assumes the latex was well made.

So contamination would explain why our shop's entire stock of dry suits, including those that had been in storage awaiting sale and never used, lost every wrist and every neck seal over a few months? Interesting. To what would you ascribe this wholesale contamination? They never once had transmission fluid splashed on them, at last as far as I know.

How could two Ph.D chemists be so totally out of touch with these chemical processes?
 
Usually about 2 years (200 dives) for DUI Latex Zip neck / wrist seals.

I use Personal Lube (KY or generic) when diving them. And I always wash my suit in mild soap (woolite) at the end of a weekend of diving. A final dip with Mirazyme if it is getting to smell a bit rancid. Suit is then dried, folded up, and stored in the bag during the week.

Silicone wrist seals have not proven as durable (usually get about a year / 100 dives) - but they fit better and leak less. (They get the same treatment.)

To date - I have not used a silicone or latex preservative like seal saver.

Bjorn
 

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