Reusing DUI neck seal zip ring

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JahJahwarrior

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Location
West Palm Beach, Fl
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I know...DUI makes good product. But, I saved $100 by buying a seal to glue to the old zip ring. That's $100 closer to buying a new DUI drysuit, so I figure it's money well saved!

Reusing the wrist seals should be pretty easy. It's the neck I'm worried about. Here is my plan, and I want to know if someone who has attempted this can give me feedback:

-soften up the ring with a hair dryer
-separate the two rings from the old neck seal
-glue the new seal between the old rings
-trim edges as necessary
-dive!
 
I know...DUI makes good product. But, I saved $100 by buying a seal to glue to the old zip ring. That's $100 closer to buying a new DUI drysuit, so I figure it's money well saved!

Reusing the wrist seals should be pretty easy. It's the neck I'm worried about. Here is my plan, and I want to know if someone who has attempted this can give me feedback:

-soften up the ring with a hair dryer
-separate the two rings from the old neck seal
-glue the new seal between the old rings
-trim edges as necessary
-dive!



Very funny..............eh.
 
Got the seal off of the rings.

The trick was to use a hair dryer, and pull the seal away from the ring parallel to the glued surface. In other words, don't try to lift the seal off of the ring, but slide it.

It took a bit of force and heat, but I got all three off. Both wrist seals came off without tearing, but the neck seal I did rip in the process. Not big deal, the seal was shot anyways :)

Next step: cleaning the rings with MEK and the seals with alcohol. Then, coat with seal cement, and see if I can get it back together :)
 
I know...DUI makes good product. But, I saved $100 by buying a seal to glue to the old zip ring. That's $100 closer to buying a new DUI drysuit, so I figure it's money well saved!

Reusing the wrist seals should be pretty easy. It's the neck I'm worried about. Here is my plan, and I want to know if someone who has attempted this can give me feedback:

-soften up the ring with a hair dryer
-separate the two rings from the old neck seal
-glue the new seal between the old rings
-trim edges as necessary
-dive!

What replacement seals did you use and where did you get them
 
Well I'm happy to report that it worked out great!

First step: remove old seals. Regular hair dryer like women use works great on high. Careful, don't burn your hands! Heat, then pull.

Second, clean and sand. I used "MEK substitute" from Home Depot, it worked ok. Regular MEK would be better but it's harsh stuff! I gave up on getting all of the old glue off though. It didn't seem to be necessary in the instructions for regular seal changes and I was getting hand cramps trying, so I just sanded and cleaned.

Third, prepare to glue! For wrist seals, you need something that is just the right size for the ring and seal. I found a pickle bottle that was slightly loose but it was the best fit I could find. Put the ring on, and tape it in place. Now put the seal on and line it up over the ring. It'll look like the old seal just without glue...

Next use masking tape right aboveboard the end of the ring on the seal. This lets you flip up the part of the seal that goes over the ring. You might want to put the tape slightly past the edge of the ring to make sure you have the entire surface that will contact the ring exposed. It's ok to have slightly more seal exposed than will seal to the ring.
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I did a final wipe with the MEK just to be safe, then I started putting on seal cement. Follow the directions as to how many coats and how long in between.

Final step: flip the seal down! Tip: use ziploc baggies as gloves to help the flip. The cement doesn't
Stick to it and it helps you make sure you get the seal position just right. Next, press it down firmly all around, and you are done!

The neck was easy too. I started with the top ring. The seal I used had sort of a crease in itself...if you put the ring on, it basically naturally falls into shape aligned in the center of the seal. Once you've seen how it fits together, take it back apart and start glueing. This time cut ziploc bags up and cover the entire surface of the ring with them to help you align it before it sticks to the seal... Put it on, line it up, then peel off sections of the ziploc while you hold it in place in another segment, press down on the bare part then repeat all the way around.

Next trim the seal very carefully around the edge of the ring. Then put glue on the second ring, use ziploc baggies, etc, then place it aligned with the top seal. Of course, sand and clean the ring and the seal before gluing in both rings.

I let it cure for two days before using but so far they seem great.


As for seals, I used NorthEast Scuba. They get them from another supplier and you pay a few bucks extra to them as the middleman but I like supporting dive shops, especially ones that sell regulator rebuild kits I need at a good price. I got the gold, heavy duty seals and they seem to be high quality.
 
Thanks for the update.

I used a heat gun that I have and got the wrist seals off easy, they peeled off with hardly any heat and effort. I started on the neck seal but I can see this might take a little longer to get it warm to separate enough to get the seal out.
 
The neck seal was a lot harder to pull apart, I actually ripped the old seal because I was pulling so hard!

Heat really helped but I don't think you want it too hot. If I had more rings, I would test some at various temps to find which works best, maybe make a video...

So if anyone has a set of rings they don't need... :)

Soon I'll put together an article on zipper replacement, but those already exist...
 
It's held up for several dives with no sign of falling apart. Same with the wrist seals, all in great shape. I don't anticipate any issues at all.

I should probably start buying used rings and selling them with new seals, I think there is a market for recycled seals! Better for the environment too.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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