Looking for advice on changing latex wrists on a membrane suit

[Nuno A]

Hi.

my dry suit has two years and I need to change the latex wrists, one has already gone and I'm going to replace both.


As I never done it before I'm looking for some adivice or suggestions on articles to read or videos to see. I'm trying to learn as much as possible to avoid the mistakes that usually happen when somebody does something for the frist time.

what type of glue ?

Remove the remainings of the old wrists or glue the new ones above it ?

what mistakes to avoid ?

thank you

 

[TSandM]

It's not terribly difficult, once you find the right size obturator. You want something that will fully expand the wrist of the suit and will be stable sitting in it. I use champagne bottles . A friend has some thin PVC pipe that he has cut into about 6" lengths and then placed a cut in lengthwise, so he can compress the pipe to place it in the suit, and then it expands to fill the sleeve.

You can either cut off the old seals and glue to the remnant, or use a heat gun to remove the seal completely. Either way, the key is to get the gluing surface as clean as possible (I scrub with MEK, which I think it's difficult to buy any more). Slide the obturator into the sleeve, and put the seal on as well. Fold the cuff of the seal so that the suit end inverts over the wrist end by a couple of inches (this will be your glued surface). Slide the seal up until the folded edge abuts the end of the suit material. Then coat the suit and the seal with several coats of the glue you are using. Each coat should be fairly thin, and should dry until quite tacky before applying the next.

Once both surfaces have been coated and the glue is again quite tacky (not wet at all), fold the coated seal back over the coated suit material. Take a pastry roller or other rolling device and roll thoroughly, until all air bubbles are gone. Take care with this step, because any bubbles left in the glue will create channels for water leakage over time. It is a very good thing if you have some kind of elastic material you can then stretch over the seal to keep it in solid contact with the suit while the glue dries. Do not disturb the construction for 24 hours.

Glue depends on suit material, and it's a good idea to get a recommendation either from the company which made the suit, or from someone who works on those suits. Some glues will not stick to some materials at all.

 

[Dsix36]

I have started to use this system and it is awesome. Quick, simple, and easy to do.

DRY ADHESIVE WRIST SEALS

 

[kwinter]

Been doing it this way for years. For rolling, I use a small wallpaper seam roller. The pastry roller is my wife's for when I come home late.


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