How long do drysuit zippers last??

[tregrrr]

I haven't got a clue how many dives I have in my suit.... neglected to count them, but north of 250 drysuit dives if I were a guessing type

The zipper is a BDM 8TPI across the shoulder and where it gapes whilst the suit is open, some of the neoprene is delaminating from the substrate tape. A little leak to be sure, but a leak none the less.


My question to other cold divers out there:

How long have your Zippers lasted with proper waxing??
What was the damage for replacing it??
What flavour of suit material??

 

[tregrrr]

does this mean I am the only person to ever have a zip fail??

interesting... I guess I best call YKK and see if they want to study the one zipper that failed....

 

[TSandM]

My husband's Bare suit needed zipper replacement somewhere in the 300 dive range, and that's what I've heard people say. The fabric portion of the zipper failed, too close to the teeth to try to patch with glue.

I've probably got close to 300 dives on my Fusion, and the zipper has frayed quite a bit and needed to be touched up with a flame, but it seals and the teeth are in excellent condition. My Mobby's suit (which was my first one, and which I sold when it had probably 250 dives on it) is still going strong under the next owner, with probably another 100 dives or so.

 

[bjd001]

Mine lasted 6 years, which probably works out to about 300 dives or so... DUI CF200x drysuit. Had some fraying the last couple of years which I trimmed with scissors. Replacement cost (sent it back to DUI) was $320, plus the $65 test and evaluation fee (pretty much done with all repairs) plus tax and shipping. New zipper seems to be a little more heavy duty than the original.

 

[piikki]

Now I don't feel so bad reading these reports. My DUI TLS zipper was replaced after less than 3.5 years and 300+ dives. I strongly felt it was not the zipper even though there was some fraying going on. The teeth were in excellent condition and the zipper functioned as it always had, it was stiff from start. I got the suit back and it still leaked on the torso area after the replacement. Not happy

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I have a Bare Nex-Gen Pro (bilam shell suit, shoulder-entry). The dry zipper has performed well for 275+ dives. Near the edges of the zipper, there is some fraying. I suspect I'll be able to get another year of use out of it before replacement. I wax it before each diving day.

 

[peret]

Ursuit X3 zipper went broken twice. Basically is working fine around 200-300 dives but keep in mind that it was used in cold weather and ice diving so is ok. Cost to be replaced in Ursuit factory was 180 Euro (125 Euro the zipper and 55 Euro the work) obviously the shipping from and to factory need to be handled by you also but is beter as they know what they are doing as it is their suit

 

[Aqua-Andy]

well mine lasted 50 dives or so on my nex-gen and my buddy got 60 or so out of his on a cf200. Can you guess which company took care of the zipper and which one charged the customer? Hint: not the one that charged over 4k for a suit. I was told that at Bare and DUI that they have been seeing a lot more zipper replacements than in the past, and YKK said they have not seen this them selves. I know several people with close to or over 300 dives on there suits and there zippers are still going strong, these are all at least 3yo suits though. I say a prayer every night for my drysuit zipper.

 

[tregrrr]

Thanks guys... I know I was having a dickens of a time finding any reference to how long the life expectancy of zippers is. Now that this exists, the next people to have the question will find solace (as I have) in knowing that they didn't do anything wrong by their zipper only living 200-300 dives.


T

 

[ae3753]

My zipper gave out after about 500 dives. My wife's zipper was done around 300 dives. Demise for both zippers was fraying. If the lip was a little more robust, the zippers would have lasted a lot longer. Teeth were in very good to excellent condition.