Advice: is my drysuit zipper dead?

[JollyWaffl]

I've a E.Space from 2011 that's got about 70 dives on it and has served me well until recently. I had the neck seal replaced about 20 dives ago and have started getting leaks, and while I suspect that may be me having cut the neck too large, I'm also concerned about wear on the zipper. It's the original metal BDM zipper and it looks like some of the rubber is flaking off on the inside around the teeth - photo attached. Is this harmless, something I can fix, or has my zipper reached the end of its life?

 

[lexvil]

Maybe, that can be a failure spot on an old zipper, Easy wat to test, put on some gray sweats, put the suit on, zip it and just in a pool, weight neutral and dive under, swim around and then take the suit off and note the wet spots.

If that area is leaking it may be possible to patch it with some thin aquaseal and get a few more years of use.

 

[JollyWaffl]

Thanks for the suggestion. I did try it the other way round - fill it with air and spray with soapy water, but I couldn't do it inside out so I know that's not a rigorous test.
If repairing with aquaseal, I'd apply it to cover the exposed area and to tamp down the peeling edges, right?

 

[lexvil]

Thanks for the suggestion. I did try it the other way round - fill it with air and spray with soapy water, but I couldn't do it inside out so I know that's not a rigorous test.
If repairing with aquaseal, I'd apply it to cover the exposed area and to tamp down the peeling edges, right?

Thin the heck out of it and let it penetrate the material area that lost the rubber, it can be tricky, you don’t want to make it thicker, and yes I would push the edges down after the tacky is nearly set and don’t touch it for a few days. If it doesn’t work you needed a new zipper anyway.