DUI neckseal replacement

[dave4868]

Hi,

Any news? I have my old TLS350 ready for gluing the new neck seal.
But somehow I haven't found the best trick to position the seal in place.
My TLS has an integrated hood - which is pretty much in the way.
Also the area where the seal will be glued (on the suit) is everything but round. While my replacement seal is.
Any suggestions ho to hold the seal in place - attach it and then press around the seam?

the DUI repair manual doesn't really help me either..

Maybe I'm just a bit slow...

thanks,
Daz

You'll need templates or forms (shaped like rings) to hold the seal and suit opening in identical-sized circular shapes.

You can make them from stiff cardboard as a last resort. I made some out of 1/4" polycarbonate.

Double-sided tape (craft tape) will adequately secure the seal and the suit to the templates.

Can't quite picture the attached hood, so I can't help you there.

I'll try to add a little more detail later.

Dave C

 

[dazulrich]

Hi Dave,
thanks... Just had a look at the DUI repair ouline pdf.. and yes, now I see the "Installation ring"...

If I could get the proper dimentions of that ring - I could make my own.

If you have the neck opeing on a flat surface - inside out where you put the glue.
Without the hood - you have a pretty flat suitsurface (whith the neck opening in the middle). Whith the hood - there is no opening, but the buldge of the hood in the middle - and i have pull it through the new neck seal - deforming it even more. I probably need to have a hole in my worktop to get the hood out of the way...

Daz

 

[oxyhacker]

We did just that for use with suits with hoods - made an oversize plywood oblong ring 20"x11" or so, with a 8" or so round hole in it, that we use use sitting on top of a bucket, so the hood can hang down inside out of the way. Instead of using tape to hold the suit, the suit is clamped to the edge of the board with spring clamps. The seal is then stuck on a DUI-style ring and installed in the normal way.

Pictures of the board setup and measurements for DUI-style installation rings are in the book, but I don't have a copy handy now. However they should fit the neck seal and the suit neck opening, anyhow, so just measure both and make the rings to fit them. I have a bunch of different sizes now since they are so easy to make, the DUI ones are not always the optimum size for non-DUI suits or seals.

I probably need to have a hole in my worktop to get the hood out of the way...

Daz

 

[dave4868]

Hi Dave,
thanks... Just had a look at the DUI repair ouline pdf.. and yes, now I see the "Installation ring"...

If I could get the proper dimentions of that ring - I could make my own.

If you have the neck opeing on a flat surface - inside out where you put the glue.
Without the hood - you have a pretty flat suitsurface (whith the neck opening in the middle). Whith the hood - there is no opening, but the buldge of the hood in the middle - and i have pull it through the new neck seal - deforming it even more. I probably need to have a hole in my worktop to get the hood out of the way...

Daz

We did just that for use with suits with hoods - made an oversize plywood oblong ring 20"x11" or so, with a 8" or so round hole in it, that we use use sitting on top of a bucket, so the hood can hang down inside out of the way. Instead of using tape to hold the suit, the suit is clamped to the edge of the board with spring clamps. The seal is then stuck on a DUI-style ring and installed in the normal way.

Pictures of the board setup and measurements for DUI-style installation rings are in the book, but I don't have a copy handy now. However they should fit the neck seal and the suit neck opening, anyhow, so just measure both and make the rings to fit them. I have a bunch of different sizes now since they are so easy to make, the DUI ones are not always the optimum size for non-DUI suits or seals.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the book Vance refers to when I made my first neck seal installation rings, but my measurements turned out to be very close to the 10 5/8" x 8 7/16" DUI rings described in the book.

Although I used 1/4" polycarbonate, it was still flexible enough. I'll make my next pair from 1/16" polycarbonate to allow the glued surfaces to be pressed together with more control.

I have the book now and, in my unbiased, unsolicited view, the book is a treasure of experience and techniques.

WETSUIT AND DRYSUIT MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR by Steven Lindblom

Anyway, I made a pair of rings, then decided to improvise by using a disk instead of the ring for the suit opening. The concentric circles scribed on the disk let me center the suit opening, since it didn't seem to want to extend to the fully open width of the ring. Since you have an attached hood, the rings are what you want to use.

The glued surfaces are kept separate with thin wooden slats while being positioned, then the slats are removed one at a time to allow the surfaces to be pressed together.

1/16th plastic would have flexed more easily with better control, but 1/4" worked fine. I managed to avoid trapping any bubbles between the two glued surfaces.

I might add that the roller pictured below was flimsy and I've replaced it with a stronger one with a metal frame holding the roller on both ends.

After the last separator was removed and the surfaces were in good contact, I removed the ring from the neck seal and thoroughly rolled the contact area with the wallpaper edge roller.

Then I removed the disk from the suit neck.

The double-sided clear craft tape is shown below.

Sealing with Aquaseal followed.

Dave C

 

[jackass]

Beautiful pics Dave, you just "talked" me into doing it myself too!
Cheers.

 

[nereas]

Doing your own seals could result in a catastropic failure and suit flooding.

I drop my drysuit off at my local dive store for shipment to Diving Concepts for replacements of seals, zippers, and boots every few years. The magical number seem to be about 5 years. Diving Concepts does a great job, and it also pressure tests the suit after every fix as well. That would be my recommendation.

D/C works with all brand names.

 

[Randy43068]

Doing your own seals could result in a catastropic failure and suit flooding.

I drop my drysuit off at my local dive store for shipment to Diving Concepts for replacements of seals, zippers, and boots every few years. The magical number seem to be about 5 years. Diving Concepts does a great job, and it also pressure tests the suit after every fix as well. That would be my recommendation.

Catastrophic failure? How do you figure that? Perhaps a leak, but "Catastrophic failure?" What do you think is going to happen, the thing blow off?

Don't you think one would test this repair before using it in any sort of challenging environment???

 

[dave4868]

Beautiful pics Dave, you just "talked" me into doing it myself too!
Cheers.

Thanks! Good for you!

Pics certainly help to put this simple job in perspective, don't they?

I'm relatively new to DIY drysuit repair, so I take pics as a future guide for myself....otherwise I'd have to figure it out all over again the next time. It's embarrassing....but true. :11doh:

Doing your own seals could result in a catastropic failure and suit flooding.

Very unlikely.

Besides, it's easy to assess one's glueing job. It's just common sense....don't worry, most people have it....especially divers! :11:

I think trimming one's own neck seal would present a bigger risk of flooding, but that's just another simple DIY operation for most people.

Catastrophic failure? How do you figure that? Perhaps a leak, but "Catastrophic failure?" What do you think is going to happen, the thing blow off?

Don't you think one would test this repair before using it in any sort of challenging environment???

Good questions, great point!

Dave C

 

[Randy43068]

Great pictures of the replacement and of the jig.

Thank you!

 

[Randy43068]

Dave, perhaps I missed it in your posting, if so forgive me. Where did you get the seal you used?