Silicone neck seal repair

[sunnyboy]

Off-the-wall question here.

I have an almost new silicone neck seal that got cut by something on the last dive. It's not old or worn or torn, it's a clear 1" cut.

Has anyone ever tried to fix a cut silicone seal? I know most glues won't work, but was wondering if anyone had tried something and gotten it to work. Even a few more dives out of it would be nice.

 

[fmerkel]

Very thin, no butt material to glue to. Takes VERY specialized glue. Probably not worth the bother.

 

[sunnyboy]

I do have material sufficient to create a patch over the area from what I trimmed off the seal. Actually, enough to patch both sides if it would work.

I wonder what the specialized glue might be.

 

[stuartv]

I saw a post here on SB not long ago where somebody posted a link to an adhesive for gluing silicone to silicone. You might be able to search and find it.

I just did a quick Google search and found this:

https://www.amazon.com/Sil-Poxy-Silicone-Adhesive-Ounce-Tube/dp/B00IRC1YI0

 

[fmerkel]

That's the stuff, expensive. The Aquarium I volunteer for uses it to repair their AGA masks if possible. I've used in on a pinhole tear in my mask years ago and it's still holding, though it's not a stressed area. I have no idea how it would work with the high stretch needed for a neck seal. Maybe......maybe not.

Would a patch on the inside create enough of a ridge to form a leak?

 

[stuartv]

I read a few reviews. If the reviews are to be believed, the bond formed is at least as strong as the original silicon. I.e. a patch over a cut would become double thick and, so, twice as strong as it was before. Based on that, I would not put a patch on the inside. Just one on the outside.

I didn't pay attention to the price. Yeah. A new silicone neck seal isn't that much more.

Here's a smaller tube for cheaper:

https://www.amazon.com/Smooth-Sil-poxy-Rubber-Silicone-Adhesive/dp/B00NGZHGFI

At that price, it might be worth using to repair the cut seal to at least have as a spare. Or patch it and buy a new one to have as a ready spare. Personally, I wouldn't find it worth even having replaceable seals if I wasn't going to keep a spare on hand and ready to go. If the OP has a ready spare, then why not spend half the money to patch the cut and keep using it?

 

[sunnyboy]

...

https://www.amazon.com/Sil-Poxy-Silicone-Adhesive-Ounce-Tube/dp/B00IRC1YI0

Thanks, but sadly as is becoming more typical of amazon.com, I get "this item CANNOT be shipped to your location". (Canada). Of course Amazon.ca lists it as "this product is currently unavailable. We do not know when it might become available again". <sigh>

Expensive is relative. $29US (rounding). The seal in question is a zip seal, which is a LOT more than $28. Worth repairing if I could get the stuff in Canada. I might have a look at ebay.

I also do have a spare zip seal, but given how new the cut seal is, it just irked me that it was toast because of a small-ish cut, especially given the cost of a silicone neck zip seal.

 

[sunnyboy]

... addendum: I just checked e-bay. $15US plus $20US shipping. OUCH.

more checking... OK, that's interesting. It's available in Canada from a sculpture supply place. It's listed as "Makeup - FX". Cool how products jump categories all over the place if you look about.

I see in addition to 3 oz for $40cdn I can get .5 oz for $16.25 or even a gallon (8lbs) for a super deal at only $1269.75 CDN!

 

[Tug]

I'd be interested to hear how this works! Like you said, at the price of a new zip seal it's worth a shot.

 

[Tbar]

I get my seals from SeaSkins in the UK (I am in Aus) Dry Suits from Seaskin Custom Drysuits home page - Seaskin Custom Diving Suits. The Sitech silicon seal is £17.41GBP (without VAT) or about 21.70USD SiTech Neck seal SILFLEX - Seaskin Custom Diving Suits Freight t AUS is about 5GPP so say 6USD, total 27USD delivered.

Edit, But I think you have a DUI ZIP seal system. Might be cheaper to change to whole lot to SiTeck