Wetsuit Repair

[Jon]

This is a topic that has come up more than once on here.

Since I just happened to put a nasty hole in my good Picasso wetsuit, I thought I would take a few shots as I patched it up.

I am sure that many of you could do a much neater job than I did, but I was always one of those kids who could never glue together a model plane without getting glue all over the kitchen table, and the dog.

Check out the "Stupid Scooter trick" thread to see how I made the hole.

This is what it looked like before I started.

[Jon]

I started by gluing the inside of it togther with standard wetsuit glue- not Aqualseal!

[Jon]

Next, I placed some weights on it, to hold it together like a vice, and let it dry overnight. I used a palstic sate to hold down the outer part of the suit. I made the mistake of using a legal pad on the inside of the glue job, all I had atthe time, which left some paper residue on the outer glued surface.

[Jon]

THis is what the outide of the suit looked like after I let it dry overnight. The yellowish color is from the legal pad I used on that surface to keep the suit from gluing together on itself.

[Jon]

I went to a fabric store and bought nylon thread and a curved needle to sew it up.

I have used dental-floss to sew up my old scuba wetsuits in the past, but since this is a NICE wetsuit that I didn't want to turn into a Frankenstein suit.

[Jon]

I used a curved neddle becasue I didn't wnat to punch all the way through the thin (3mm) suit. This allowed me to just stitch up the outside of the suit, which is already covered in nylon, and leave the inside smooth, which would rub against my skin.

[Jon]

The needle worked really well. The nylon thread is so thin that you can barely see it in this picture. I am not a tailor, so I just used a basic overhand stitch that I learned in 7th grade home-ec class.

[Jon]

Finished stitch job.

Not the prettiest thing in the world, but the carp will never know the difference.

[Jon]

Last, I put a final coat of glue on the outside to hold the thread together, as I am not really too sure on my tie-off knot, and to give the rubber a little extra holding power.

As you can see, I really am not that good with the glue, but if I can do it, anybody can.

[icarus pacific]

Ahhh, my cold dead heart is warmed at your work, Jon. Actually, as the suit is so thin, I'm thinking that a simple glue-up with dakine real Picasso glue would have saved you a few punctures to the palms and a buncho time. The picasso glue has styrene and a bunch of other good yet regulated stuff in it that works real well on the Yami rubber. It's been my luck that gluing the stitches after all I said and done leaves a "hard spot", similar to one of your buddy's, uh, pecker tracks, and the rubber will tear there next.

Odor than that, nice work and I'm certain that you'll make a great seamstress someday if the pole dancing wages don't improve.

[bluecape]

Good Job Jon !! Man, if I had this forum last week, I could have used it !! My still new open Cell suit ( 5 mm) burst a seam on friday, but have only had it for a while so I returned it to the factory for a repair. It was the side seam on the jacket, just above the beaver-tail, about 2 inches tore right on the seam.

A question, how often can you expect to tear open cell suits, it seems to be quite regular due to the 1-sided stitching. I dive in average temps of 11-15 degree's, so it helps to have a warm suit, but if it is going to tear every 2 months, then it's hardly worth my while. I know Cressi make a suit which has a small piece of open-cell on the wrists and ankles, maybe thats an option if open cell has a high rate of attrition ( I dive a lot ).

[Jon]

Let me restate that the suit did not just fall apart. I ran, head-on, into a tree that was sticking straight sideways out of nowhere. Not only did I run into it, but I ran into it at full speed while flying around on my scooter!

I see no reason why this spot would tear in the future as its not in a high wear area. It was just the unlucky spot that I happened to hit, after first running into it with my head- which probably softened the blow to the rest of the suit.

Next time I might just try the glue and see how it goes.

Jon

[JimGlynn]

I had to repair a long, two sided gash in the sleeve of my Elios smooth skin. I used weights also but glued it in sections so when each section dried I could make a better seam because I only was gluing a little bit at a time. I used seam sealer and it worked really well. Nice job Jon.
Jim

[icarus pacific]

Hey you want the definitive lowdown on gluing up an Elios, give the King of the Kraze '03 and one half of the Smooth and Stylin' Tour '03, Jay Styron a ring!

Makes a hymen flinch!