Patching a Gates VSN 1100

[Notorious]

Has anyone done this?
I have a suit thats a few year young but not heavily dived. I have a fizzing leak near the crotch but not on the seam and wanted to fix it myself. I'd send it back to Gates but i'm now living in Oz and postage would be silly!
I've done my own neck seals before but i'm not sure about patching the suit....what material and adhesive to use.
Any help out there?
Cheeers

[wilbo]

I guess that would depend very much on exactly where the hole is in the suit.. if the area is prone to a lot of movement due to you walking and finning - then I would guess it would need to be done properly - i.e. patched, sealed, stitched and resealed. If its not a 'high traffic area' then I would say some of the two part glues are very good (Bostik 2402 and the Dunlop version)- and you might get away with just locating the site and dabbing glue both sides.. Can you not find a specialist locally (i.e. not Gates/Hunter)?

Hard to say really..

[Notorious]

Thanks for the reply. Yeah the leak is in a high traffic area.....my crotch!
The leak is very small, invisible to the eye but fizzes when preasurised and covered in soapy water.
I have some bostik 2402 from doing my neck seal and was thinking of making a patch for inside and out glued with the bostik....i dunno, what material to make the patch as the suit is an odd material itself.
As for local pro's for suit repaires...erm that's why i did my own neck seal. In fact the seal had to come over from the other side of the country!
Do you think a patch made from 40mm neoprene tape would do the trick?

[PBrown]

Originally Posted by Notorious

Thanks for the reply. Yeah the leak is in a high traffic area.....my crotch!
The leak is very small, invisible to the eye but fizzes when preasurised and covered in soapy water.
I have some bostik 2402 from doing my neck seal and was thinking of making a patch for inside and out glued with the bostik....i dunno, what material to make the patch as the suit is an odd material itself.
As for local pro's for suit repaires...erm that's why i did my own neck seal. In fact the seal had to come over from the other side of the country!
Do you think a patch made from 40mm neoprene tape would do the trick?

That sounds like a small leak, you could just tape around the area & then flood it with aquasure (mix in some Cotol 240 to cut the drying time down to 2 hours).

Alternatively make a patch out of neoprene (I normally cut up an old pair of 3mm gloves or wetsuit booties) and slap it on using your surplus bostik. If you really want to go to town, do one patch inside, one patch outside & then aquasure the edges of each patch.

hth

cheers,
Paul

[Finless]

How did you manage to put a hole in a Gates Pro-VSN 1100?

If you would like I'll ring them up and ask Hunter (now owners of Gates) what they recommend ............. or you could email them?

Hunter Dry Diving Suit Contact Page

[Notorious]

PBrown thanks for the ideas. I think a small patch will do the trick.
Finless, I have no idea how the hole came about but i was gutted! Maybe it was one of the green eyed westuit divers on the boat!
Will drop hunter an email and see what they say. It actually looks like a faliure in the suit material.
Cheers

[stevechesh]

My mate has just had a similar problem. When Gates get very busy they send out the suits to a 3rd party to repair.

That company is called Azdry - ask for Maggie, Tel -01226 351333

[Finless]

Originally Posted by Notorious

Finless, I have no idea how the hole came about but i was gutted! Maybe it was one of the green eyed westuit divers on the boat!
Will drop hunter an email and see what they say. It actually looks like a faliure in the suit material.
Cheers

Before Gates were taken over by Hunter their cust services were VERY good - they replaced my previous suit (already a few years old) for a £100 when they discovered the material was delaminating (curiously enough that problem was around the nadgers which, I believe, is in a similar area on your suit).

I think Hunter are more money oriented and aren't so ......... "fair". Gates used to give the suits an inspection when returned for new cuffs or neck seals, Hunter offer the same service but charge for it.

Of course the time and money to send the suit from Australia might no makie it worth while?

[stevechesh]

Originally Posted by Finless

Of course the time and money to send the suit from Australia might no make it worth while?

Thats a very good point! That'll teach me to pay more attention to the original post....

[Finless]

Originally Posted by Notorious

Has anyone done this?
I have a suit thats a few year young but not heavily dived. I have a fizzing leak near the crotch but not on the seam and wanted to fix it myself. I'd send it back to Gates but i'm now living in Oz and postage would be silly!
I've done my own neck seals before but i'm not sure about patching the suit....what material and adhesive to use.
Any help out there?
Cheeers

If you Google for some courier prices etc you may not find it too exorbitant?

I know little about suit repairs and whether the construction of a Gates suit requires a special adhesive or ....................

Whatever you decide, I would def contact Gates - at least for advce on getting the repair done locally.

Anyway, why do you need a dry suit in Oz? I thought it was always "bloody hot mate!"?