Has anyone used a bicycle puncture repair kit to patch up a drysuit ?

[dannygoesdiving]

No I'm not penny pinching !

I live on an island that has no real dive shop with the nearest being a 700 mile flight away. My drysuit has sprung a leak, I have found the small pinhole responsible and need to patch it. A cycle puncture repair kit seems a realistic option, but wonder about its durability and whether the adhesive will have an adverse effect on the neoprene.

Any feedback would be great

Danny

[alrhem]

seen it done - mainly on rubber drysuits....

for neoprene suits ive seen black witch/cemedine x etc used

[witchieblackcat]

I fixed a mate's drysuit with a motorbike puncture repair kit a few months ago - one patch inside and one outside. Motorbike patches are a bit bigger than push bike ones but the theory is the same. I used the glue that came in the kit on a membrane suit. He's not complained so it must still be working it looks pretty ugly though

[denismc66]

I did this with a large tyre patch but i used proper glue like aquasure or aquaseal, i can never remember which is which.
The repair has lsted over 3 years

Denis

[Philelmer]

I had a pinhole in my SMB and repaired that with some superglue and gaffer tape. That's held alright for a good few months now, so I'd imagine something that's actually made for the purpose like a puncture repair kit should be fine.

[NeilB]

As above.....I used a bicycle repair kit on a membrane leak and it worked for many years.

Neoprene is much easier - it just needs a blob of Aquasure or similar glue.

[DanE]

Yep, plenty of bike patches on my suit, although it's a trilaminate.

dan

[dry suit diver]

yup I repaired the beaver teabag with a few puncture repair patches. I did however use a proper glue. Cotol240 or aquasure work fine

[ScubaSue]

Hey Danny!

I've used a bicycle repair kit on my dampsuit too - it lasted for a while and then peeled off -but I suspect that was more down to the way I abuse it. I gave up in the end and gave it to Patrick to sort a proper job on it, and that has lasted.

What are you doing in a drysuit anyway? I thought you a shorts and tshirt sort of bloke?

I assume you are well - love to Jo!

S x

[NotDeadYet]

I've used a bicycle repair kit on my dampsuit too - it lasted for a while and then peeled off -but I suspect that was more down to the way I abuse it.

Yep, that was my experience as well, don't think I even got months, more like a couple of weeks.

Get some proper marine contact cement like the 2 part Bostik stuff (often sold as hypalon cement in chandlers and the like). Aquacontact is a one part contact cement that is good for in the toolbox, I've torn a wrist seal and had it patched and in the water in 20min with it, but a titchy tube isn't much cheaper than a big tin of Bostik so I only keep it for emergencies. A lot of suit manufacturers will give you samples of trilam that are good for patching.

Don't fanny about with puncture kits, use the proper stuff if you're going to do it yourself.

Cheers,

Stuart