In the case of neoprene cement like what is used by DUI and Harvey's, it does soften the glue by loosening the bond between the neoprene particles in the glue.Originally Posted by acelockco
But you're right that it leaves a residue that, if not cleaned properly, can keep those glued from sticking. OS Systems has promoted the used of silicone since 1981 and it works so good that several drysuit manufacturers have tried to get the same glue but have failed because it is a proprietary product.
Keeping a drysuit, o-rings, fin straps or any thin rubber anywhere near a refrigerator is a death sentence from the ozone produced by the electric motor.
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Very true, I was also told not to leave them near anything like a hot water heater, gas furnace, etc.....obviously because of the heat, chance of fire or whatever, but something that is emitted by the burning fuel that does something bad to the dry suits. I am usually one to look into the reasons why, but I would never store my dry suit in my heater room so I never looked into it.
Gotcha, I have a Bare and a Moby's dry suits and have not had to replace any seals on them yet....YET. I had on older suit a while back, I think it was in Imperial. Replacing the seals on that SUCKED!!!! I actually don't think I ever did finish and ended up buying my Bare.
Anyway, no matter what I am thrilled to see that companies are starting to address the dry suit seal issue as it has been an ongoing problem that no one has seemed to even come close to perfecting yet.
My seals last as long as my suits, 2-2.5 years max, around 1000 dives. Silicon may be more comfortable than latex but I've switched to neoprene now.
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The old Imperial is actually the suit that we did most of our glue experimenting on. We supplied glues and latex to Parkway (the old owner of Imperial) near the end of the regime and it got our processes down pat! We used silicone to preserve and lubricate the latex making them last a LONG time. However, it required using MEK to clean the residue from the suit when changing seals. Not a big deal but did add one additional step.
However, Parkway/Imperial decided not to endorse the silicone since they wanted to sell seals and also had a huge corner on the neoprene cement market with their "Old Man" glue. So they said to use talc ... which does a great job at hiding rubber degradation.
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