Leaky Hybrid Drysuit - DIY repair

[skibrain]

O’Neil assault hybrid suit. Leak test from O’Neil said the fabric top is leaking and unrepairable. I’ve gotten years of service, and a warranty replacement from O’Neil early on, so absolutely no complaint with them.

 

I did a quick run yesterday and yeah it is leaking pretty bad. Above the waist in back or arms - can’t tell if it’s at the seams or the coated fabric itself. Before I drop $400 on a new fluid suit I’m thinking about a $15 DIY repair. This would be on inside of suit so I don’t care if it’s ugly. Doesn’t have to be perfect, just better for a couple more years. Anyone done this with success?

 

I’m thinking of painting all the taped seams with brush-on contact cement OR urethane. Then seam sealer on fabric surface. Thoughts?

 

 

[skihacker]

I have the same suit with the same problem, really sucks, I HATE dry suits but this one is by far the least annoying and most comfortable. I've been wondering about rubberized spray paint,

[Andre]

4 more here with same suit and same problem but it gaves us 12 good seasons start!

Interrested in your findings...

[thager]

Spray Flexseal is working well on my old Overtons dry suit.

[BG1]

https://www.flexsealproducts.com/shop/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=paid&utm_term=1_flex_seal_products_exact&msclkid=8b4a6e6056f715420839311b65198897

 

I've never tried any of their products but the commercials are convincing.

[skibrain]

I like the idea. Reviews look mixed on Flex Seal.

[vtjc]

I also have an older O’Neil Hybris Assault suit with similar leak. I love the suit so I have been slow to replace. I thought it was the zipper leaking, but you have gotten me thinking about the upper. I wonder if Nikwax TX Direct would help on the upper part of the suit. https://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/products/tx-direct-spray-on/ It won’t help the seams though.

 

[skimtb]

Why did they quit making the assault? Seems I’m not the only one who likes it. Mine is I need of some attention too. Stuff above looks interesting.

[MISkier]

Has anybody repaired the wrist seal? I have an Assault that is only a couple of years old and I have only worn about 10 times. The outer neoprene portion of the wrist seal is fine. The rubber inner portion of the wrist seal has a longitudinal split in it. It's leaking quite a bit. I haven't found any replacement seals online yet, nor any advice on how to fix that.

[ALPJr]

I sent a couple suits to O’Neill during the winter of 2018/19 to have them repaired. Excellent service and reasonable pricing. Had a new zipper installed on an Assault dry suit, and had an Assault BLP 3/4 spring that they retaped and replaced a couple shoulder panels. They also sent me a bottle of neopreme repair cement. Btw both suits have about 25 seasons on them now.

[skihacker]

@MISkier, I would contact them and send it back for replacement wrist seals, they've always been great for such service, often no charge.

[MISkier]

@skihacker, I sent them an email just now. Thanks.

[skibrain]

Yes I have loved the Assault. The first one I had I sent in to have wrist and neck seals replaced, expecting to pay $20/seal as customer service had outlined. Suit was a couple years old and definitely out of warranty. After a phone call confirming progress, a new suit and no charge showed up.

 

This time my suit was 5-6 yrs old and O’Neil said they have had enough issues with that fabric in the top of Assault and that they are no longer making (maybe not for last 2 yrs) Customer service said the new Fluid suit is much better (loose fit neo on top) and very few of those have come back for repair.

 

Just sharing what I know. But again, I have no issue with O’Neil.

 

I think I will start with trying to focus on re-sealing the taped seams by brushing some kind of product around those areas. Then try it and move on from there.

[Jetsetr]

So...

You have a 50K boat (probably waaaay more) spend $1000’s on fuel for the season, several $1000+ skis, gloves, bindings, boots and top of the line tow ropes, fret over fin angle for a 2 degree water temp drop and you’re Mickey Mousing a repair on a old leaky drysuit.

Really??

For $400 you could be warm, dry and out skiing...I’m frugal but there’s a 1 year old O’Neil drysuit in my closet.

 

 

[skibrain]

@Jetsetr actually I don’t own a $50K boat and I was let go from work two months ago (thanks COVID) so looking at a few ways to not spend money right now.

 

For $15 I’m going to experiment with a $400 piece of gear that I would otherwise throw in the trash.

 

I skied at sunrise this morning in my leaky Drysuit. 50 air/56 water.

[skihacker]

So, an $800 USED ski that I'll ride every day for 6 months.......or a $490 dollar dry suit that I will begrudgingly wear 4 times??? That's pretty easy math for a blue collar guy on a tight budget......

[skibrain]

@thager how long have you been spraying the flex seal? Do you repeat annually?

[thager]

Only did it once last fall. So far so good.

[Rednucleus]

GearAid's Seam Grip is what I use for all my drysuit seal replacements, and any neoprene patching & lots of other repairs for a flexible waterproof application. If you shop a bit you will find an 8 oz tube for about $20. Protip - when not in use store in the freezer in a ziplock bag. I have had tubes still good after 2 years w/o drying out.

[skibrain]

 

[Jetsetr]

Deleted...

 

 

[vtjc]

The Nickwax didn’t improve my suit much, when I tried it this evening. A replacement suit a O’Neill Fluid suit is now on my wish list.

 

[6balls]

All my hybrids took very little time to decide to leak. Been running an Oneil boost for many years dry as a bone every time. It is a baggy, but the least draggy baggy I've owned.

[skibrain]

I’ll report my results as soon as I’m back in the water.

[jetpilotg4]

Please tell me the flex seal works

[UWSkier]

If the flex seal works there, I wonder if I sprayed a coating on my leaky armpit on my Camaro if I could get another season out of it. Anyone ever try that?

 

My Camaro is about 4 years old and working well... other than where my arm reaches across and rubs on my vest on my off-side wake crossing. That has worn away the hydrophobic surface on the bicep and armpit.

 

Might give this a go...

[skibrain]

 

OK, My drysuit repair was just in time for bad weather. So can’t report effectiveness yet. I spent about 1.5 hrs total. I FIRST painted all the taped seams and around zipper with the little tube of seam sealer (45 min?) It says it takes 8-12 hrs to cure and yup, it was pretty gooey for hours until the next morning - like I was concerned for the first three hours that it was never going to cure, but after overnight it was fine. One 1-oz tune BARELY enough to do all seams in the upper of the hybrid.

 

I really wanted to test just that way without doing the Flex Seal on the coated nylon, but I went ahead and masked off the neck, wrist and neo bottom (see photo) and sprayed. Flex Seal sets up much more quickly. I think I used about 1/2 can. When dry, the flex seal definitely made the coated nylon stiffer and sound more crinkly. But super glad I protected the seals.

 

Does it work? Can’t tell you yet. Wind last evening was 22 mph gusting to 41, so we didn’t ski. Waking temp was 36 this morning and then the wind machine turned back on.

 

@UWSkier If I were just reinforcing the Camaro, I would recommend trying to paint on the seam sealer to those areas. It appeared to create a nice layer of clear flexible urethane rubber once set up. The tube I got was clear color.

 

Disclaimer: these are not O’Neill-authorized or recommended repairs. Just me giving it a go.

 

[skibrain]

Did a quick ski today with 52/50 air/water temps. Suit seems as dry as it ever was. I’m not convinced Flex Seal was best solution as it made the fabric stiffer, but it seemed to keep water out. ?

[75Tique]

Does anybody have a bare baggy suit. Mine leaks pretty badly. Put it on and did some "forensic" submerges today to try to see exactly where leaks are, seals, fabric, seams? Seemed to be seams as I felt water come in, but got out pretty quickly before it spread and it had soaked my jeans around the crotch and in strips down the legs, right where seams are vs all around. So I want to "treat" the seams somehow, and am thinking of going the flex seal route. But before I do that, and why I asked if anyone has one, is all this tape over the seams "factory" or something the previous owner may have done to seal the seams. Note: Ive had the suit several years and the bad leaking just started the last year or so. I am wondering if I should remove this tape before flex sealing or leaving it on. I am inclined to pull it off, since it is already coming off in spots.

 

[MISkier]

@75Tique, in addition to my O'Neill Assault, I have the Bare Ultra Dry baggy suit - which is actually my preferred suit. Mine does not have any tape over the seams. It is in need of some new wrist seals, which I will try to do myself over the winter. It has been great for me and it's 10 years old.

[jim_s]

Same suit, same problem. (Nonetheless, I freaking LOVE that suit!!) I went at all of the seams with the Aquaseal +FD and the 'accelerator' that they sell (it does speed the cure time, for sure, but I was using it for thinning the Aquaseal so it could be spread more easily). So far, it seems to be working great. It's not quite back to it's original 'dry' condition (I could literally ski in regular clothes, take the suit off, and drive home as-is, LoL :-) But it's back to being a damp-suit, and I'm Ok with that. I think it's pretty much entirely water sneaking up the wrists and ankles at this point. Took 4 tubes of the .75oz tube of Aquaseal along with the full amount of the .34oz accelerator they package with it, but I was able to get all of the seams covered pretty thoroughly. For $40, it was worth squeezing (hopefully!) another few seasons out of the Assault. (Bummed to hear they've discontinued it!!)

[ALPJr]

@jim_s Although it’s not called the Assault any more the Fluid Dry is basically the same type of suit but with upgrades to fluid foam in strategic areas which is more flexible yet still as warm.

[75Tique]

@MISkier By saying you are going to "try" to redo your wrist seals, I take it you have not done it before. Go for it. Pretty easy. BARE seals are available from amazon. There are a ton of videos on youtube on how to do it. Key is to find a good form that fits tightly into the wrist/seal. Hunt around the kitchen or garage. I found a pickle jar the exact size. I have done all 5 of mine and they all seem to be holding up well.

[MISkier]

@75Tique, I have never done it before and have had a dive shop do that in the past. I was unhappy with the last repair from them. I did get the seals from Amazon and the other supplies. I’ve scanned the YouTube videos in the past, so I think it’s doable,

[richfoster]

I used spray flex seal on several significant tears on my Camaro. I’ve skied with it 5 times and so far so good.

[75Tique]

I just got through flex sealing all the seams (except sleeves, I think they are OK) Looks to be pretty good seals. I'll be doing another immersion test in another day or two to see how I did. Hope I got it. It was getting pretty soggy in there.

 

[UWSkier]

@richfoster that's great. I'm going to attack a few wear spots on mine with that stuff to see if I can seal it up a bit. Have worn through the water-repellent coating in the right armpit and upper bicep. If I can stop 50% of the water that comes through there, I'll be chuffed.

[jmhjgh]

My Oneill Boost just came back from Oneill with a note that they can't repair it. I bought it at a garage sale with the tags still on it and it has leaked from day one. I tried to inflate and find the leaks, but it seems like it is leaking due to fabric delamination. How is the flexseal holding up, and how much stiffer is the drysuit? Are people only spraying a thin coat on the inside? I was thinking of spraying the outside back (seems to be the largest area leaking).

[skibrain]

My suit is dryer, but I’m not sold on flex seal as the solution. I think the natural on/off cycles of turning sleeves and top inside-out isn’t helpful.

 

How much stiffer? 2x? I sprayed a couple of coats of Flexseal. I’m going after some seams again with seam sealer. When I get really bored this winter.

[jmhjgh]

Thanks for the response. I watched a video of sealing tent seams with 100% silicone caulk thinned with mineral spirits. There was some reports of thinning to the consistency of milk and spraying the entire tent. I might give that a try but it is likely one and done as not much will stick to silicone after that. Of course, it is worthless already :)

[david_ski]

My O'Neil Assault Drysuit has had the same issue this season after 5 years of use. The last month I ended up putting on my Camaro BlackTec top underneath the drysuit. At least the water leak was not felt until it seeped down past the waist into the neoprene section.

 

I will try to see if I can waterproof the the upper-half this winter. I also need to repair a wrist seal before it can be usable again. I am not enthralled with O'Neil's current drysuit offerings. The full baggy Boost or the Fluid Drysuit. The Fluid seems to be somewhat restrictive for movement. One of my ski partners bought a O'Neil Fluid and she is very happy with it.

 

However, I am giving this suit a try. The Isrus 2.2 zipperless wetsuit. Another friend also had a 5 year old O'Neil hybrid suit failure, and he went to the Isrus wetsuit and is extremely happy with the choice. My Isrus arrived, and I have not had a chance to give it a try yet. I am impressed with the material and construction. The zipperless design feels more flexible than a Camaro 1.5 BlackTec full suit. Also, it is not as delicate material as the Camaro BlackTec neoprene.

 

shield-2-2-zipfree-fullsuit-wetsuit

[Joeprunc]

Getting 10+ years out of a suit is great. However one thing a lot of folks do that kill that life early are exposing these suits to sun and heat. Keep them out of the sun and in the house when not using them.

[RGilmore]

@skibrain I've had the same problems as you, with all 3 Assault-type suits I owned. (one was an HO brand, undoubtedly private-labeled from another maker) After many years of experimenting with various repair methods I came to realize the primary reason they all eventually leaked was because whatever treatment had made the nylon top waterproof simply breaks down over time. So while it may seem as if it's the seams that are leaking, it's really the nylon fabric right at the edges of where it meets the seams.

 

Fully coating the entire inner fabric surface with a "Flex-seal" type product did work for me for a while, but ultimately failed as well. So eventually, I gave up on the hybrid type suit and went to a Ski Warm full bag suit. Best choice I ever made. But I didn't throw away my last Assault suit, Instead, I cut off the legs just above the knee area, and use them like "spray legs" over the bag suit, Results: very low drag while skiing, and bone-dry clothes when I take it off. For a few sets at each end of the season it would be hard to ask for much more than that.

[Cnewbert]

@david_ski I bought O’Neill Fluid Neos for both my wife and I, neither one of us having even the slightest iota of resistance to cold. So in our case it’s either stay warm or stay home. We love them! I actually think they cause less restriction to movement than a wetsuit as well as being more streamlined than skiing in a wetsuit for these reasons: The hip/leg portion fits snug like a good wetsuit. At the same time there is more volume in the torso and shoulders than a wetsuit, allowing excellent upper body freedom of movement as well as enough room so we can wear comp vests comfortably underneath instead of outside. The vests alone give us all the insulation we need, but the fact they are inside the suit results in a sleek exterior and less drag on deep water starts. As well, when wearing a vest over a wetsuit, there is increased restriction on chest expansion and breathing owing to the added thickness of the wetsuit causing the vest to fit tighter in addition to the inherent chest construction of the wetsuit itself. With the vest inside, even over a t-shirt or jersey, it is no tighter than when skiing in summer with nothing on top, and the roomier torso of the drysuit doesn’t restrict breathing at all like a wetsuit would. As for durability, I have no idea, but if we get even a few seasons out of them it would be well worth it, as again, for us, the alternative is not skiing at all and that is not acceptable! :-)

[ALPJr]

I bought my O’Neill Assault Dry in ‘96. In ‘18 I sent it to O’Neill to have the zipper replaced. Also sent my ‘94 BLP 3/4 spring to be retaped and they replaced a couple panels and the arm and leg seals. All for about $140.

[jepski]

Drysuit are tough to find, COVID impact I guess. A fair condition” Assault was for sale locally for $30. Paid the guy $25. No rips, tears but also no DWR coating left on the fabric exterior. Water didn’t bead up, it just soaked in. Resulting, as others found water coming through the fabric in places. The seams and zipper are watertight. I’ve washed the nylon in Tech Wash, used a brush on exterior-read that helps restore texture, allowing the dwr to “bond” better, then applied NikWax worked in with microfiber cloth. Based on others results, I’m not hopeful that will cure the leaks. If it doesn’t I think Flexseal is the step. I don’t care about breathability, just hoping to get in a few dry sessions, unzipping between. Meanwhile found a “new no-tags” Fluid on eBay, that arrives tomorrow:) Once the Assault is waterproof I will keep it for my ski crew, assuming the Fluid will be dry LOL.

[david_ski]

@Cnewbert that is how I would use my drysuit with the comp vest on the inside. For now the Isrus 2.2 zipper less is a great wetsuit. 43 deg air and 48 deg water on 12/21. Only my feet were very cold after the set.

 

 

[Cnewbert]

@david_ski I’m envious you have such great resistance to cold! Regrettably, I have none. The good news is I live in FL where the water never gets cold cold... not by your standards at least.

[jepski]

Like everyone else, using NikWax on the exterior of mind did not help at all, the back and sleeves just soaked through. From what I can tell, the zipper, neck/wrist seals and the lower neo are (mostly) dry. Hard to tell b/c of the water coming through the fabric.

Any reason why clear Flex Seal could not be sprayed on the outside of the fabric? Thus keeping water from soaking the exterior fabric? @skibrain or @thager or anyone else that has tried to keep water out of these suits?

[skibrain]

@jepski it's worth a try. Nothing to lose.