Neoprene wader repair help,

Hi All,

I recently ventured out in last ditch attempt to catch a few before winter sets in and used my Neoprene snowbees. Unfortantly they leaked really badly.

I have a tube of store sure.

however how do i do find the holes or seams that leak and secondly once found do i then have to wait for the Neoprene to dry and then user the glue?

Seems a bit of a battle but one i want to win the first time round not by trial and error.

If anyone has any experiance fixing Neoprene please post up.

John, just send them to diverdave on here, he will do a proper job, and it's worth every penny.
S.

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"A glint of sun has warmed the air,The flies will soon hatch out, To lure and tempt from their deep lair, The bonnie speckled trout." SKB tackle supporter. I love Furled Leaders.

hang them on the washing line and fill with water then watch for leaks. mark all leaks with a noticeable coloured marker.wait until dry before applying aquasure.

andy

Stick them on. Walk into river/pond/loch, walk back out, take waders off, note damp areas of clothing. Simples.

With the cost of postage for a heavy booted pair of neoprenes, and a repair job, it would be just as cheap buying new waders.

hi guys yep tx for all the posts lads.

I did look into getting them professionally repaired but postage and overall cost is prohitiative for like extra 20 quid i can get a new pair.

In my case the snowbees are 5mm neoprene and NO LONGER MADE VERY SAD. They are warm has hell in -5 as the boots have neeoprene lined.

i have tried my mates 4 mmm and over time you end up freezing whats 1mm someone might say , in my case a nice warm day versus half a day freezing your whatzits off.

Will try the washing line thing first and tube of aquasure and marker and let it dry. I got all winter..... to give it a go.

I would strongly advise against filling with water as a method of finding leaks in neoprenes. They stretch as you fill them and will take a huge weight of water you will rip the straps off, or severely stretch the neoprene, causeing more leaks. You will also get plenty of pressure at the feet but almost none at the crotch and this is exactly where they will be leaking. Additionally you will not be able to test the top few inches. Remember each litre of water weighs a kilogram, and if your waders are large or xl then you will have a couple of hundred ltr of water in there! If determined to use this method at least lay them on the ground or a diagonal table or similar. My advise is dont however.

But to answer your questions, do not glue on wet neoprene, the glue will not bond fully to the material, it should be dried and then cleaned with cotal 240. Then apply 2 thin coats of aquasure/stormsure/seam grip or whatever, thinned with cotal, withour this repairs are far weaker.

Our repairs cost £45 plus postage for neoprenes, and in 2 years we have never had a neoprene we have repaired come back to us leaking again. Neoprenes are repaired totally differently to breathables, they require a different sealant and have to be keyed properly so that the first 2 coats of sealant soaks into the seam. It is 3-5 mm thick afterall, so a floating patch will weap water in time. We then add 2-3 thicker seamseals to add strength. At retail prices we would have probably 8-10 tubes of aquasure on each wader, and it would cost way more than we charge to do what we do with 1oz tubes of glue - we make our own!

All our repairs come with a years guarantee and we are confident that once done our repair is the strongest part of the wader!

We also have a really good stock of warranty replacement waders in stock at the moment, including the snowbees you describe. Most are A1 condition, looking like they have never been outside, though some are clearly used. They are sold seamsealed and tested with a years guarantee with prices from £50 for neoprenes to £130 to top of the range zipped breathables.

Details at DiverDave's Wader Repairs and feel free to contact me directly if you need any additional help in repairing your own waders, i am happy to help and advise

Dave

Hi dave,

I am not doubting your expertise or value for money in the services you offer.

I never had to repair waders before and have a tube of aquasure which as you point out at £7 a tube is not cheap. So failing my attempt at trying to fix them I will certainly consider your repair service.

My orginal post was to find if there was any tips or tricks to doing it the right way as with most things there generally is.

Regards

i John

I am happy to help and advise, so dont worry. I was just concerned that what you were being advised will not work everytime, depending on the problem. I know these waders very well and they will be leaking at the crotch. I would be really surprised if a single tube of glue will do it and see so many waders with repair attempts on them that i am always happy to advise.

cheers

dave

sorry icejohn for that reply, only thought i was correct but never thought of the stretching and maybe making the problem worse,better listening to diver dave

andy

ok guys my glue has dried out over the winter and didnt put it on the holes i found, was waiting for the waders to dry ( i walked into a river nice dry clothes on walked out and marked permanet pen roughtly where the leasks are mostly around the errrr lower regions .. and thats not to say i get excited when i catch a fish )

My questions is this having a new tube of glue do i put the glue on the inside of the wader? or the out side of the wader ?and how much should i be slapping on along the seams.?

Also some posts (not this forum) suggest mcnett cotal 240 a kind of cataylst to speed up drying. Now reading somone else post its also used to thin the aquasure down into a paintable solution to cover more area. Has anyone used this meothod or is it no good.? cotal seems very very hard to find unless u order 15ml with is a table spoon or go for 1 litre at £45 notes.

Someone else also suggested rubber contact adhesive diluted with acetone and paint that on but am a little dubious about that.

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Just re-read diver daves above post seems he answered my question on cotol so will be following his advice