Wetsuit Zip Repair
Wetsuit zip stuck, split or pulled off? Most zips are repairable. Slider swaps, full replacements, and how to tell which one you need.
The Wetsuit Repair Shack·
The bench · Ocean Grove
A dead zip is the repair people assume ends the suit. It almost never does.
Zips get replaced here every week. The job is bigger than a tear, but it is a job, and it costs a fraction of a new suit. What matters is which of four problems you actually have, because three of them are cheap and one of them is not.
Most people who send us a zip they describe as broken have a slider problem, which is one of the cheapest jobs on our list.
The four zip problems
1. Stiff, catching or grinding
The zip still works, it just fights you.
Salt crystals and fine sand build up in the track. Every time you force the slider through, it drags those crystals along the teeth and wears the profile down. That is how a stiff zip becomes a dead one.
Fix: flush the track with fresh water, work the slider end to end a dozen times, dry it, then lubricate it. A wetsuit specific zip lube or a candle stub both work. Paraffin wax is the old trick and it still works.
Do this now and you probably never pay for a zip repair.
2. Slider is worn, split or has come off
The most common zip failure by a distance.
Symptoms: the zip closes but immediately splits open behind the slider, or the slider pulls off the end of the track, or it feels loose and rattly. That is the slider itself failing, not the zip.
A slider is a wearing part. The two halves of it are what force the teeth together, and after a few hundred cycles the throat opens up and stops doing that. The teeth are usually fine.
Fix: slider replacement. Half an hour on the bench. We remove the old slider, fit a new one matched to the track size, and refit the stops. If the stopper has gone too, we do the slider and stopper together as one job.
This is the single best value repair in the trade and the one most people skip because they assume the whole zip is gone.
3. Teeth bent, missing or pulled apart
Now you need a new zip.
If you can see gaps in the teeth, teeth sitting at odd angles, or a section where the track will not close no matter what the slider does, the track itself is damaged. No slider will fix that.
Fix: full zip replacement. This means unpicking the entire zip assembly, removing the old track, fitting a new YKK marine grade zip, then regluing and restitching every seam run around it so the entry seals again.
4. Zip has torn out of the neoprene
The one case where we might say no.
A chest zip system pulls hard on the panels either side. If the neoprene has gone soft, the zip tape tears out of it, and fitting a new track into the same tired rubber gives you the same failure in a month.
We assess this properly before quoting. Sometimes we reinforce the panel and fit the new zip. Sometimes we tell you the suit is done. Either way you hear it before we start, not after.
What a full zip replacement actually involves
Worth explaining, because a zip replacement sounds like a lot until you see the work.
A chest zip is not one component. It is the zip track, the entry panel, the barrier flap behind it, the neck closure, and four to six seam runs holding the whole assembly into the suit.
The job:
- Unpick the stitching along every seam holding the zip assembly in
- Separate the old track from the neoprene without tearing the panels
- Clean both faces back to bare rubber
- Fit and align the new track, which has to sit dead straight or the suit will not close flat
- Glue under clamp pressure and cure
- Restitch every run
- Tape the inside where the original build had tape
- Pressure test the entry
Three to four hours of bench time on most suits. Set that against $520 for a replacement suit and the maths is not close.
Back zips are a similar job. Sometimes slightly quicker because the run is straighter, sometimes slower because the neck and shoulder seams are more involved.
Zip prices
Every zip job is listed separately: slider replacement, stopper box and pin, slider and stopper together, one leg zip, two leg zips, chest zip replacement and back zip replacement. Each has a fixed starting price. Final pricing can vary with the condition of the suit and the extent of the work, and we message you with photos before doing anything extra.
Pricing
See current zip repair prices
Every job listed individually with a fixed starting price. Inspection and quoting are free, and there is discounted pricing when several repairs are done at the same time.
View repairs and pricingZip replacement is offered on surf branded wetsuits and is not available on thin skin tri suits.
Return postage within Australia is a flat $15, selected at checkout. Drop-off is free. The repairs page has the full list, and there is discounted pricing when several repairs are done at the same time.
How to make a zip last
The zip is the shortest lived part of a wetsuit and almost all of that is down to how it gets treated.
Rinse the track, not just the suit. Hold the zip open under fresh water and let it run through the teeth. Thirty seconds.
Never force a stuck slider. If it stops, work out why. Forcing it bends teeth, and bent teeth mean a full replacement instead of a slider.
Check for liner caught in the track. The most common cause of a jam, and yanking it is how you tear the liner as well.
Lubricate before winter, not during it. Once a season is enough. Zip lube, paraffin wax or a candle stub, run along the closed teeth then worked through.
Do it up fully when you store it. An open zip lets the track twist and distort on the hanger.
Do not fold the suit across the zip. Hang it over a wide hanger. Sharp folds across a zip track deform it permanently.
Our guide to making a wetsuit last covers the rest of the suit the same way.
Which brands we do zips on
All of them. Rip Curl Flashbomb and E Bomb, O'Neill Hyperfreak and Psycho, Patagonia R series, Xcel Drylock, Billabong Furnace, Vissla, C Skins, Need Essentials, Quiksilver and everything else that comes through the door.
Construction varies between brands, which changes how the assembly comes apart, not what it costs.
When to get it looked at
Now, if it is catching. Not in June.
Zips fail in the middle of winter because that is when the suit is used every day, and winter is exactly when you cannot afford to be out of the water. A slider replacement in autumn is one of the cheapest jobs on our list and takes half an hour. The same zip in July, after you have forced it a dozen times, is a full replacement.
That is the most useful thing on this page.
Frequently asked questions
Can a broken wetsuit zip be repaired?
Yes, in nearly every case. If the slider has worn out or come off, replacing just the slider is one of the cheapest jobs we do. If the teeth are damaged, the whole zip gets replaced, and that job has a fixed starting price on our repairs page. The only time a zip cannot be replaced is when the neoprene either side has perished and will not hold a new track.
How much does it cost to replace a wetsuit zip in Australia?
Chest zip and back zip replacements each have a fixed starting price, listed on our repairs page. Replacing only the slider, or a slider with a new stopper, costs a good deal less. Because a chest zip replacement takes 3 to 4 hours of bench time, checking whether you only need a slider first is worth doing.
Why does my wetsuit zip keep splitting open behind the slider?
The slider has worn out. The two halves of a slider are what force the teeth to interlock, and once the throat opens up it stops doing that. The teeth are usually fine. A slider replacement fixes it.
My wetsuit zip is stuck. What should I do?
Do not force it. Check for liner or fabric caught in the track first, then flush the zip with fresh water, dry it and lubricate the teeth with zip lube, paraffin wax or a candle stub. Forcing a stuck slider bends teeth and turns the cheapest zip repair into the dearest one.
Can you replace the zip on a triathlon wetsuit?
No. Zip replacement is offered on surf branded wetsuits only. Thin skin tri suit neoprene will not hold a new track, though we do repair back zip pull cords on tri suits.
Can you fit a new zip to any brand of surf wetsuit?
Yes. Every brand comes through the shack. The way the zip assembly is built varies, which affects the method rather than the price.
Is it worth replacing a zip on an old wetsuit?
It depends on the rubber, not the age. If the neoprene is still springy and the rest of the suit is sound, a zip replacement on a suit worth $500 new is easy maths. If the rubber is papery and the liner is peeling, we will tell you not to bother.
Get your zip looked at
Send a photo of the slider and the track and we will tell you which of the four problems you have.
The Wetsuit Repair Shack, 9 to 11 Sinclair Street, Ocean Grove VIC 3226. Open Thursday and Friday 11am to 5pm, Saturday 9am to 1pm. Drop-off available when closed. Postal repairs Australia wide.
