$225 to $250 for a neck seal?

[Benoit]

I was stunned and unhappy. Stopped by Silent World in Bellevue because they could replace my neckseal faster than other shops around. But when I stopped by to drop it I was told "the seal is ~80, installation about 120-130, so about 225-250 with taxes".

Anyone ever seen such a high price for neck seal replacements?!? I want shops to stay in business, but $250...

[Dusty2]

Woah! That's way high. Check with Tacoma Scuba. the guys there can do it while you wait and do it allot cheaper. That is unless your talking neoprene.

[Benoit]

Latex! Yeah checking other nearby shops the prices seemed to be more like $70 to $90.

That wasn't "my shop" to start with, but I think I'll avoid that place from now on... I have a friend who dropped a reg for servicing there and if I remember right when he picked it up it had a $250+ bill waiting...

[ljjames]

if you've seen the amount of work that goes into replacing a neoprene... insane. I hung out for Wally doing a really really nice job on some neoprene seals this weekend and i tell ya, that is not something i'd want to be doing. Were I him, i'd probably charge DOUBLE (AKA neoprenes are a pain in the rear)

Also if you watch Danny at UW sports replace a neckseal you'll see another master at work. Each time I go in when he's doing seals i learn about 10 more sweet tricks of the trade to do a better job, and i know he's got hundreds more in the memory banks.

Seals, especially neck seals are not a simple bang em out job. I don't know how much it should cost or the going rate as i have zip seals all around on my current suits, but i know from gluing a few in my day (and I glue small surveyor hoods onto DUI neckseals for working with FFM) and watching folks work on them that a good job is worth every penny.

Did Silent World quote you the rush rate? if that is the case, the quoted price would not surprise me. you want something done quick, its gonna cost you. Most folks can get you fast turn around, but ANY of them will charge you more. I mean by fast turn around is a day or three as opposed to around a week. How fast were they offering to get it done for you?

[Nwbrewer]

Having changed both neck and wrist seals myself, I do believe that unless something is wrong with the suit that they have to repair, $120-150 to change a neck seal is simply ridiculous.

Buy the airspeed press book on drysuit repair, some glue, some seals and just change them.

Jake

[fmerkel]

Silent World is know for high prices, esp. for tech work.

[Norris]

Neckseals (latex) are a pretty easy do-it-yourself job. I did my last one and it worked out great!

[camerone]

Northeast Scuba Supply - http://NortheastScubaSupply.com has seals for $40 each. They're really good guys up there - I used to buy a lot of parts and repair items from them. You'll need seam tape, at least one full can of seal cement, methyl-ethyl ketone, sand paper, some heavy cardboard, a scuba tank (to use as a form) and a heat gun to do the repairs, but it's not a hard job. You're looking at $50-$60 in materials, all in, to do the job right.

One thing to note if you have someone else do the repair for you - the "cheap" way to do it is cut the old seal off, glue the new one to the old one, and send you on your way. That works for a while, but it looks like crap, and is generally a hallmark of laziness on the part of the tech. Removing it completely, prepping the surface, and putting the new seal on takes time and effort.

Wrist seals are easy. Neck seals are a little bit harder, but not out of the realm of someone to DIY.

[spatman]

I was stunned and unhappy. Stopped by Silent World in Bellevue because they could replace my neckseal faster than other shops around. But when I stopped by to drop it I was told "the seal is ~80, installation about 120-130, so about 225-250 with taxes".

Anyone ever seen such a high price for neck seal replacements?!? I want shops to stay in business, but $250...

last year i attempted to change seals using a dry adhesive tape. i bought a neck seal and the tape for it, but never got around to using it. i'll sell it for you for cheap if you'd like to try it out.

here's a link to the product:
http://www.diverightinscuba.com/catalog ... -2212.html

i don't remember the size, i'd have to take a look when i get home later.

[Tom Nic]

Seems high unless there were extenuating circumstances on the install.

It sure is nice to know the numbers upfront before a job is started.

[renoun]

Northeast Scuba Supply - http://NortheastScubaSupply.com has seals for $40 each.

I order things I can't get locally from NESS on occasion but there is no need to buy a neck seal from them. I usually buy neck seals and PB-300 (the heat releasable contact cement) from Northwest Outdoor Center on Westlake. I prefer bottle seals for my wrists so I stop by the Seattle Underwater Sports to purchase them.

Drysuit repair isn't really that complicated until you get into the realm of zipper replacement. It is worthwhile to put some effort into learning to service valves, replace seals, and patch leaks. A little bit of skill can have you solving many problems in the field and handling the rest in your garage.

[airsix]

I have no issue with people charging for their time. I do. I can respect that part, however, $80 for the seal is a 300% markup at a minimum. I've never paid more than $35 for a latex neck seal (as recently as 2009).

[Mattleycrue76]

1. I believe anyone should charge whatever the heck they think their product/time/service it worth
2. I've never paid anywhere near those prices (tops was $115 I think)
3. The only way I would pay that kind of money is in an emergency
4. If I hear about Silent World going out of business I won't be lamenting the economy or the internet. Given their ready
supply of affluent clients this is rather unlikely though

[Gdog]

cheapest neck seal so far, $65. Average, $100. Got charged $150 at a DS in Portland.

[Joshua Smith]

I gotta chime in here. I was, tragically, born without a neck. As you can imagine, this has caused me tremendous difficulties with the so called "neck seal" on drysuits. I ALWAYS leak at the neck- it seems that if I were to cut a latex seal short enough to fit, one could herd a buffalo through the resulting hole without touching the sides. Thanks to my weezle undergarments, I have been able to tough out soggy dives from 1-2 1/2 hours in length. (Weezles really are amazing that way. Not saying it was toasty warm like sitting by the fire, but I AM saying I have done this many times, and I sure couldn't have done it in my old undergarments!)

Anyway, I got a bit EXTRA soggy on my recent Governor dive, and I knew that my neckseal was about due for replacement. I was thinking about trying a neoprene one, and read this thread this morning- and saw that Wally at Tacoma Scuba did them in house. I had the day off, so I called him up- "Sure, come on down!" was his reply. I drove down there, and Wally looked at my suit, measured my "neck", and squinted at me. "Have you ever tried any latex seals that weren't cone shaped?" he asked me. "Uh...you mean there are different shapes?" I said, blinking like a deer in the headlights. We went into the workshop, and Wally showed me a neck seal that was shaped more.....well, more like a mushroom than like a cone. I tried it on, and saw immediately how it could sit low enough around my "Shoulder/cranium interface/ theoretical neck location" and still let me move my head around without folding over. "Cheaper and easier than Neoprene" Wally said. And with that, he tore my old cone shaped seal off and started prepping for the new one.

When it was all done, Wally rang me up. The total was $85.00, including a new $6 bottle of seal saver.

I havent had a chance to dive it yet, obviously, but I'm optimistic- it fits better than any seal I have ever had. So- yeah, there you go. I think Wally deserves a plug for this.

[H20doctor]

Bellevue... Need I say more... Welcome to the eastside

[coulterboy]

I agree with Laura on Danny at UW sports in Seattle. I went there to have my wrist seals replaced and about 30-40 minutes later, I walked out with a new wrist seal. The whole time, I watched him do his trade and Danny can replace any seal while his eyes are closed. I learned a lot watching him on the job. Next time a seal is ripped, I can do it myself.

[Blaiz]

"Shoulder/cranium interface"

This made me giggle.

[John Rawlings]

I gotta chime in here. I was, tragically, born without a neck. As you can imagine, this has caused me tremendous difficulties with the so called "neck seal" on drysuits. I ALWAYS leak at the neck- it seems that if I were to cut a latex seal short enough to fit, one could herd a buffalo through the resulting hole without touching the sides. Thanks to my weezle undergarments, I have been able to tough out soggy dives from 1-2 1/2 hours in length. (Weezles really are amazing that way. Not saying it was toasty warm like sitting by the fire, but I AM saying I have done this many times, and I sure couldn't have done it in my old undergarments!)

Anyway, I got a bit EXTRA soggy on my recent Governor dive, and I knew that my neckseal was about due for replacement. I was thinking about trying a neoprene one, and read this thread this morning- and saw that Wally at Tacoma Scuba did them in house. I had the day off, so I called him up- "Sure, come on down!" was his reply. I drove down there, and Wally looked at my suit, measured my "neck", and squinted at me. "Have you ever tried any latex seals that weren't cone shaped?" he asked me. "Uh...you mean there are different shapes?" I said, blinking like a deer in the headlights. We went into the workshop, and Wally showed me a neck seal that was shaped more.....well, more like a mushroom than like a cone. I tried it on, and saw immediately how it could sit low enough around my "Shoulder/cranium interface/ theoretical neck location" and still let me move my head around without folding over. "Cheaper and easier than Neoprene" Wally said. And with that, he tore my old cone shaped seal off and started prepping for the new one.

When it was all done, Wally rang me up. The total was $85.00, including a new $6 bottle of seal saver.

I havent had a chance to dive it yet, obviously, but I'm optimistic- it fits better than any seal I have ever had. So- yeah, there you go. I think Wally deserves a plug for this.

Now THAT deserves a huge OOOOOH-RAH! Cheers for Wally!!!!

[Benoit]

Ok thanks all for the feedback. Confirmed that price was just ridiculous.

That is, it was latex. I had not asked them any timeline yet so it wasn't rush. And they had not looked at the suit so they couldn't know if it would be a big job because of something weird.

Now granted the way the neck seal is glued to skin neoprene skirt sewed to the main suit with cleverly placed tapes to seal the whole thing makes it harder than others to change. Otherwise I would have done it myself - I just couldn't see how to remove those tapes without breaking the stitches or peeling the nylon out of the neoprene. Otherwise the dry adhesive of DRIS looks very compelling (and I ordered one to try on another, much simpler, suit).

(EDIT: Removed comments that were not intended to cause any harm)

[craigthefish]

Just got wind of all of this. Sorry for the confusion. The latex neck seal replacement quoted was not correct. We do charge more ($165) for this service, but for good reason. I used to price this service at around $80, but after looking at the time involved to do the work properly (remove the old seal, clean the surface properly, removing all the old seal and glue, glue the new seal on (we use heavy-duty seals), seam tape the outer edge, seam grip adhesive on the inner edge and pressure test the suit), the hour I budgeted into the work was actually more like 5-6 hours of steady work. That is to do the work properly. I also looked at what our suit manufacturers charge, and we're in the same ball park.
I agree, its a bunch of money. And it is something you can do yourself if you have the time and inclination. I also understand there are other operations that will do it for less.
I find it hard to understand the assertion "Benoit" made that he could have the work done for "$35 for the seal, and $35 for the labor". If he can get the work done, like we do (our process is the same you would get at a suit manufacturer) for the $70 claimed, he should do it.

BTW: I really find it offensive to myself and my customers that this thread and this club in general would bash my business without any substantiation. "Benoit" was very belligerent when he came in yesterday; he should go elsewhere.
This is whole thing is all Kinda sad...

[spatman]

BTW: I really find it offensive to myself and my customers that this thread and this club in general would bash my business without any substantiation. "

excuse me? "this club in general" currently consists of 1901 registered users. i don't see any "bashing" by the 17 members who posted to this thread, let alone the remaining 1884. a few complaints about high prices hardly constitutes bashing.

please don't make generalizations about this forum or its members.

[citycatred]

BTW: I really find it offensive to myself and my customers that this thread and this club in general would bash my business without any substantiation. "

excuse me? "this club in general" currently consists of 1901 registered users. i don't see any "bashing" by the 17 members who posted to this thread, let alone the remaining 1884. a few complaints about high prices hardly constitutes bashing.

please don't make generalizations about this forum or its members.

+1 There isn't any bashing on this thread, trust me....our mods are very good at telling the difference between bashing and general complaints.

[CaptnJack]

BTW: I really find it offensive to myself and my customers that this thread and this club in general would bash my business without any substantiation. "

excuse me? "this club in general" currently consists of 1901 registered users. i don't see any "bashing" by the 17 members who posted to this thread, let alone the remaining 1884. a few complaints about high prices hardly constitutes bashing.

please don't make generalizations about this forum or its members.

Not only that but when you "misquote" someone a price and they call you out on it... That would be a good time to be apologetic not accusatory. Just sayin'

[Geek]

Just got wind of all of this. Sorry for the confusion. The latex neck seal replacement quoted was not correct. We do charge more ($165) for this service, but for good reason. I used to price this service at around $80, but after looking at the time involved to do the work properly (remove the old seal, clean the surface properly, removing all the old seal and glue, glue the new seal on (we use heavy-duty seals), seam tape the outer edge, seam grip adhesive on the inner edge and pressure test the suit), the hour I budgeted into the work was actually more like 5-6 hours of steady work. That is to do the work properly. I also looked at what our suit manufacturers charge, and we're in the same ball park.
I agree, its a bunch of money. And it is something you can do yourself if you have the time and inclination. I also understand there are other operations that will do it for less.
I find it hard to understand the assertion "Benoit" made that he could have the work done for "$35 for the seal, and $35 for the labor". If he can get the work done, like we do (our process is the same you would get at a suit manufacturer) for the $70 claimed, he should do it.




BTW: I really find it offensive to myself and my customers that this thread and this club in general would bash my business without any substantiation. "Benoit" was very belligerent when he came in yesterday; he should go elsewhere.
This is whole thing is all Kinda sad

WOW!! thanks for clairifying your prices... man, I had (/sarcasim)NO idea that Wally didn't do seals right, he must really not be doing a good job huh? and for half your price....... and a third the turn around time...... and nobody I know ever got a bad one done by him.....(/sarcasim)

If you think we are coming down hard now.. keep it up