That’s not my experience at all
3mm or heavier neoprene is generally waterproof and it should be, as it’s CLOSED CELL foam and it’s not supposed to leak. In thinner materials, I’ve seen leakage, but its not usually a problem until you get down to 1.5mm or less.
closed cell neoprene
the neoprene generally used for spray skirts, wetsuits etc is closed cell and does not let water pass through.
http://www.tiffen.com/Zing802list.PDF
Take a spray skirt and lay it over a bucket and puddle on some water. None will pass through.
The poster probably has a seam leak somewhere. Unless he has a rare thin non closed cell type of thing which I have never seen.
I’ve had three neos that leak
– Last Updated: Apr-29-11 5:05 AM EST –
some dont leak until youve had em a couple years and some will leak the day you get em usually the thinner ones especially over time. water does pass through some neopreneregardless of anyone heres opinion. Ive tested this.
however a good neo spray deck shouldn't leak for some time. my seals shocker is pretty dry under most conditions, my two prijon skirts leak bad and also my liquid logig neo leaks.
seams
are an issue with one of them but with two there are no seams anywher near where the water pools and comes though once saturated sooo back to the question on sprays… anyone know of anything.
Wet suits don’t leak, either
– Last Updated: Apr-27-11 6:50 AM EST –
My diving wetsuit is so dry that I only get damp at the collar and cuffs. The material doesn't leak. The reason that you may get wet in a wet suit is because it doesn't fit properly and it allows water infiltration at the openings and pooling in the suit. The material is not porous.
Neoprene is CLOSED CELL foam. It's composed of tiny cells containing nitrogen. It's the trapped gas that provides the insulation. If neoprene was not closed cell, it would be no more effective an insulator than a kitchen sponge.
That said, neoprene can develop leaks where it's stretched or compressed. That's what's happened with your spray skirts. Thin neoprene may contain pinholes, but again, that's generally an issue with material under 2mm thick.
Aquaseal
– Last Updated: Apr-26-11 8:12 AM EST –
I have an old nylon spray skirt that used to leak through the fabric and I used Aquaseal. I used a credit card to squeege a thin coating over the surface and that stopped the leaking. You can also use fishing wader repair stuff too. Or maybe even silicone calk?
I’m impressed
that you didn’t use the word ‘duh’
For the squeegee operation, put
the skirt on the cockpit reversed, that is with the underside up. Usually that will tension it enough to make spreading easy. I again suggest Seamgrip as an easier-spreading alternative to the very similar Aquaseal.
Gear Aid Tent Sure
Hi, I’m with Gear Aid (the makers of Seam Grip and Aquaseal). We’d recommend using Tent Sure. It’s a water-based urethane formula that has similar properties to Seam Grip and Aquaseal, only it’s easier to apply when restoring a waterproof coating vs. fixing a specific hole/tear. You can read more here: http://bit.ly/mttYQo Feel free to reach out direct with any more questions.
excellent
some solutions thanks.
you might want to have a chat
with NRS. I have one of their neo skirts, and yes, it is 2 mm, but they told me that they don’t consider neo to be a waterproof material and that it will seep through the material, particularly after the DWR finish has worn off.
Snap Dragon
Get a good Snap Dragon skirt and you’ll never have complaints.
2mm is too thin for a skirt…
– Last Updated: Apr-29-11 7:01 AM EST –
...at least if you want any durability. It sounds to me like NRS is just hedging, as they know it's not going to hold up. Think about this: Why would anyone sell a spray skirt that they don't expect to be waterproof? They're essentially admitting that they're selling a product that's unsuitable for its intended use Weird!
I don't think I've ever owned a neoprene product that had a DWR coating. It shouldn't need it.
I have a Snapdragon, and it’s a great
skirt, but it’s no guarantee of perfect performance. Nor are Snapdragons so good that one shouldn’t consider alternatives.
Neoprene varies
There are closed cell versions and open cell versions. You cannot say categorically that all neoprene is closed cell. Most modern versions are closed cell. But there is lots of open cell stuff out there. The point of open cell was to increase stretching even though it was at the expense of water penetration. There are now ways of increasing stretching with adding other materials so you can use closed cell. We do not know exactly what the age of the OP’s spray skirt is nor what version of neoprene it is made of. For good quality closed cell neoprene mixed with, say, spandex, it does not matter much how thin or thick it is.
Open vs. closed-cell neoprene
– Last Updated: Apr-30-11 9:21 AM EST –
Yes, neoprene rubber can be used to make both open and closed cell foam, but wetsuit/spray skirt material is always closed cell, for the reasons I specified above. Closed cells are required to contain the nitrogen bubbles that create the insulation in wetsuit material and closed cells are also required to create the waterproofness required for a spray skirt. Otherwise, you have nothing more than a neoprene sponge which will allow water to flush through it. Making a spray skirt out of open-cell foam is about as sensible as the proverbial "screen door on a submarine".
Some forms of closed-cell neoprene material are more porous than others, but that has to do more with the QUALITY of the material than anything else. High quality, closed-cell neoprene is not porous, at least not in the thicknesses commonly used for spray skirts and wetsuits (3mm+).
As the material gets thinner, it becomes more likely that there will be large or interconnected bubbles that create channels which allow water to pass through, which is what you see in the thin materials often used for shorts and tops. Again, this is more prevalent with lower quality foams.
Another factor that affects waterproofness is whether the foam is skin-faced (molded in it's final thickness) or if it is skived from thicker foam. Skins form a continuous rubber layer that's waterproof. Skived material has open surfaces on one or both sides. While skived materials don't necessarily leak, they have greater potential to, especially in low quality foams. Either of these can be laminated with fabric that hides the nature of the foam.
Stretching the material can cause small-scale tearing which creates leaks. Likewise, compressing the material can cause splits that create leaks. These are the leading causes of leaks that develop in spray skirts and it eventually happens to all of them in normal use. However, a neoprene spray skirt in good condition should not leak, at least not through the material (fit and sealing around the edges are another matter).
The bottom line is that if water is passing through a neoprene spray skirt, the material is either low quality, defective or damaged.
Yes! A new skirt -
Mine is thin and quite stretchy but does not let any water in from anywhere except through the tunnel irough water or upside down … Both my plastic boats w WW style skirt (even lightweight) are watertight…
New skirt is the best
solution, since neo skirt is NOT supposed to leak. It is a closed-cell foam/rubber, and if it does leak, then it is defective. Could be defective material, with pores and channels transporting the water. Could be abrasions or leaks. Doesn’t matter - if Seamgrip treatment on a few spots doesn’t help, - replace it. Covering the whole skirt with Seamgrip is OK for nylon skirts, but with neo it results in decreased elasticity of the skirt, thus defeating the very purpose of neo.
Just go and get a new one.
How high do you wear the skirt?
If the tunnel is to low on your body, it allows water to pool on the spray deck. The tunnel should be around your chest, so the spray deck is always angled down.
True, but…
…whether water pools in the skirt or not, it shouldn’t leak.