Have a pair of Dan Bailey breathables. Loved them at first. Now the seems are starting to go. Mainly really small pin holes I cannot obviously locate. Is it worth while to aqua seal all the seams or will it ruin the waders? I was going to seal the inside of the waders along the edges and on the “seal tape” (for lack of a better term), but wanted to ask before I did so.
Thanks
If your waders are fairly new, I suggest contacting Bailey’s to see if they are still under warranty. If not, go ahead and Aquaseal away. I don’t see how it could ruin them.
If they’re really old, it may not be the seams, but the Gore Tex membrane itself could be breaking down. If that’s the case, they’re probably a lost cause.
Having just finished “rewaterproofing” a 6 year old breathable and Orvis’s original breathable…what’s that 20 years?.. [which I still think was the most comfortable one ever made]…I have some suggestions.
To check out all your little leaks…“fill” waders with water…maybe only a leg at a time…very heavy…the crotch would be a problem to demo if it’s involved…there have been other threads discussing how to demo leaks…
Anyway hang them on a ladder or something for awhile and that will let the little oozy spots show up besides the big ones…mark them with a Magic Marker…after they dry I mark the inside too…
Then I use Marine Goop…it has been said Goop is the only one that can be painted on [I don’t know if you can with Aquaseal]…I dilute the Goop with toluene to the consistency I want …then brush it onto the involved spots…generous overlap especially alone seams…after outside dries I do the inside…not sure if that’s necessary…
I’ve not been in the water since doing this but have filled with water again and demo’d no more leaks…and I have done the occasional leak before very successfully but this time because of the increased pressure from the inside I found leaks that actually didn’t leak while fishing…
Don’t be like a friend who hung his waders on the shower pipe and filled the waders with water from the shower…very heavy…pulled the pipe right out of the wall …emergency plumber call…
Respect Your Elders!
Thanks guys, these pair are on their second season now. I’ll call DB but I reckon they only have a 1 year warrenty.
The best way I have found(on this site) to test for pin holes is to put a small amount of talcum power in the wadersand in a dark room use a vacuum to blow air into the waders and look for the talc to come out. Water in the waders if you are not careful the weight of the water will break the seams.
Bamboozle suggested an idea here a short time ago that worked for me: turn them inside and then fill them with water. I found leaks that way.
BUT Aquasealing the hell out of them along the seams CAN ruin them. I did this and what it does is cause the tape to become too rigid and it separates it from the seam. Then it leaks like a big dog. I found this mostly to be true along places that need to flex, like the heal and other parts of the bootie area. So I guess if you only do this on flat parts of the seam, it would be OK.
Lilhunter007,
Two suggestions:
Call DB first, after having an “out of warrantee” pair of Cabela’s waders replaced without a hassle; I suspect Dan Baily’s may be as generous with their warrantees or possibly they may issue you a partial credit.
This is for the future: After reading the warrantee for my Simms waders I discovered that if I attempt to repair seams; I’ve voided my warrantee. So IF you end up with a new pair of waders; regardless of brand; check the warantee carefully.
First of all, repairing seam leaks is often very difficult because the leak is often not where you think it is. Seam leaks have this strange ability to travel down a seam and exit far away from the actual leak. Patching that spot often only causes the leak to find a new weak spot in the tape somewhere else.
Repairing such a leak can be done, but is often difficult and time consuming. Make sure to check the outside of the waders along the seam to see if there are any weak spots or areas that have excess needle holes from the sewing process. If a seamstress (is a guy that sews a seamstress or are they called tailors?.?.?) sewed something and then took it apart and re-sewed the seam, previous needle holes could be the problem. I found that to be the case on a pair I own and then found a spot where some barbed wire had damaged the seam on the outside as well. In both cases the leak on the inside of the waders was far from these locations.
If you are sure it is a seam leak, there is a way of fixing it that doesn’t even require aquaseal. As previously mentioned, aquaseal can often cause more problems down the road. The actual machine that tapes seams at the factory uses heat and pressure to apply the tape. I have had some luck with using an iron that isn’t too hot to melt the material but hot enough to melt the glue and “redo” the seams when the tape is starting to separate, etc. I use a t-shirt as a barrier between the waders and iron too btw. After you remove the iron, use something to keep pressure on the area until the glue resets. If you don’t, the tape may eventually separate because you made a weak taping job even weaker.
The above process usually isn’t a permanent fix, but it can often save the day. You may find yourself doing this periodically and the frequency may increase with time if done improperly. It is what I would call a “high risk repair” because you could cause yourself far more problems if done improperly. Heat and ample pressure are the keys with pressure probably being the most important.
The best way I have found to repair other leaks is much the same as ducksterman suggested. I turn the waders inside out, put them on an incline using a scrap piece of wood, etc or if you are fortunate enough to have one of those old laundry lines with the metal t-posts then you are set. Fill the waders up about waist to mid torso full and circle leaks with a grease pencil. Simms suggests applying alcohol to the suspected areas so that the leak will show as a dark grey area, but I have never had much luck with this.
I keep the waders hanging for at least an hour and check every 10-15 minutes for leaks. The more water you put inside the waders, the more pressure there is and the more leaks you will find. In the past I have let the process go on for a couple of hours to find some of those very minor leaks that only seem to expose themselves when standing in very fast water for long periods of time.
I hope some of these suggestions are helpful.
Warren F.
Bozeman, MT
Thanks for all the tips. I should have stated these are boot foots so turning them inside out is not an option. Got busy the past few days, not realizing we are gearing up for a sockeye salmon trip this weekend (or it’s looking this way), I am hoping to repair them tomorrow.
I’ve tried the reseal the seam deal and it does work pretty good. This leak is on the knee area around the edge of the reinforced section. It looks like it’s woren thin in a spot.
The aqua seal idea would work on the outside of the seems would it not? This would alleviate the AS being on the tape itself. Be ugly as sin, though the guy in them aint so handsome either hehe.
I’ll drop DB a line first thing in the morning. Again thanks for all the help!
Dan
Alaska
Dan, the outside is where I tried it and caused the tape to buckle and separate from the seam. I mistakenly thought the Aquaseal would “soak in”, not thinking about the tape being waterproof. Anyway, this was my experience and I won’t be aquasealing the outside (tape side) of my seams anymore. Good luck with yours.