How do you find holes in breathable waders?
 

So I tried to find a hole. Foot has a slow leak somewhere. Dried the waders. Then smeared soapy water over the area that was leaking. Then used my air compressor to put some air in the leg. No hole. Turned inside out. Same. Couldn’t find any bubbles.

Best I could find was a few wet areas two along the front seem above the bend of the foot. One small on the side.

I guess now it’s just spread the Area with Aquaseal dry for a day and go for a test run.

What do others do?

I didn’t like my foot wet in cold waters of October. Lol.

Do the air compressor trick under water. Like you would with a tire tube.

I tried it using a bucket of water.

I suspect it’s just a really slow leak.

Get a bright flashlight, and a sharpie. Turn out the lights, and stick your arm down inside and probe around. You'll see little bright spots where the light shines through. Mark the spots with your Sharpie.
Then lay out your waders flat, and put little blobs of aquaseal on all the little sharpie marks.
Let those blobs cure and flip the waders over to do the other side.
It's your choice on whether you want to do it right side out, or inside out.
It looks flawless if you do it inside out. But the little aqua seal blobs are a bit "grippy" and its annoying to me to walk around with them tugging at my clothes.
I do it so the aquaseal is on the outside. Only problem is my fishing partners make fun of me, because of all the shiny "globs of goo" all over my waders. haha. But, I'm not an "influencer", and I really don't care what I look like.

I gotta try that.

spray your waders with rubbing alcohol. get the high test stuff from behind the counter at the pharmacy, there will be a dark spot appear where there is a leak. Simms has a youtube video on how to do it, i have no idea on how to put a link to it on here

LOL! Same here. And I'm sloppy about it. I've had the same original pair of breathable for 20 years and they are looking pretty globby! And yes, I don't care either :)

Waders
 

Hang them up fill the suspected boot with water, watch for the leak

Very interesting

https://youtu.be/Uw1ky2H3lU0

Guy says only gortex breathables.

I wondered if the rubbing alcohol degrades any materials. Seems like he has done it a lot.

The aquaseal I just bought from fish tales is clumpy. Is that normal?

I've gone through many tubes of Aquaseal/Gearaid. None has ever been Lumpy. Is there a date of manufacture on it?

If you've never used it before, be sure to lay the surface that you are applying it to out flat. It may seem like it's thick enough to not run. So, you may be tempted to think it will be okay when not level. When you come back an hour later it will have run. Then the boys will really make fun of you!

Oh, and wear nitrile gloves. The stuff gets everywhere!

Another annoying thing is storing your tube once open. The cap does not seal well at all, so the tube likes to turn into one solid lump of useless rubber. I cut a piece of thick plastic bag to act as a gasket, and place it over the nozzle, attempting to get all the air out. Then screw the cap on - folding over the plastic into the threads. Then store it in the freezer. With that method, there seems to usually be only a small lump of rubber in the nozzle to dig out when I go to use more of it. I don't know why they cant make like 5 ml one-time use tubes.

It was clumpy right out of the tube. I put a dry bag flat on the ground and applied some for a test and it cured clumpy.

So must be a bad batch.

After aquaseal use, store in the fridge

I have used the rubbing alcohol spray method but only on simms gortex. It works great and can see the dark grey pinholes. I aquaseal the inside .
Worth a try on your breathable material I would think?

I have used the isoPropyl alcohol/Aquaseal method on both Simms and Patagonia breathable waders. It works well. Also, I store my already opened Aquaseal in the freezer which recently allowed me to use it a couple of years after the first use.

the Simms instructional video that does a good job of explaining it all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNT9Q14xAxc&t=3s

Cheers
Steve

This only works if they are Goretex, unless you have found it works for other waterproof/breathable membranes?

As was said above, fill leg with water. watch for where it beads out and make a mark. Dab that area with aquaseal.

Forget the leak. They ain’t worth fixing,
Buy another pair.
I’ve gone through probably 10 tubes of Aquaseal and they still leak.
Cabelas and <200 and the issue is solved.

Don

Easy fix, buy a new pair, then get a pair of scissors, and on the old waders cut off the booties to use for wet wading. Keep the uppers to wear as bush guards when tracking.

I've tried to fix waders over the years, never works for long.

Aqua seal and alcohol until you’re tired of fixing then get a new pair. For me that’s usually one trip. It’s a minimum of $400 in gas to go fishing for a day. I’ll stay dry in new waders thanks!

Some folks are spraying clear Flex Seal on the inside of waders.

Haven't tried it myself

Finding leak
 

Agree with Spurly



Hang them up fill the suspected boot with water, watch for the leak.

Get somebody to hold the waders upright then stick a garden hose down one leg and fill it up. You will see a small wet spot develop where the pin hole is. Mark with a sharpy and use any of the above aquaseal tips to seal it.

^yep, dry thoroughly inside and out before you start with the aquaseal. I've had the best results drying a day inside out and a day the right side out. Seal the outside after those 2 days of drying and let that sit overnight. Turn inside out and seal the other side of the same spot and let THAT dry 24 hours. Don't try to make it super flat/don't wipe off ALL the excess. It's better to have it a little thicker over the spot that is actually leaking. On both sides. I hang mine in the laundry room from the rafters, the straps over a hanger. Air can flow all around them.

Remember, too, that the water is obviously coming from the outside-in. Even if it's pinhole and not a seam, when I do the outside=I use a little more.

I've repaired one pair of old Orvis breathables at least 4X over the years.

Think of them as scars with interesting stories (make them up if you have to)

It is better to look that way than if you haven't taken them out of the closet in 20 years.