Zipper brand selections

[jsquail]

Im interested to know what everyone uses for Marine zippers on their enclosures, covers, etc. I have used both the Riri and YKK zippers, but I'm not sure I'm satisfied with them.

Are there other zipper brands on the market to be used in the marine environment?

[stew-cheryl]

I use ykk, the sliders were a problem, the inside were never plated, which allowed corrosion, now They powder coat them inside and out.

[JuneC]

I like Riri's but every time I sew one of the molded ends, I end up with a burr on my needle.  I go through probably 6 or 8 needles on every Riri project.  I stick to YKK.  I bought some "other" brand from Keyston once, no stamp, don't know what it was - zip chain, not separating zips.  It was horrible.  The tape was so thin that I ended up throwing it away.  No way it would have held up for more than a year.  Now I always ask for YKK when buying by the spool.

June

[Bob T]

I use the YKK, but I get them from Challenge Sailcloth and Hardware.  Challenge only carries the YKK in delrin, so they hold up in the sun much longer than the YKK's with nylon teeth.  I also get plastic pulls from Challenge which eliminates the corroding pulls problems.

[bobbin]

We use YKK in the shop.  And we rarely use plastic pulls because we find they always work hard and they degrade quickly.  We use the metal pulls and interestingly, we don't usually see a lot of corrosion unless they're continually bathed in salt water. 

The other shop I worked for used YKK, too.  But for U windows we used #10 coil chain and stainless sliders.  To this day, I prefer that combination for curved applications in a marine environment. 

My present boss won't even consider using coil chain; the windows work hard and look crappy, too.  And because there is no curiosity I've never even heard of Riri!  I'll have to Google them and see what comes up.  (And that's why I like this forum so much... always learn something new here!).

[Mike8560]

I
like rhe ykk weater mate. Metal pulls
there is also Lenzip zipper I used to when I was up
north Oder boxs at a time from them but I USC to use a ton of zippers. Her in fl it mostly been covers

[jsquail]

any one using these:

http://www.lenzip.com/

[Mike8560]

a good comapany i used to order allot of zipper from them when i was in new hampshire i did a tn of enclosures so customers could keep warm here in florida unless its a big boat i dont use many zippers just doin biminis and covers on smaller boats here in the west coast. theres a few big boat but many smaller fishing boat and deck boats .

[Grebo]

YKK & 'PK' ?  I use plastic pulls as much as possible because corrosion is a problem here, use metal pulls on covers that are used alot or with the liveaboards but I discuss that with them.

[Mike8560]

I don't lime the plastic lulls they don't seem to be as smoothe a d I've had the pull vet stuck and the handle bleak off in my hand.

[jsquail]

I don't lime the plastic lulls they don't seem to be as smoothe a d I've had the pull vet stuck and the handle bleak off in my hand.

I have yet to have this happen, but i can see it happening really easy. I've used mostly the YKK zippers which are plastic/plastic when using the finished jacket zippers. I was hoping there was an alternative on the market.

Does zipper lube help at all?

[rustyeod]

I agree with Mike.  The plastic pulls are morelikely to break on a stubburn zipper.  I have used the lube on the stubburn ones in an endeavor not to break the pull.  Metal Pulls Rule!

[Mike8560]

the metal are smaller and less bulky

[Grebo]

Occasional squirt of silicon spray on the zip works wonders.  ;D