Specifically, can you convert a standard zipper to a two-way or dual-separating by replacing the slider? I have a couple lightweight shell jackets that would be perfect except they have the water-resistant one-way zippers found on most current jackets. I've compared these with the dual-separation setup on my Outdoor Reasearch Carbide jacket and the only difference I can see is they have a metal stop block (the pin box, per Wikipedia) on one side. It seems that it shouldn't be that hard to remove the pin box, thread the zipper halves through the two-way slider, crimp some kind of stopper in place of the pin box, and voila. There's a nearby outdoor gear repair shop that does zipper replacement and they say this isn't possible. They have a very good reputation, but my cynical side says they don't want to miss out on their $180+ fee for the work. Thoughts?
Anybody know anything about zippers?
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The biggest issue I could foresee is that the existing pin needs to be long enough to run the length of both pulls, otherwise you won’t have a to disengage both at the same time to unseat the pin. One-way pulls usually use shorter pins that are just long enough to accommodate the length of the pull plus the pin box.
My guess is that you’d need to get two new pulls that have the same track and tooth width as the original, but are roughly half the length, so they could both match up with the pin at the same time.
I also suspect that the actual zipping action would suffer a lot from this. If you halve the length of the pull, then there would be less guide for the teeth, which would stop it from zipping smoothly. Basically, it would be the opposite of the sorts of large overbuilt zippers and pulls on quality outdoor gear.
At any rate, outside of enjoying it as a project for its own sake, there’s really no upside to converting a zipper like that instead of just replacing the whole zipper with a two way one. $180 is way too much, but replacing a zipper is dead simple and you could have it done by any dry cleaner that advertises alterations and it should be significantly cheaper.
My guess is that you’d need to get two new pulls that have the same track and tooth width as the original, but are roughly half the length, so they could both match up with the pin at the same time.
I also suspect that the actual zipping action would suffer a lot from this. If you halve the length of the pull, then there would be less guide for the teeth, which would stop it from zipping smoothly. Basically, it would be the opposite of the sorts of large overbuilt zippers and pulls on quality outdoor gear.
At any rate, outside of enjoying it as a project for its own sake, there’s really no upside to converting a zipper like that instead of just replacing the whole zipper with a two way one. $180 is way too much, but replacing a zipper is dead simple and you could have it done by any dry cleaner that advertises alterations and it should be significantly cheaper.
Yes, you can. Here is a youtube on how to do it:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1mfusqAh-0
You can also buy zipper by the yard, though I'm not sure about water resistant coil zippers.
Google says you can get water resistant by the foot: https://ripstopbytheroll.com/products/hhh-waterproof-coil-zipper
And if you want a really nice zipper, Riri are the best there is. They are spendy, I think the one in my jacket was 75$ (IIRC it is 14mm, so yeah, those ain't cheap). So that may help put 180$ in perspective. IIRC, Lampo are about half the price and really nice.
On the other hand when I was landscaping in HS/College I cost 75$ and hour, I'm sure paying someone to come and throw up on your lawn for the first 2 hours of their shift costs probably double that these days (okay that was just 1 guy, others puked once or 2x and got to work). American labor costs American prices.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1mfusqAh-0
You can also buy zipper by the yard, though I'm not sure about water resistant coil zippers.
Google says you can get water resistant by the foot: https://ripstopbytheroll.com/products/hhh-waterproof-coil-zipper
And if you want a really nice zipper, Riri are the best there is. They are spendy, I think the one in my jacket was 75$ (IIRC it is 14mm, so yeah, those ain't cheap). So that may help put 180$ in perspective. IIRC, Lampo are about half the price and really nice.
On the other hand when I was landscaping in HS/College I cost 75$ and hour, I'm sure paying someone to come and throw up on your lawn for the first 2 hours of their shift costs probably double that these days (okay that was just 1 guy, others puked once or 2x and got to work). American labor costs American prices.