Can you repair coil zipper without replacing the entire zipper?
Hi [insert tiles demonym here]!
I have an LTT backpack, and the zipper is wearing out. The other zipper already broke, which LTT paid to repair under warranty. This ended up being quite a headache, because the repair shop couldn’t find an equivalent zipper anywhere in the EU for shipping (located in France). I eventually found a company in the UK that did custom orders, but the taxes and shipping to France was expensive. The warranty paid for it, but I won’t be using the warranty for the other zipper repair (it’s already an extremely generous warranty, and the damage should absolutely have been classified as normal wear and tear, so I don’t want to take advantage of it again.
Anyway, the zipper for the laptop pouch is showing the exact same signs of wear. I asked the shop if they could repair this one too, and they said no, because the pouch is too narrow to get their sewing machine into. So I can source a zipper, but I would have to hand sew it into the backpack. I feel like I am capable of this, I just don’t really want to do it. I think their might be a way to reinforce it without replacing the entire zipper. I haven’t been able to find any info online about my theory, so I wanted to see if you all had any insight.
The important part of the post:
This zipper is a plastic coil zipper from YKK. They have a continuous coil that is sewn into the tape with thread. The top surface of this thread is ruined by the slider when you zip. This thread is starting to abrade. The other zipper abraded fully in a spot, and the coil separated from the tape.
Here is my theory. If I get a very strong and relatively thin thread, I can hand sew through the coil to replace / reinforce the factory thread.
Has anyone done anything like this before? Any tips, or things to watch out for? Will this change or ruin the smoothness of the slider when zipping?
If would probably void your warranty, but in your situation I would take it to one of those old school alterations shops and ask them to fix it. They would know how to, and probably have access to very similar replacement zippers, and have the finished product look more professionally put together than I could be able to myself
Hi can you send some pictures of the zipper situation? Close ups of the top stitching, the underside, and the ends of the zipper as well if possible.
Then can maybe help you better, but sounds like your zipper reinforcement or replacement is doable by hand (that is if you have some sewing skills)
Image gallery here
My bag will be in the shop for another week, and I only have pictures of the zipper that already failed, but the symptoms are very similar. The second image shows the back side of the tape. The third and fourth images show three coil side. For the zipper I am looking to repair, the coil has not yet become detached from the tape. If you look above the detached area, you can see what the other zipper currently looks like. The thread that goes over the top of the coil is frayed. I would guess a third or a half of the strands are currently broken.
My thought is just a single running stitch exactly where the existing stitch is. That way, when the worn thread breaks, the new one can take the structural load.
Hmm that's a little bit more difficult than I had thought. I've never repaired just the teeth like that, but I can see how you might try. I'd say go for it and attempt to hand stich each tooth back in place and experiment. The thing with sewing is that you have an undo tool ( which I the seam ripper) in the case your stitching gets in the way.
Alternatively applying tiny dots of super glue for each tooth (apply with a needle) might work but this is the riskier option as you might accidentally glue the teeth together.
Truthfully in this case replacing the whole zipper might make more sense and be a longer term solution.
If I understand that you want to sew between the teeth of the zipper, I would worry about that both impeding the "zip* and that those threads would get worn down during use and eventually snap again.
I've never done it though so I'm not certain of the clearance there.
I have some pictures here. This is the other zipper that already broke. The one I want to repair looks like the worn but not broken sections in the last two pictures.
The zipper by default has a thread by default. I just want to basically duplicate the worn factory thread with one of my own. So in theory, it should work just fine. But what you said is exactly why I haven’t done anything yet. I have no idea what sort of tolerance YKK zippers need.
But I estimate that it probably only has 6 months left, and then I need to replace the zipper anyway. Maybe I should just go for it, because I can’t really make it worse.
Yeah I mean there's something to be said for going for it. But also if it is covered by warranty it might be more reliable to let them handle it. I know you were hesitant to. I'd agree though about checking with other alterations shops to see their opinions too.
Worse case, like you said, you give it a shot. You can always cut the stitching out.