By ShowMeStepByStepPublished
Based on a video by UCAN Zippers USA.
A zipper that closes and then springs open behind the slider has not broken in the way it looks. The teeth are fine. What has happened is that the slider has worn and sprung apart slightly, so it no longer pinches the two sides of the chain together as it passes.
Hyrum of UCAN Zippers USA takes advantage of that. The slider is already gaping, so you open it a fraction more with pliers, feed the chain back through both channels, then squeeze it shut again.
Worth saying plainly: he is candid that this is a get-it-working repair rather than a permanent one. On a travel bag or a work bag it will save you the cost of a whole new zipper. On a garment you care about, or a zipper whose slider metal has gone soft with age, replacing the slider outright is the better call.
8 steps · about 10 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
Look at the zipper with the slider pulled clear. On a chain that has come off one side, the teeth on that side will be sitting outside the slider rather than running through it.
Check the slider itself from the side. If the top and bottom plates have spread apart, that gap is the actual fault, not the teeth.
Tip
Zip it up and watch where it separates. If it comes apart right behind the slider every time, the slider is the problem. Watch this step
You need a pair of needle nose pliers and, if you are replacing rather than reusing, a slider that matches your zipper size and a new bottom stop.
Zipper sliders are sized. A number 5 slider will not run on a number 3 chain, and the size is usually stamped on the back of the old slider.
Tip
Buy a mixed slider kit rather than one slider. The size stamped on the old one is often worn off by the time it fails. Watch this step
The slider has already sprung open, which is why the zipper failed. Ease it open a little further with the pliers so there is room to get the chain back inside.
Go gently. On an older bag the metal has fatigued, and it will snap if you lever it hard.
Tip
Think of the slider as a clamshell. You are hinging it open a millimetre or two, not prising the two halves apart. Watch this step
Angle the slider so one channel lines up with the end of the chain, and work the teeth in a few at a time.
The tape wants to fold. Keeping it flat and pulling from beyond the slider rather than pushing at it makes the teeth track properly.
Tip
If it will not start, the slider is not open enough. Go back a step rather than forcing the teeth. Watch this step
Now do the same on the other channel. This is the fiddly one, because the first side is already in and gets in the way.
Hold the slider still and bring the chain to it. Moving the slider along the chain you have already threaded will just pull the first side back out.
Tip
Pliers give you a better grip on the tape end than fingers do, and let you keep the tape flat while you feed it. Watch this step
With both sides through, check the chain is even. If one side is puckered or sitting higher than the other, hold the slider and pull the tape until the teeth line up level.
Then run the slider all the way to the closed end before you do anything else. Pinching it shut halfway along leaves you with a zipper that only works from the middle.
Tip
On a bag, work out which end is the closed end before you start. Getting this backwards means undoing the whole repair. Watch this step
Take the needle nose pliers and squeeze the top and bottom of the slider back towards each other. That closes the clamshell gap that caused the failure.
Small squeezes, testing as you go. Overtighten it and the slider will seize solid on the chain.
Tip
Squeeze the sides of the slider body, not the pull tab. The tab bends easily and does nothing for the repair. Watch this step
Run the slider from one end to the other a few times. It should close the teeth cleanly behind it and not separate.
If the zipper still pops open, the slider needs another small pinch. If it now sticks or drags, you have gone slightly too far and need to ease it back open a fraction.
Tip
Add or crimp a bottom stop if the old one is missing, otherwise the slider will run straight off the end again. Watch this step
Keep going
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