Community Stories

A Quick Alum Question to the Watchmakers (and wannabee's)

redpcar
Posts
3,839
Likes
8,638
As a hobbyist watchguy, I fix the occasional watch. On my bench is a Movado with a screw down crown. Of course somebody took it swimming and now there is a bunch of rust. The stem has rusted in two. Broken off inside the crown. Now the alum trick works terrific for standard crowns BUT what about the spring loaded type? Will the alum damage the little spring inside? Any experience with this?
Thanks as always.
upload_2022-2-5_21-13-28.png
 
JimInOz
Posts
16,181
Likes
34,131
I suspect the spring is steel, in that case alum would be unsuitable as it would dissolve the spring.

I would try penetrant and file a slot in the end of the stem and use a screwdriver to try and undo it.

Only my thoughts, be interested to hear from others.
 
Canuck
Posts
14,134
Likes
40,662
Agreed, the telescopic crown has a spring inside which is likely spring steel. You might want to pour melted candle wax into the recess in the crown to act as a resist against the alum. But you are still taking a chance that other components might be affected by the alum.
Edited:
 
Archer
Posts
27,352
Likes
69,745
It should be fine. I can’t speak for Movado, but the springs in Omega crowns don’t appear to be made of a material that rusts, and that generally means that it won’t be affected by alum.
 
redpcar
Posts
3,839
Likes
8,638
Just a quick follow up. Alum worked with spring in tact. All repaired, well as much as feasibly possible. 😀
 
timoss
Posts
969
Likes
1,504
Since we are on the topic, can someone recap “the alum trick”…?
 
Sign up or log in to reply...

Similar threads

redpcar

Here's one for the watchmakers and wannabe's - Have you ever seen this?

redpcar Open Discussion
redpcar
redpcar
Posts
2
Views
1K
staristheanswer

A question to the mods

staristheanswer Open Discussion
STANDY
STANDY
Posts
2
Views
749
Syrte

An ode to the good watchmakers—and a shoddy tale

Syrte Open Discussion
tyrantlizardrex
tyrantlizardrex
Posts
19
Views
2K
4

Question to the Al..

4236 Modern Omega Watches
proximal
proximal
Posts
9
Views
1K