Last week I received my 2220.80 Seamaster 300m after my earlier purchase of a 2531.80 turned out to be a Frankenwatch drama. Anyway, I tried to unscrew the helium valve to see how smooth it would go. I had to use quite some force as it seemed to be stuck. When it did unscrew properly, it went all the way of having the watch in my right hand and the helium valve crown in my left hand. I have owned 22 watches so far....but this is a first. I've read many stories about regular crowns and stems popping out and it being an easy fix. Is this the same with the helium valve?

It was serviced by Omega almost 2 years ago (still some warranty left). Not relevant as anything could have happened in the mean time. But they replaced the helium valve crown as well (it's in the little parts bag). Might be a faulty part?

 

The He valve on a Seamaster is a manual valve. Screw it down to be watertight, slacken when you're coming back up from your 2 week tour on the seabed. Best guess is the previous owner damaged it. Might even have had a dab of superglue to ... ahem .. make sure it didn't get lost. Sounds like it's due another visit to the bench.

 

Bisso and Midco both refill for free on your first deep dive ... after you complete certification, at your cost.

 

This joke never gets old......ow wait.

 

@JVK_watches one clear indication of a leak in progress on these watches (and perhaps pointing to a faulty HE valve) is the sudden change in the watch's weight (feeling heavier) - as previously documented here.

 

LOL, ok enough internet for me today....Luckily I live near the equator so the helium has no affect on the counterclockwise or clockwise flowing of the helium in the watch....

Anyway, luckily I have also contacted my watch maker for an answer, but the second opinions are at least entertaining.

 

YOU LAUGH? That's a serious issue you have, you can read all about it here!
https://omegaforums.net/threads/big-problem-with-helium-escape.39163/

 

Too late to the party....

 

Better twice than not at all, no issue, my pleasure

 

This will be a fairly significant repair, so not like when the winding crown comes out. There is a threaded tube that screws into that case, and aside from that these are the parts that make up the typical Omega HEV:



So looking at your photo above, it appears that the screw that holds the valve cap on from the inside of the case has snapped off. That means a part of the screw is floating around inside the case - hopefully contained by the enlargement ring and kept out of the movement. But to fix this the movement would have to be removed and the case disassembled (removal of bezel and crystal) so it can be heated to break the Loctite bond on the HEV tube, and the entire unit replaced.

Hopefully you have a warranty, but if not this is likely going to mean a full service.

Cheers, Al

 

All joking aside, how many turns did you expect before the valve was fully open?

 

Yes... and you need to make sure they use genuine helium. To be sure you need to weigh the watch before and after the refill... if it's lighter during the 2nd measurement (after refill), they did it right. You should not loosen up the HE valve unless you want to increase wrist presence.

Sorry, I know that this was a bad joke.

Taking it serious: I understand you should not unscrew the valve totally. If you make it just a bit loose it would do the trick and let the helium escape in a real technical diving condition.
Also that's a general rule... if you need force to apply on the watch to make something, then you should stop doing it.

 

Thanks for (finally) a serious answer in this thread. It still has 3 months of service warranty left but not sure if this will cover it? All the parts you show are also in the service bag. Should not have happened I guess.

And to explain what happened. The HEV crown was stuck. When it did unscrew I just kept turning it without force to see when it would stop (that happened with the other model I owned briefly). So it might already been broken and the previous owner secured the crown. It does has all the parts and rubbers you show in the image but not the inner locking screw that prevents the crown stem from popping out.

 

Some poor close ups...

 

I was used it would stop turning after two or three turns so I went on to see when it would stop. No force used when turning, only to make it turn initially. Might as well been stuck because of the inner screw and that’s why it broke? Guess you should not wear a Seamaster on a Speedy Tuesday

 

True! But I’ve had screw down crowns on my Tudor Heritage Chrono that were equally stuck. Because of the expanding of the case during summer. So expected something similar

 

I can understand... and I apologize for the joke I made. I know this whole story must be super frustrating for you. I hope you can get it fixed soon without spending a fortune!