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How many (gauss) do you do?

Jakeys
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Weet-Bix reference in the title for you Aussies out there. 馃槣

I'm off-site witnessing magnetic media degaussing and shredding today, part of which involves sitting quite near a device generating a 20,000 gauss magnetic field every 45 seconds. Granted, that's only if you're stupid enough to put your watch in the machine, but it does have some level of external effect as well, so definitely a day for the 2541.80.

Got me thinking, what kind of work do others do that might occasionally put them in the gauss firing line? MRI's are the obvious ones I know of, any other interesting fields?

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ahartfie
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At my college鈥檚 computer center in the early 90s, we had a degausser for quickly erasing backup tapes and floppy discs for reuse. How I miss the days of VAX/VMS.
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Jakeys
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Hah, nice! We're not dealing with anything quite so old any more, although I do occasionally see the odd reference to DEC around the place. There were still a couple of DEC systems including a VAX at an old employer when I started in the early 2010's though.
 
Jakeys
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Pastorbottle Pastorbottle
Way back when I worked at the shipyards we would degauss whole warships!
Now we're talking! How do you do that, some kind of big commercial degaussing wand?
 
Pastorbottle
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Jakeys Jakeys
Now we're talking! How do you do that, some kind of big commercial degaussing wand?
drag bloody great cables around the ship's hull
 
Pastorbottle
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Pastorbottle Pastorbottle
drag bloody great cables around the ship's hull
I should elaborate a bit more the cables are laid in the hull in a set pattern and connected to a box of tricks that varies the current applied to them......that's the short version without going into great scientific detail, but it does involve a fair bit of dragging the damned cables, it was part of my job to winch them.
 
hen
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How about welding? Any of you have experienced any harmful effects on watches when welding?

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Pastorbottle
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Ah a shiney new welder eh?
Yes welding spatter, tiny droplets of molten metal can stick to the metal parts of the watch when welding, you remove the nasty sharp little buggers with a file! And they also burn into plastic parts like crystals.
Using an angle grinder usually accompanies welding operations and the sparks can burn into mineral crystals leaving pitting of the surface.
Which is why I wear a crappy old Invicta whilst welding.
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hen
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Pastorbottle Pastorbottle
Ah a shiney new welder eh?
Yes welding spatter, tiny droplets of molten metal can stick to the metal parts of the watch when welding, you remove the nasty sharp little buggers with a file! And they also burn into plastic parts like crystals.
Using an angle grinder usually accompanies welding operations and the sparks can burn into mineral crystals leaving pitting of the surface.
Which is why I wear a crappy old Invicta whilst welding.
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" in perfect contition, with the usual hairlines" ? 馃榾 That Invicta is just worn in.


Yeah I have got welding spatter there is one on the bezel at 42. But I was thinking of any harmful magnetic effects.
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Pastorbottle
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Well the Invicta still runs fine but it is quartz, so I can't say if a mechanical watch would fare as well
 
ErichPryde
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Pastorbottle Pastorbottle
Well the Invicta still runs fine but it is quartz, so I can't say if a mechanical watch would fare as well

I think that Invicta should be listed as a companion to the $40,000 seiko we currently have up for sale
 
Pastorbottle
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ErichPryde ErichPryde
I think that Invicta should be listed as a companion to the $40,000 seiko we currently have up for sale
Going....Going........Do I hear a bid for $40K?......YES.... BANG! Sold to ErichPryde over there in the 3rd row.

Writing that felt strangely satisfying
 
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