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Playing with a Geiger Counter and 2998’s

jhross98
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There have been lots of other threads on this but what are people's personal limits on radiation from watches and how often they'll wear..

I wont buy a watch over low 20s and wear those once or twice a month max

I'm told some old Rolex and Panerai radium dial watches read 200+!
 
destroid
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The readings on the watch are the rate in μSv per hour vs the chart which is total dose in mSv. This is handy

upload_2019-6-11_7-44-47.png
 
themattedial
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I’ve been to a few flea markets recently where sellers have piles (hundreds) of exposed vintage dials set out on table tops next to bric a brac for people to peruse. Many of these dials are clearly covered with radium. I had to ask a seller last weekend in alameda to remove the pile after I saw a small child mashing around in the pile. Not good.

It’s the scenarios like this that worry me.
 
Patrik83
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themattedial themattedial
I had to ask a seller last weekend in alameda to remove the pile after I saw a small child mashing around in the pile. Not good.

It’s the scenarios like this that worry me.

::facepalm1:: Totally agree this is not so good.

Talked to my watchmaker today and asked if they service radium dialed watches, his response was...

“We do service them. It is too little amount of radium to make any extra precautions and we handle parts very carefully. It is however good if we know in advance so that we can remove certain stuff that is sensitive of radiation”
 
drhex
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Here're my 2915-1 and 2998-1. The latter being way more active (and having the nicer lume...).
file-50.jpeg file1-12.jpeg
 
jhross98
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destroid destroid
The readings on the watch are the rate in μSv per hour vs the chart which is total dose in mSv. This is handy

upload_2019-6-11_7-44-47.png

This is the best ive ever seen on the matter
Seems like 20-30 sv/hr is ok a few times a month to qear a special watch vis a vis the radiation incurred flying

That said 50+ would not feel safe to me...
 
drhex
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@Patrik83 You should see what happens if I hold the counter out the window!
No, that is the National theatre in London, they decided at some point to put lawn on one wall which massively improved the look imho.
 
Patrik83
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@drhex I see 👍. Well this is slightly drifting the topic but do they actually have real grass on the side or just fake grass? Radioactive grass? 😜
 
Patrik83
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Should radium lume be stabilized, can that even be done?
 
Caliber561
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drhex drhex
Here're my 2915-1 and 2998-1. The latter being way more active (and having the nicer lume...).
file-50.jpeg
Shouldn't radium be much more radioactive than 13.30 uSv/hr?
 
drhex
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@Patrik83 That actually was real grass, it wasn‘t there for long though, probably hard to mow.
 
drhex
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@Caliber561 Yes, but this one has lost quite a bit of lume already while the 2998 is pretty complete.
 
sxl2004
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micampe micampe
Since these instruments are used to measure radiation doses and rates, not the damage caused by someone ingesting an alpha emitter, the extremely short life and penetration power of alpha particles makes them irrelevant, and therefore also irrelevant when handling a non-disassembled watch, not to mention stopped by the plastic case of the instrument before they can reach the detector tube at all.
.

That statement is a very dangerous and wrong to make.
With alpha emitters ingestion is the worst that can happen. Now the alpha particles are right where they do the damage. In your cell next to the DNA, causing DNA damage, mutations and if unlucky cancer a few Years/decades down the road.
My recommendation is not at any circumstance to under estimate alpha emitters, particular because Geiger counters do not detect them and one has no idea of the contamination problem.

best
 
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