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Take your watch swimming underwater?
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OMESQ
·It's a very good idea to get the watch pressure tested regularly, because there's no obvious sign that a gasket has failed, well other than water inside the watch. Just keep in mind that testing isn't maintenance, and since water resistance is not a permanent feature, it must be maintained.
This means replacing of the seals - in your watch there are 5 total, and 4 that would be replaced if the watch came to me - I would not replace the crystal gasket unless there was an obvious reason to do so. But the others are the case back seal, the crown seal, and both seals in the HEV.
Note that the HEV is actually not a common leak point - it's almost always the crown that is the seal that goes first.
Cheers, Al
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Archer
··Omega Qualified WatchmakerCurious, why not replace the crystal gasket, also? Thanks.
Unlike the other seals, which are Buna O-rings, the crystal gasket is a hard plastic gasket that has a heavy interference fit with the crystal, and holds it in by friction. It requires a good sized press to install it. It doesn't deteriorate like the O-rings do, so unless it's disturbed for some reason, it will stay in good condition for much longer than the O-rings would.
Typically the times I would replace the crystal gasket is if it had some sort of obvious damage (not often since it's mostly covered by the bezel), or if I was removing the crystal to replace the crystal, or to heat the case to change a case tube or HEV tube.
Cheers, Al
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SkunkPrince
·A related question, Al? Are the modern 166.0324 cases same as the originals or do they have improvements? Apologies if I misremember the number, the modern Seamaster 300 cases....
Thanks
Thanks
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Archer
··Omega Qualified WatchmakerA related question, Al? Are the modern 166.0324 cases same as the originals or do they have improvements? Apologies if I misremember the number, the modern Seamaster 300 cases....
Thanks
No - they use the same parts essentially as the vintage cases with screw down crowns. Off the top of my head the only real difference is the click mechanism for the bezel. The originals used a separate coil spring and ruby sphere in 3 locations, and the new cases use 3 self contained "cartridge" style clicks that are preassembled, and have a ceramic sphere.
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SpeedyPhill
·From the " Hidden Gems from the NASA Photo Archive " topic:
Mercury 7 astronaut Walter Schirra took his personal CK2998 Speedmaster for a dive in his pool...
By the way, Schirra also wore it during NASA water egress training
.
Mercury 7 astronaut Walter Schirra took his personal CK2998 Speedmaster for a dive in his pool...
By the way, Schirra also wore it during NASA water egress training
.
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ExpiredWatchdog
·^^^So, the pool needed maintenance. I did the same thing as a teenager. Only without the SCUBA gear. Oh, yeah, I couldn't afford a Timex in the day.
Sorry to be a wet sponge.
Sorry to be a wet sponge.
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RonJ
·
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Professor
·I doubt I'll be doing anymore swimming, but If I do get back into boating and investigating the small islands on the lake I'll want a reliably water resistant watch on my wrist.
My Citizen Eco Drive Chronograph has a respectable water resistance rating suitable for getting wet more by accident than design.
I'm guessing the warning against using the pushers under water are more or less universal for Chronographs regardless of ratings. No doubt some are well up to using the chrono function underwater but no sense pushing your luck.
If I intended to wear a watch while swimming I'd just order a cheap Russian Amphibia, some models of which look pretty nice.
BTW
If a diver watch did leak just how much damage is likely to result?
IF one gets full of water due to a bad seal would taking the back off and filling the inside with a light oil, one that doesn't act as a solvent, preserve the working parts till it could be taken to a watch maker for a full disassembly, cleaning and lube.
Some oils are said to push water out of mechanisms.
Perhaps flushing residual seawater out of the innards with fresh water first to avoid corrosion of parts.
The mainspring barrel looks like the part most likely to hold water, and the mainspring might well begin to corrode if exposed to seawater depending on the alloy. The hairspring might also present a problem.
Even the best stainless steels will corrode to some extent in seawater or fresh water lakes with significant pollution. Some lake algae makes the water acidic.
My Citizen Eco Drive Chronograph has a respectable water resistance rating suitable for getting wet more by accident than design.
I'm guessing the warning against using the pushers under water are more or less universal for Chronographs regardless of ratings. No doubt some are well up to using the chrono function underwater but no sense pushing your luck.
If I intended to wear a watch while swimming I'd just order a cheap Russian Amphibia, some models of which look pretty nice.
BTW
If a diver watch did leak just how much damage is likely to result?
IF one gets full of water due to a bad seal would taking the back off and filling the inside with a light oil, one that doesn't act as a solvent, preserve the working parts till it could be taken to a watch maker for a full disassembly, cleaning and lube.
Some oils are said to push water out of mechanisms.
Perhaps flushing residual seawater out of the innards with fresh water first to avoid corrosion of parts.
The mainspring barrel looks like the part most likely to hold water, and the mainspring might well begin to corrode if exposed to seawater depending on the alloy. The hairspring might also present a problem.
Even the best stainless steels will corrode to some extent in seawater or fresh water lakes with significant pollution. Some lake algae makes the water acidic.
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Muddlerminnow
·Summertime without water is not summer in my household--we are always out fishing and swimming and jumping off rocks--. I don't wear my vintage watches when doing these things--I've taken enough bad falls on rocks when fishing--so the watch of choice is a Casio diver, $60, keeps great time, looks decent, no worries if I bust it or have it twist off and fall to the bottom of Copperas Pond, lol.
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Dsloan
·This is the only watch I've ever bought new. Got it just so I don't have to worry about whether the seals are going to fail.
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JwRosenthal
·This is the only watch I've ever bought new. Got it just so I don't have to worry about whether the seals are going to fail.
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Dsloan
·Now that’s a watch with which you can Snorkel!
And I don't have to get bent out of shape when my toddler buries it in the sand. Which happens all the dang time 😵💫.
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JwRosenthal
·Oh for sure! I think it's only got a 2-year warranty, being a relatively cheap reissue of the original.
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Dsloan
·I have the same watch (in Pepsi), and I am curious if there is even a factory service center or parts account needed for Bulova parts....who even owns them?
That is an interesting question. For brands like Bulova that are big on cheap, fashion watches, I'm curious how well they handle service of their nicer mechanical timepieces. One could argue that a service might cost more than I paid for it ($375, I think); but it would make me sad to be so wasteful.
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JwRosenthal
·I have the same watch (in Pepsi), and I am curious if there is even a factory service center or parts account needed for Bulova parts....who even owns them?
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Professor
·That is an interesting question. For brands like Bulova that are big on cheap, fashion watches, I'm curious how well they handle service of their nicer mechanical timepieces. One could argue that a service might cost more than I paid for it ($375, I think); but it would make me sad to be so wasteful.
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rahul718
·Cheers, Al[/QUOTE]
@Archer
Do you know if the plastic crystal gasket (Hytrel?) has the same temperature rating as the Buno O-rings, which I believe is 121 degrees Celsius?
Unlike the other seals, which are Buna O-rings, the crystal gasket is a hard plastic gasket that has a heavy interference fit with the crystal, and holds it in by friction. It requires a good sized press to install it. It doesn't deteriorate like the O-rings do, so unless it's disturbed for some reason, it will stay in good condition for much longer than the O-rings would.
Typically the times I would replace the crystal gasket is if it had some sort of obvious damage (not often since it's mostly covered by the bezel), or if I was removing the crystal to replace the crystal, or to heat the case to change a case tube or HEV tube.
Cheers, Al
@Archer
Do you know if the plastic crystal gasket (Hytrel?) has the same temperature rating as the Buno O-rings, which I believe is 121 degrees Celsius?
