Eric L.

So I guess no updates yet on possible repair options for a non screw down UPO. I managed to get mine working again with a crown extender, but the crown still sticks out somewhat due to the spring inside pushing it out. There had been some suggestions to somehow "eliminate the action of the spring in the crown" but so far no details on how that can be achieved. In the end, if the stripped crown is inevitable on UPO's, I think it seriously decreases its value as a good rep. My dealer (EL) has been no help, having disappeared from the forums for several months now and not replying to PMs.

So any updates on which gen parts fit and which don't for the 45mm UPO ETA?

I'm off to pick up a stem extender tomorrow so I can at least use the watch again temporarily. I told my watch repair guy the issue and he refused to work on the watch, so I'm off buying parts and trying it myself.

Hey Ed, Im not sure what you mean but I was referring to Eric L. who may have shortened his ETA stem too much. Im not sure about the lite version but ETA stems are pretty easy to get.

Yeah I'll have to pick up a couple stems. But I'll hold off for now until I hear whether gen tube/crown fits, and if so I'll order those at the same time.

have just had a delivery of gen crown and tube from cousins uk, looks like it should be relatively easy to fit so will try and keep people informed, will be interested to see if the rep tube screws into the case and if so will the gen tube just screw straight in, anybody with any experience here?

Fantastic, let us know whether the gen parts fit. Thanks in advance, I'll wait for your report before I proceed further with my repair.

Is the problem now that you can't push the crown in deeply enough? If so, you may want to stop the spring in the crown from doing anything.

If it truly is buggered, you can always sell it as parts. An ETA movement with too short a stem is still a working movement.

Thats an interesting idea. How does one disable the spring in the crown???

Who did you buy it from? I got mine from Andrew and having expressed my concerns he basically assured me he would take care of it if there was any problem. That's good to know.

I actually have two ETA UPO's - one orange and one black. The orange one is the broken one and that was purchased from Eddie Lee, who promised to send me a new dial when mine was defective but never delivered. The black UPO was from Andrew and I expect that while most dealers will replace watches that are defective on arrival, I'm not sure if any guarantee applies to watches that fail a year after purchase (such as it was in my case with the orange ETA UPO, which I wore maybe once or twice a month).

In the end, no one really answered my question regarding how to unscrew the stem from the crown, but I figured it out myself. It is indeed lefty loosey righty tighty. I shortened the stem just a tad but it may have been too much as I cannot reliably engage the various stops as I pull out the crown anymore. I guess thats what I get for working with a rep. I'll source another stem for the 2824-2, but this is a real hassle for something that should have never happened. Not particularly happy with the UPO right now - first it was the crooked Omega logo, then the bezel insert fell out, and now the crown problem. Why would anyone buy one of these watches, no matter how good they look, if they don't even function well as a usable watch? Sorry if I sound harsh, I just needed to vent.

I see no real way to resolve this issue because even with the shortened stem, the watch is no longer water proof so to speak, making it all flash and no function.

I have an ETA UPO so I now don't feel so paranoid about it screwing up on me.

Mine is the ETA UPO, and it has the problem.

http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showto...amp;hl=upo+tube

Hi searched and found this...

Quoting bruce79 : "I agree. The threads are questionable. Doesn't really affect the appearance of the watch but it's very tough to screw in. Just have to be super careful when screwing in...always back 3/4 turn, then slowly forward. We'll see how long it lasts. Has anyone installed a gen tube/crown?

Hope this helps.

Btw by-tor mentioned that some peeps have installed the gen tube/crown combo.

Hope some experts can shed some light and show us the way

Oh I always use the "back" then forwards method of screwing down the crown. My question though it not screwing the crown to the case, it is removing the stem from the crown so I can shorten it. No matter what I do, it appears stuck. Before I use a lot of force, I just wanted to verify the direction the stem screws into the crown so I can turn it the opposite way.

I think we can get parts from Ofrei http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=50774

However I'm not sure how to replace the crown and tube.

Experts, any tips?

In another thread it was clear that the gen parts will not fit the rep without extensive modification.

I'll ask the question again, which direction does the stem screw into the crown? Lefty loosey, righty tighty? I cannot unscrew mine even with pliers.

Hi guys, how did the crown ended up like that? Is this problem in particular to UPO or all reps? And how do we prevent this from happening?

My UPO is on the way, and would want to take real good care of it...

Cheers

I tried it with a pair of small pliers but for the life of me cannot get it to unscrew. Does it screw in like normal (i.e. righty tighty lefty loosey)? So I should turn the stem counterclockwise to unscrew is right? I think mine is just in there really really tight.

The same thing happened to my PO - as andreww pointed out, this is the best fix and works good. Do a search on eta 2836 stem removal, follow the directions, unscrew the crown from the stem and shorten the stem from the crown side. Be careful! File very small amounts off and check it as you go by screwing the crown back on to the stem, installing it back into position and test it for proper clearance.

The watch will look as good as it did when you first got it. Just be careful around water...

How do I remove the stem from the crown? I know how to remove the stem/crown from the movement (push the little dot) but the stem seems to be pretty tight on the crown.

How did you shorten the stem? Can you post brief instructions on how this was done?

I know how to remove the stem from the movement but how do I separate the stem from the crown? Does it just pop in? Or is it screwed in? I don't want to break anything (yet).

Alright folks, my UPO purchased late last year from EL has performed flawlessly until tonight when the crown refused to screw down. I opened it up to clean the stem but there is no debris on it, and for the life of me I don't see any threads on the tube (well there's your problem!). I did some searching on the forum and have not found a satisfactory answer as to how to fix this, since apparently the gen tube does not fit on the rep case. So, how can I repair this? I doubt I'd be able to get a replacement from the dealer since the watch is ~10 months old.