Bosshaug Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 Question.. I have a DSSD Ultimate... Is the HEV Valv an issue on water resistancy? Is it assumably sealed with an o-ring from factory? Does it need to be upgraded to swim with it?? Thanks Rgds P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteM Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 I have read a lot of guys on here do the epoxy mod on the HE valve with their DSSD's even recently. Not sure if its needed on the ultimate though. Might be worth looking in the search tool if you can get it to work properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 Any rep needs a bit of checking before it gets wet, just to make sure the critical points are as they should, in this case 1 The case back has an o ring, it is greased with silicone grease and the case back is on tight 2 The crown has the required 3 o-rings and they are greased (there is every possibility the watch would be wet proof with just 1 o-ring in the right place but it should have 3) 3 The crystal is seated squarly in the case and pressed home fully 4 The He valve is either functioning and has the o-ring in the right place and is greased and sealing or it has been sealed from the inside with some epoxy. (The He valve should be solid when pushed from the outside of the watch but should be able to be moved gently out from the inside of the case as this is an over pressuer valve and alows any pressure that has seaped into the case from working in a dive bell or compression chamber to be relesed as the watch decompreses) There are some great posts about He valves and their functions around here and this below is stolen from wiki pedia A helium release valve, or helium escape valve, as it is also called, is a feature found on some diving watches. It provides functionality for professional divers operating at great depths for prolonged periods of time or under saturation. When commercial divers operate at great depths, they often spend prolonged hours in diving bells under pressure breathing a breathing gas mix like trimix or similar, that contain the gases helium or hydrogen. Since helium molecules are the second smallest and hydrogen molecules the smallest found in nature, these gas molecules are able to work their way inside the watch, around any o-rings or other seals the watch may feature. This is not a problem as long as the divers stay under pressure, but when the decompression stops during resurfacing aren't long enough, a pressure difference builds up between the trapped gas(es) inside the watch case and its environment. Depending on the construction of the watch case and crystal, this effect can cause damage to the watch, like making the crystal pop off. Whilst many watch companies react to this effect by simply offering an even more robust case/crystal construction, Rolex and Doxa S.A. however thought of a different concept when they co-created the helium escape valve in the 1960s (first introduced in the Rolex Submariner/Sea-Dweller and the Doxa Conquistador): A small, spring loaded one-way valve integrated in the watch case that's activated when the differential between the inner and the outside pressure reaches a critical level. Result: The valve releases the helium, hydrogen and/or other gases used in the breathing gas mix trapped inside the case. Automatic helium release valves usually don't need any manual operation. There are however helium release valves featuring an additional screw-down crown at the side of the watch. When the diver starts to ascend, the diver simply unscrews the valve's crown to the full open position, allowing any breathing gas that may have been trapped inside the watch to escape during decompression. Helium release valves can primarily be found on mechanical diving watches featuring a water/pressure resistance greater than 300 m (1000 ft) and therefore positioned as more extreme dive watches. Models that feature a helium release valve include most of the Omega Seamaster series, Rolex Sea Dweller, some dive watches from the Citizen Watch Co., Ltd, Breitling, Girard-Perregaux, Panerai, all watches produced by Enzo Mechana, and selected Doxa and Oris models. Other watch manufacturers such as Seiko still offer high-level dive watches that are guaranteed safe against the effects of helium gas without needing an additional opening in the case in form of a release valve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 Once you have done points 1 to 4 go to your local battery change place (not an AD) and they should be able to check you watch to 50m for a few Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 I just reread the title of this post and saw i missed the point, but i have heard of one version of the DSSD that alowed you to push in the He velve from the out side (not good) so it is worth checking which you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosshaug Posted November 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 ..wunderbar... thanks guys. I have indeed openend the case and greased the o-ring. But not checked the valve. I dipped the watch under the tap for 10 seconds and so far so good. I will probably(when i get some time) open it up and check the he valve... BTW- on the Seadweller Z series would it be the same case here? Cheers.. P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 See if you can depress the valve from the outside with something that won't scratch it. My V5 can be depressed from the outside - BAD. As soon as I can get the back off I will glue it shut... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asf Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 I just reread the title of this post and saw i missed the point, but i have heard of one version of the DSSD that alowed you to push in the He velve from the out side (not good) so it is worth checking which you have. you are right. My v2 did that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 I guess having the HEV opening from the outside would be the ultimate form of "Reverse engineering" LOL Arthur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest techlogik Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 As others mentioned: 1) Seal the HEV with epoxy 2) The o-ring on the stem, ensure they are lubed up with the proper silicon grease. 3) Grease the caseback well also with silicon and ensure proper tightness. 4) Some people would seal the crystal with an adhesive/glue...there is some out there...not sure. Who knows if the crystal will leak? 5) Have it pressure tested and see if the crystal is a problem or anything else. Then never go in the water with it....haha... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gioarmani Posted November 29, 2009 Report Share Posted November 29, 2009 Follow the first link in my signature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FxrAndy Posted November 29, 2009 Report Share Posted November 29, 2009 Then never go in the water with it....haha... I see no reason not to go in the water with one of these, in-fact i would not be surprised if greased and tight this case should not pass a 20 bar test if not a lot more, I have watches with out even screw down crowns that pass 10 bar with out a problem, where a gen date just failed at 3 bar due to lack of a service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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