Aaaaargh, my UPO is steaming up!

[Craig S]

Oh dear!

Wore my new UPO that i sourced from PT today for the first time, and the face is steaming up!!! Watch aint been anywhere near water...

What's going on???

Anybody had similar problems?

[lanikai]

For those not reading the shout box.. this happens.. especially when going from humid weather to extreme cold or vise-versa

I use "damp rid" pellets that is sold in the hardware store or local drug store.. for removing dampness from closets etc....or you can use silicone pellets also.

I place the watch with the crown open in the setting position... in a cigar box with the pellets in a bottle cap ( about 2 or 3 cap fulls).. close and leave overnight.. in the morning or when ever, after several hours the moisture is gone.. I also keep silicone packets in my watch box.. to keep it dry.. Hawaii has high humidity .. I am assuming it helps.

AC/Lani

[Craig S]

Gonna get myself to the DIY store on my way home.

Ah btw, this aint no dig at PT. He's a good guy and wouldnt have been aware there was dampness there sa it only reared its ugly head when the watch warmed up on my wrist.

Edited February 4, 2010 by Craig S

[lanikai]

Yeah craig.. it happens.. no matter the dealer.. in this hobby it's a numbers game a lot of the time..

good luck.. I'm sure it will be all good

[Nanuq]

Lani's got good advice... most importantly, get it dried out PRONTO.

I have a circulated hot water boiler in my house, and when I get a fogged watch I snatch the back off and leave it sitting on top of the boiler overnight. It gets up around 120 degrees and dries right out.

[ubiquitous]

Silica definitely helps. After casing up a watch, I usually seal one up in an air tight baggie with a silica packet to pull any moisture. Keep the crown to the time setting position like Lani said and it should draw everything out.

Once dry, run the watch down to your local watch repair guy and have it pressure checked just for good measure.

[FxrAndy]

Bob you are taking 120 Fahrenheit ???? Too hot will soften the schelack that holds the jewels in place

Personally i have a Tupperware box filled with silica gel sachets (the sort you get in new shoes and electrical goods) If i ever have a water ingress problem the case back gets removed and the whole watch goes in there for a few days before i inspect and service if required, the inside of this box is dryer than death valley! but not hot so as to loosen jewels

Fransico had a post a while ago showing what happened when some one used a hair dryer to dry a watch!

[TeeJay]

Fransico had a post a while ago showing what happened when some one used a hair dryer to dry a watch!

I bet that was messy...

I once made the mistake of using a 'daylight lamp' to dry a really nasty Seamaster, and the heat warped the plastic movement retainer, so the rotor was unable to spin. The watch worked fine for manual winding

I've also had the problem where putting a watch too close to a halogen bulb to charge the lume would make a plastic datewheel warp forwards and drag on the dial

Needless to say, lessons have been learned, and I don't expose watches to intense heat like that anymore

[Nanuq]

Pshaw, 120 degrees is nothing! I cooked my ancient MBW in the blazing hot sun in Okla-stinking-Homa for days on end, to the point the case was so hot I couldn't hold it in my bare hand. It was easily 200 degrees. The dial went a little chocolate (cocoa crispies?) but everything stayed intact and it still works like a champ.

[Craig S]

I think I will stay with the silica, ha! Bought some tonight, and only one I could find has got a nice pot pourri scent to it.

In the end, I'm sure I'll come out smelling of roses. boom..tish

[P4GTR]

Pshaw, 120 degrees is nothing! I cooked my ancient MBW in the blazing hot sun in Okla-stinking-Homa for days on end, to the point the case was so hot I couldn't hold it in my bare hand. It was easily 200 degrees. The dial went a little chocolate (cocoa crispies?) but everything stayed intact and it still works like a champ.

I've had it in my mind that it's time for another watch torture test.

[lanikai]

Hair blowers .. pot pourri ..sheesh.. ...

next we'll hear bout the styling gel...

but remember Nanuq live in the ice age country and 120 degrees in boiler temp. is probably not the same on the outside..

those little damp rid silica pellets are cool, by morning they are glazed over with moisture.. leave it long enough and the bottle cap will turn to liquid..if your room has a lot of humidity.

[Stratocaster]

I have a gen Movado that I wore once in the rain, under a suit, and this same thing happened. Corroded the hands and marked part of the dial. A $1000 watch, and now it looks like a bad rep

[Toadtorrent]

Bob you are taking 120 Fahrenheit ???? Too hot will soften the schelack that holds the jewels in place

Andy Andy Andy...you've been on this forum with Bob how many years and you don't know him? This is Nanuq...he's talking 120 Kelvin...that's summertime in the land of the Big White Bears.