Crown lever problem

[panerai153]

Need some help from the PAM experts. I just got my DSN 24A back from The Zigmeister. He serviced the A7750 movement and changed the stock crown for a one of T's T-48 SL models. Also changed the tube and gasket. The problem is: the crown lever doesn't exert any pressure on the crown. It doesn't flop around, but when you close the lever you don't get that feedback that it's tight and has moved over center. When I put the watch in my pressure tester, it failed, bubbles coming from around the crown. My thoughts are that the crown lever if properly sized in relation to the crown, should push the crown in and put some pressure against the gasket is this correct? Now the question is where can I find a lever that is a little thicker at the bottom that will contact and press against the crown and hold it closed.Probably not using the correct terminology here, but I'm more used to Rolex crowns that screw down to help seal the watch.I would think that someone out there is producing aftermarket levers that are deeper, even if they had to be fitted by filing down a tiny bit at a time.

Any help appreciated.

[btocamelo]

Usually the remedy is a shallow dish crown...I believe T now sells both

[Fi5herman]

I saw a post some time ago a method to reduce the depth of the crown dish that you may consider: insert / glue a piece of thin & small circular metal into the crown dish. If the size of the circular metal fit perfectly, it is hardly noticeable.

[babola]

Could you post a picture that shows the crown/CG, please.

Slightly longer crown stem is just one of the ideas that spring to mind at the moment.

[eddiemonster]

There are 2 things you can do if you don't have a different crown stem to remount the crown so that it sticks out further from the case. If the lever tip is grazing or making any sort of contact w/ the crown dish, then I would suggest that you simply shave the CG feet, this will essentially bring the CG in closer to the case when mounted. Use a metal hobby or jeweler's file (available at Home Depot in the tools section) to shave some metal from the feet and simply retest the fit periodically. Second method, if the gap is too much, then you need to fabricate a shim that will add material to the dish of the crown. The easiest way to do this is to use a single hole paper punch on a thin piece of aluminum. I simply use the metal pull tab from a soda can. The punch will punch thru the aluminum and give you perfect circular piece of metal- you may have to flatten it out a bit by striking gently w/ a mallet. Then simply use an adhesive like Gorilla glue to glue the piece of aluminum to the center of the crown dish. Voila, the lever should now tighten up against the shim. You may have to double up on the aluminum depending on the size of the gap.

[denisegold]

Thought...how about a thicker gasket on the stem?

[eddiemonster]

Thought...how about a thicker gasket on the stem?

Should work too.

[denisegold]

Just sounds like an easier move than shaving etc.

[babola]

The thicker gasket fix may well work and sometimes may not, depending on how much 'play' there's left in the crown stem and how far away the lever from the dish is.

The photo showing the position of the crown in reference to the case would help a lot...

[z3k0]

There is no "deep dish" SL T48, all spring loaded T-crowns are "shallow" dish.

regards

[Watchmeister]

We need a pic of the distance between the crown and the case to tell you whether you can extend out the case tube to get a firm contact and have it still look good or add a tab to the inner part of the crown to keep the relationship the same. The other possibility is to swap out the lever from another crown guard with a longer contact point.

[RWG Technical]

The dilema with all of these aftermarket crowns is the same, which is more important to you:

1. the correct placement of the crown next to the case

2. the lever touching the crown

My choice is always no. 1. The crown should always be installed so that it in the correct location next to the case. Once that's done, you have to adapt the CG lever to the crown's location.

If you decide to move the crown farther out from the case (by installing a longer stem, not by simply adding o'rings to the crown and placing the keyless works under stress) you have created a problem. The crown has lost it's support, the case tube no longer holds the sides of the crown secure, and everytime you close the CG lever, you are placing stress on the keyless works.

One option is to cut down the CG feet. But that is risky also. If your original crown left you with a small nub of a lever, cutting the CG feet down and moving the complete CG towards the case, not only moves the lever closer to the crown, it reduces the gap in which the crown can move, and switch from winding to time setting. Again, you have caused another fault (nothing is fixable in isolation). Now you CG lever touches the crown, but you can't pull the crown out far enough to set the time, the CG gap is too small...

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

Shortcuts don't work.

The only true solution is to start with a CG lever that is too long, and custom fit and trim it to fit the crown, which you placed in the correct location to start with.

Doing anything else will and does introduce futher faults and issues, I know, I have done and experienced them all.

[rolli]

another option is to punch the lever-contact-nose with a punch machine and a hit with a hammer.

the material of the lever-nose it's also spread towards to the front.

and so you get contact again to the crown.

my watchmaker did it with success.

rolli

The dilema with all of these aftermarket crowns is the same, which is more important to you:

1. the correct placement of the crown next to the case

2. the lever touching the crown

My choice is always no. 1. The crown should always be installed so that it in the correct location next to the case. Once that's done, you have to adapt the CG lever to the crown's location.

If you decide to move the crown farther out from the case (by installing a longer stem, not by simply adding o'rings to the crown and placing the keyless works under stress) you have created a problem. The crown has lost it's support, the case tube no longer holds the sides of the crown secure, and everytime you close the CG lever, you are placing stress on the keyless works.

One option is to cut down the CG feet. But that is risky also. If your original crown left you with a small nub of a lever, cutting the CG feet down and moving the complete CG towards the case, not only moves the lever closer to the crown, it reduces the gap in which the crown can move, and switch from winding to time setting. Again, you have caused another fault (nothing is fixable in isolation). Now you CG lever touches the crown, but you can't pull the crown out far enough to set the time, the CG gap is too small...

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

Shortcuts don't work.

The only true solution is to start with a CG lever that is too long, and custom fit and trim it to fit the crown, which you placed in the correct location to start with.

Doing anything else will and does introduce futher faults and issues, I know, I have done and experienced them all.

[denisegold]

The master has spoken!!

[panerai153]

thanks very much for all the input and ideas. This isn't a problem that i can't live with for a while. i will probably do as The Zigmeister said, try to find a CG lever that has a little longer "foot" and see if it can be trimmed down to make a tighter fit. now the question is, where Can I find one?

Thanks again

[rolli]

ask davidsen for a new crown-guard with a lever with a longer contact-nose.

rolli

thanks very much for all the input and ideas. This isn't a problem that i can't live with for a while. i will probably do as The Zigmeister said, try to find a CG lever that has a little longer "foot" and see if it can be trimmed down to make a tighter fit. now the question is, where Can I find one?

Thanks again