Craig S Posted January 14, 2011 Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 Afternoon all! Hope you guys can shed a little light i have on my franken UPO. I got a UPO which was recently "frankened" with a gen dial, hands, crown and tube. All has been going great for over 6 months until recently, where now I am unable to screw the crown in. I press it down and try to screw and lock the crown but it pops up again. I guess something may have threaded? Is the thread inside the tube (as in I need a new tube) or what other part of the mechanism might I need to repair?? Tried so many times, I must have involuntarily wound the watch a hundre times, ha! Any suggestions would be great. Cheers guys C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danza1812 Posted January 14, 2011 Report Share Posted January 14, 2011 Very very unusual for a gen tube to shred. I'd have your watchmaker check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bam Rock Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 I have the exact same problem on my franken UPO. I bought mine from another member and I know some of the mods but I cannot remember if the crown is gem or not (but I believe it's not gen). But in any case I've emailed someone so that I can try to get it repaired. Can anyone estimate cost to fix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976 Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 I have the exact problem with all 3 UPOs,one solution is to press the crowntube very gently and then the crown will screw down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plaifender Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 I have the exact problem with all 3 UPOs,one solution is to press the crowntube very gently and then the crown will screw down. but he´s talking about a gen crown and tube.. Tube stripping is normal on UPOs but not on gen crown and tubes... So can you tell if the tube is screwed into the crown? Can you notice any breakage when the crown is fully extended? In order to install GEN crown and tube, it´s necessary to cement the tube into the watch case and apply pressure. I used Araldite epoxy and the stuff holds like no other.. in fact.. do a youtube search on its strength and you´ll be amazed. If whoever modded your watch, used glue instead of epoxy its quite possible the tube has simply come undone from the case. If this is what happened, then it´s a relatively simple fix, but would require you to take out the movement clear away debris from the tube hole and tube, and then re-epoxy it to the case using Araldite and some good clamps. Let sit for 24 hours and voila.. a tube that should never come out of the watch case Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jkay Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Replacing the crown and tube with genuine pieces is the cheapest mod on any UPO ... go for it. It's the most common problem and the least expensive fix ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bam Rock Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 Replacing the crown and tube with genuine pieces is the cheapest mod on any UPO ... go for it. It's the most common problem and the least expensive fix ever. I'm just trying to get my info in order....So if I order the crown and the crown tube from ofrei...that will come with everything needed to repair the stripped part that I'm having troubles with right now? And also there will have to be modifications to get it to fit? I couldn't just take it to a [rep friendly] watchsmith in town and he screws it in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plaifender Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 I'm just trying to get my info in order....So if I order the crown and the crown tube from ofrei...that will come with everything needed to repair the stripped part that I'm having troubles with right now? And also there will have to be modifications to get it to fit? I couldn't just take it to a [rep friendly] watchsmith in town and he screws it in? Yes, just order the crown and tube from Ofrei (5 or 6 bucks for tube, 20 or 25 bucks for gen crown), you will get everything you need for the mod with it. Literally 30 mins of pure work.. not even. In regards to your other question, No. The gen tube is a little smaller than the rep tube. That's why Araldite epoxy is needed. (it's incredibly strong, metal epoxy). Youll need to apply araldite to both the case hole and the tube and keep them pressed together with a clamp or vice, for 24hours. Once the tube is epoxied onto the watch, you just put the movement back in, install the new crown on the movement stem and VOILA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 Welll....I have a gen 45.5 PO and the crown and tube have been replaced 4 times in 1 year. I sent the watch to Omega for a service. During this they changed the crown and tube. 3 months after it came back the crown stopped screwing in. I took it to the dealer, complained, and they had it repaired (new crown and tube) by their Omega certified watchsmith. 2 months later it happened again, so I go back and they replace once again. Now last week it's happened again. I've called them and am pending taking the watch back for another repair. It seems the tube is slipping back into the case. The only alternative now is to have the tube 'welded' into the case. This will stop it slipping, but will complicate any work necessary in the future. So it happens on gens also...... I have a 6 year old Seamaster 300 (Bond but black face) - gen - and the crown has NEVER given any problems. Bullet proof!!!! Also on the PO there are issues over the bezel fading, and also the dial under sunlight....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plaifender Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 Welll....I have a gen 45.5 PO and the crown and tube have been replaced 4 times in 1 year. I sent the watch to Omega for a service. During this they changed the crown and tube. 3 months after it came back the crown stopped screwing in. I took it to the dealer, complained, and they had it repaired (new crown and tube) by their Omega certified watchsmith. 2 months later it happened again, so I go back and they replace once again. Now last week it's happened again. I've called them and am pending taking the watch back for another repair. It seems the tube is slipping back into the case. The only alternative now is to have the tube 'welded' into the case. This will stop it slipping, but will complicate any work necessary in the future. So it happens on gens also...... I have a 6 year old Seamaster 300 (Bond but black face) - gen - and the crown has NEVER given any problems. Bullet proof!!!! Also on the PO there are issues over the bezel fading, and also the dial under sunlight....... Wow.. Now i've never heard of that problem on a GEN. Welding wouldn't be necessary if they used a little metal epoxy on the tube and thread. Araldite bonds metal like no other! found this strength test on youtube. The nut is bonded to a piece of metal with araldite and withstood 145 newtons of tensil strength. That translates into 1,422.45kg of force. I don't see how a tube could get dislodged from the watch if araldite was used. The crown would strip way before the tube came undone from the case. Maybe you could suggest that omega use Araldite instead of welding the tube into place.Or do it yourself...? I imagine you have to pay for service from omega anyways, unless your watch is within the 1 year warranty.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bam Rock Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 I know this would be tough to answer for someone else, but how hard of a "mod" do you think this would be? Does the movement need to be fully removed? I don't have any experience with movements but I'm decent with my hands and small electronics. I can remove the caseback and see thr threads for the crown but how much deeper will I need to be for the tube epoxy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plaifender Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 I know this would be tough to answer for someone else, but how hard of a "mod" do you think this would be? Does the movement need to be fully removed? I don't have any experience with movements but I'm decent with my hands and small electronics. I can remove the caseback and see thr threads for the crown but how much deeper will I need to be for the tube epoxy? On a scale of 1-10 (1 being easy, 10 being difficult), this is a 2 or 3. VERY simple! I'm not a watch modder by any means... after asking several modders here to do the work for me, (they were all up to their neck with other projects), I just decided to bite the bullet and do it myself! I installed crystal and tube and crown. It's necessary to take out the movement, but that literally takes about 3 minutes... once the movement has been removed it's just a question of:\ 1. taking out the old crown tube (it's lodged into the case by pure friction, actually a little tricky to get out, but get some needle nose pliers and you should be fine). 2. removing any debris from case whole where tube was 3. Applying a small amount of araldite epoxy to the hole, and to the base of the new tube. 4. putting the new tube in case and maintain firm contact with a vice or clamp (be sure not to mar your watch!)Let sit for at least 12 hours (24 hours is even better) 5. Remove old crown from stem by placing stem in bit holder and turning crown till it screws off. clean stem and apply some loctite to the threads.. Screw on new gen crown. 6. Remove vice from watch case, brush away any glue debris that might be around the tube, put the movement back in case, insert the stem back into watch.. screw down your crown and VOILA!!! Sounds more difficult than it is. Easiest mod to do yourself. I did it and my results were great! Glue setting Finished product: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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