The elusive rep PAM crystal gasket, hot property or just a major annoyance..?

[w0lf]

As it turns out (or maybe it's just me), a standard rep crystal gasket is not such an easy thing to procure on its own these days. Having recently tried finishing a couple of builds that I put off for long enough, I discovered that the several spare crystal gaskets I had stashed for such days of spontaneous inspiration are all stretched or possibly otherwise damaged. Naturally, they don't want to fit my 111J case like the flimsy brittle bastards they are. Tried freezing them but apparently nylon also sucks for heat expansion so off I went in a search of replacement gaskets along the way realizing that it's not as trivial as it used to be.. Or was it ever easy to find one of these before?

Here are some numbers so you don't think this bozo came unpreared or worse - tried to fit a bezel gasket in place of a crystal gasket

Typical premium (3.5mm center thickness) crystal diameter:

o 35.XXmm (where XX in my experience is anywhere from 49 to 57)

Bezel I-ring gasket thickness:

o JimmyzFu - 0.56mm

o 111J - 0.49mm

Crystal I-ring gasket thickness:

o OEM PAM - 0.56mm

o C3 - 0.56mm

o 111J - 0.42mm

Here our my findings at the end of the day (well not really all in a days work, I kind of already knew OEM|C3 gasket won't fit rep cases)

- The readily available C3 gasket is OEM size and thus will only fit a Jimmy or OEM case.

- DSN has either none to sell or he doesn't like me anymore.

- Jackson has none to sell, and as I found out from speaking to another member his gasket doesn't work well with thicker crystals.

- eBay search doesn't turn up much, there's one Turkish guy selling something that looks like it may work but his description is murkier than Chicago river now.

- Ofrei, JB & Eslinger have every imaginable O- and I-ring gasket in every material sans the one size nylon I-ring I'm looking for

- CousinsUK has what may or may not work in the form of part numbers IG363355C1 & IG363355C2, it's .40mm thick and up 35.5mm inner diameter and up to 1.75mm thick (C2).

So if you actually manage to make it to the end of this writeup - is there an easier way to get a couple of these damn gaskets?

[w0lf]

How about them 292s eh?

[Drulee]

Yes, gaskets are a real PIA to source, even for some dealers. I bought a couple of JacksonTSE's thin sapphires ages ago, as I had a couple of his cases, and he sent them without gaskets. He promised to send them, but over a month later he told me that his supplier wouldn't sell him any individually (only as part of case set). It took him another couple of months to send me ONE gasket. Why he couldn't just remove one from another case, I have no idea.

I have been able to use Mattuss' OEM sized gasket in a couple of non-JimmyFu cases, but have had problems getting the crystal to sit evenly with others (DSN Crystal). Of course this may just be due to me using a hand held crystal press.

EDIT: Just realized that the sapphire that wouldn't seat properly was being installed in a 229 case, the one I bought from you I think. The OEM sized Mattusss gasket fit the case, but I'm having problems getting the sapphire in evenly ......

Edited June 4, 2011 by Drulee

[w0lf]

You probably mean the 219 case - those need the thin rep gasket same as 111J case. The Matt/C3 gasket is only good for JimmyFu or OEM case as it's prohibitively thick.

Also, in the same vein if someone knows a good crystal press please share the knowlege - mine is this POS and it looks like I'm not the only one having problems with it:

[Drulee]

Yup that's the POS press I've been using. I think the best tool would be one of those screw down presses.

And you are right I meant 219. If it uses a thin gasket, I wonder if one of Jackson's gaskets would fit ... I think I've got one of his homage PAM builds around somewhere.

[w0lf]

I took a look at ofrei for crystal presses and they're $$... I wonder if anyone has found a reasonably priced alternative.