preacher62 Posted September 1, 2011 Report Share Posted September 1, 2011 (edited) Dear Experts, What is the latest concensus on this. If you drop your Noobmariner on a concrete floor and break the crystal do you just toss the case or can a replacement crystal be procured? I have driven single edged razor blades under the bezel and it doesn't seem to want to let go. Thanks! Edited September 1, 2011 by preacher62 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sneed12 Posted September 1, 2011 Report Share Posted September 1, 2011 Why are you trying to remove the bezel? Noobmariners have press-in crystals. If you want to send it to me I can see if one of the spares I have will fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preacher62 Posted September 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2011 (edited) Why are you trying to remove the bezel? Noobmariners have press-in crystals. If you want to send it to me I can see if one of the spares I have will fit. Thanks for the reply. If it is a press in I can replace it. Just need a crystal. I was thinking about inquiring with BK to see if he could furnish me one. I would be happy to buy one from you. This one had the correct 2.5 magnification. I do want that. I have had the older Noobs and the mag drove me crazy. Edited September 1, 2011 by preacher62 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automatico Posted September 2, 2011 Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 "What is the latest concensus on this. If you drop your Noobmariner on a concrete floor and break the crystal do you just toss the case or can a replacement crystal be procured?" If it is an F520117 noob or the same case with rlx, rlx, rlx on the reflector (rehaut)...you can remove the movement and push the crystal out from the inside. The problem is finding a crystal for it. Crystals in these watches are made similar to genuine with a stepped outside edge but they are not oem spec so replacement crystals are hard to find. Do not attempt to remove the bezel as this usually results in a bent bezel because the bezel to case fit is so close that there is not enough room for the bezel to shift to one side and allow the spring wire retainer to slip out. I would also remove the movement and crystal to change out a bezel insert on these watches. Something else... On some cases I have removed spring wire retainer type bezels by removing the movement, crystal, and bezel insert first...then slip a piece of very thin metal (a piece of automotive 'feeler' gauge stock etc) between the bezel and case while sliding it around to force the spring wire out of the groove in the bezel (or case) and out from between the bezel and case. This will work only if there is enough room for the spring wire to pass between the case and bezel. I have an F520117 case in my hand and it does not look like there is enough room between the case and bezel for this to work. The tight fit between the case and bezel on this case is the reason for the crisp bezel action. The F520117 bezel is really not made to be removed imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preacher62 Posted September 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 "What is the latest concensus on this. If you drop your Noobmariner on a concrete floor and break the crystal do you just toss the case or can a replacement crystal be procured?" If it is an F520117 noob or the same case with rlx, rlx, rlx on the reflector (rehaut)...you can remove the movement and push the crystal out from the inside. The problem is finding a crystal for it. Crystals in these watches are made similar to genuine with a stepped outside edge but they are not oem spec so replacement crystals are hard to find. Do not attempt to remove the bezel as this usually results in a bent bezel because the bezel to case fit is so close that there is not enough room for the bezel to shift to one side and allow the spring wire retainer to slip out. I would also remove the movement and crystal to change out a bezel insert on these watches. Something else... On some cases I have removed spring wire retainer type bezels by removing the movement, crystal, and bezel insert first...then slip a piece of very thin metal (a piece of automotive 'feeler' gauge stock etc) between the bezel and case while sliding it around to force the spring wire out of the groove in the bezel (or case) and out from between the bezel and case. This will work only if there is enough room for the spring wire to pass between the case and bezel. I have an F520117 case in my hand and it does not look like there is enough room between the case and bezel for this to work. The tight fit between the case and bezel on this case is the reason for the crisp bezel action. The F520117 bezel is really not made to be removed imo. Thank, automatico...it is an F520117 with plain rehaut. And yes, after sneed12 said it is a press in, I pushed it out. It is a very nice Noob case. I bought it last week from a sale another RWG member held. It came yesterday and I was excited to have it. Mag was perfect, case was perfect, needed a movement, of which I have many. When I got out of the car I dropped it on the concrete floor of the garage...ouch, bummer! I have sent to BK to see if he can help. Failing that, one of the dealers might source one. Andrew seems pleased to sell you any part of anything he sells. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ephry73 Posted September 2, 2011 Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 If you have digital calipers, measure the space with the gasket. I may have a noob crystal with the cyclops. the ones I have are 30.33mm E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automatico Posted September 2, 2011 Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 Here are the specs on the F520117 crystal: 2.0mm thick 30.5mm outside diameter 29.0mm where it presses into the gasket Sure would be nice if it was made to oem specs: 2.0mm thick 30.35mm outside diameter 29.5mm where it fits into the gasket A thinner gasket might work with an oem spec crystal if you could find one. The .15mm smaller diameter at the top would not make any difference. The used noob gasket is .45mm thick and 1.0mm high...it might have been .5mm thick before the crystal was pressed in it though. A .3mm or .4mm thick gasket might work. The gasket seat diameter in the case is 29.7mm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preacher62 Posted September 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 (edited) If you have digital calipers, measure the space with the gasket. I may have a noob crystal with the cyclops. the ones I have are 30.33mm E I'm getting 28.64 inside diameter with the gasket in place. That's 1.3mm difference, although the gasket is going to compress a lot. What do you think? Your consideration is appreciated, I assure you. I haven't heard back from Bert. M Edited September 2, 2011 by preacher62 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ephry73 Posted September 2, 2011 Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 I'll measure the case these normally come from. I will let you know tonight. That's still a lot of compression. All these crystals I have are 2mm thick. E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automatico Posted September 3, 2011 Report Share Posted September 3, 2011 In cases where there is a plastic gasket mounted in the case and the crystal is pressed into it...a crystal with an OD of about .1mm or .2mm bigger than the mounted gasket ID is usually about all that will fit without ruining the gasket (depending on hardness of the gasket, angle cut on the bottom of the crystal etc). The bigger the OD of the mounted gasket...the bigger oversize crystal it will accept. A 20mm crystal might not fit with more than .1mm or .2mm difference but a 40mm crystal might work with .2mm or .3mm, maybe more. I looked through my plastic 'I' type crystal gaskets and they are all between .50mm and .45mm thick. 'I' type is what is used in the F520117, it is basically just a plastic band. An 'L' type crystal gasket is L shaped and the crystal bottoms out against the turned out foot of the L. They give better sealing in deep water and cushion the crystal a little during a hard knock against the crystal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preacher62 Posted September 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2011 This gasket does not appear to have an L foot on the inside. It appears to be on the outside, Unless the foot was compressed out. This gasket appears to be .43mm thick not counting any foot. Have either of you ever asked Gary Clark about this delimma? He might be the one to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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