TeeJay Posted March 31, 2012 Report Share Posted March 31, 2012 I'm having a bit of a frustrating time, and wondered if anyone might have any suggestions... When it arrived, my new 16610 was water resistant: I showered and bathed in it, and ran it under the cold faucet at full force, with no issues what so ever. A few days ago, I noticed that the 10 marker was very slightly raised from the dial, and the crystal was offset by 1 degree clockwise, so I decided to fix the issues for something to do, and since then, if the watch is held under the running faucet (or taken outside in the cold) the inside of the crystal fogs up There is absolutely zero signs of actual flooding, ie no droplets round the edge of the crystal, and no droplets around the inside of the caseback or crown. I used a vice to clamp the case, so I know the crystal is seated as firmly as possible, and the gasket appears exactly as it did before popping the crystal, and the caseback and crown are being screwed down as tightly as possible, allowing no further rotation... Any ideas? Could this be due to the crystal transmitting temperature fluctuation, like the inside of a house window condensing on a cold day, rather than 'traditional leakage'? Any suggestions? At the moment, I'm trying gently warming the watch dismantled so as to let it dry, bu t several drying periods have this far not prevented the fogging occuring, neither did replacing the gaskets, so thought I'd open this one up to those in the know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyB Posted March 31, 2012 Report Share Posted March 31, 2012 I think you do have a leak, likely the crystal gasket. Get it pressure tested, or build your own. http://www.rwg.cc/topic/75389-build-a-pressure-tester-for-30-dollars/page__hl__%2Bbuild+%2Bpressure+%2Btester__fromsearch__1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted March 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2012 I think you do have a leak, likely the crystal gasket. Get it pressure tested, or build your own. http://www.rwg.cc/topic/75389-build-a-pressure-tester-for-30-dollars/page__hl__%2Bbuild+%2Bpressure+%2Btester__fromsearch__1 Thanks for the feedback, I can always try replacing the crystal gasket, but the thing which has me confused, is it was waterproof before the crystal was removed, and it has been pressed down very securely with a vice, so I'm confused as to why the gasket has 'stopped working' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeKa Posted March 31, 2012 Report Share Posted March 31, 2012 Just a hairline crack in the gasket is enough to let in some moisture... Dee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted March 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2012 Something I forgot to mention, is the fogging on the interior of the crystal is not permanant, it 'de clouds' in a matter of moments as the watch dries (and presumeably the crystal temperature equalizes...) It's not huffing up and staying fogged till wiped clear, if that might shed more light on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted March 31, 2012 Report Share Posted March 31, 2012 I've never had much luck to speak of when re-pressing a mineral glass crystal into the little ring gasket, all it takes is an itty-bitty nick and it won't seal anymore. Nowdays I just toss it and bed the crystal in with clear epoxy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted March 31, 2012 Report Share Posted March 31, 2012 I think you do have a leak, likely the crystal gasket. Get it pressure tested Ditto & the reason I rarely get any of my gens wet. A watch might have passed a pressure test yesterday, but tomorrow it may leak. When it comes to watches that are important to you, better safe than sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyB Posted April 1, 2012 Report Share Posted April 1, 2012 I've pressed a few with a vise, very carefully after I broke the 1st one - and that was a sapphire crystal. Some sealed, some didn't because the gasket was slightly pinched. For the occasional user like me, I think the press that Harbor Freight sells is a good idea. It comes with the nylon dies so that you are applying the pressure evenly. Used carefully, you can hear the crystal pop into place. At $12.99 it's a decent price, and they run 20% off coupons all the time which gets it down to a little over $10. And the dies can be used to hold or set other stuff too, like glued inserts. http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=watch+press If you have a friendly watchmaker pressure test it. Some say the mall has that service available at one of the watch stores. And the home made one is really neat to build to have your own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabularasa415 Posted April 1, 2012 Report Share Posted April 1, 2012 Ditto & the reason I rarely get any of my gens wet. A watch might have passed a pressure test yesterday, but tomorrow it may leak. When it comes to watches that are important to you, better safe than sorry. This is excellent advice. I was talking to my local watchmaker (CW21 with a Rolex account and all that jazz) about which of my gen watches would be safest to take snorkeling while on vacation in FL an he said, "Whatever cheap watch you don't mind risking to the elements.". This is coming from the guy who services all of my gens and pressure tests them when he's done. He's cited many examples of "dive watches" failing people frequently. My .02 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted April 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2012 At the moment, I have two options: replace the gasket, or use epoxy and seal it. Neither if which are issues. However, the thing which I don't understand, is why the watch does not fog when it is immersed in hot water, only cold, and equally, why it can fog if I go outside into colder weather... This is why I want to know if the fogging could be environmental/due to the temperature of the crystal, rather than the obvious answer that there us a mechanical failure allowing a leak. I seem to remember a member some time back mentioning their watch fogging up when going into a shopping mall from a hot and humid outdoors... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavidoc Posted April 1, 2012 Report Share Posted April 1, 2012 TJ The reason you are seeing fogging in cold weather is due to the moisture in the watch being warmer then the cool air. Picture you car windshield. Let's say it is 75 degrees outside and you have your defrost on AC at 67 degrees. Ever notice that film of fogging that occurs on the exterior of the windshield that you have to use you wipers to clear? Same concept. Now it might not be leaking and instead you have intermittent moisture in it from when you replaced the crystal. Get yourself some silica packets, open the case back and put the silica packets and the watch in a ziplock bag and leave it for a day. Resell and test. If it fogs again you have a leak. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted April 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2012 I've stripped the case again, thoroughly dried everything, re-seated the crystal again, and replaced the rear gasket, and so far, the issue seems resolved Maybe the rear gasket got damaged while originally removing the caseback 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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