Devedander Posted November 19, 2006 Report Share Posted November 19, 2006 I was looking at bergeron testers and they are all in the hundreds of dollars... taking watches to the shop to be tested (if I Can find one that will do it on reps) could add up fast and if I start opening watches to tinker with them it will be very expensive to test every time... So I was wondering are there any inexpensive alteratives to do water proof testing at home? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offshore Posted November 19, 2006 Report Share Posted November 19, 2006 Devedandar, Here is a quick, easy and cost less test. For a quick check, put the watch in the sun, and get it hot. Quickly immerse it in cold water, and see if you see any bubbles emerging. If you do, just as quickly, remove the watch from the water. It won't get moisture inside, and if you saw bubbles, it LEAKS! This test doesn't prove anything, except that you have leaks! But its not a bad quicky for checking if the watch can be anywhere near water. You have marginally increased the interior pressure, and when it goes into the colder water, if it has a leak, you will see bubbles (a stream) not just the odd bubble from the band, or under the bezel. Obviously if you see a stream, note from where... this is the area, you will 1st need to work on to improve your WR. Then test again. If you haven't seen bubbles in a stream after say 30 seconds, you can be reasonably assured, you can at the least put the watch into a " wash hands" situation. And most probably swim with it. Anything more requires a pressure test. Offshore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devedander Posted November 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2006 Shower and wash hands is what I am shooting for... Hopefully I will have a basic toolkit early in the comming week (apparently still need a rolex tool though) so would it be adviseable to open all the watches and apply silicon lube before hand anyway? I figure it can't hurt... Also are other options safe for the watch besides sun (hair drier, "warm" oven setting etc?) I ask becuase around now where I live getting a watch significantly warm in the sun is not going to be an easy task... Thanks for this pointer! I sounds like it's just what I need... BTW if the watch does leak in this test is there anything to do to reduce risk such as open it and try to dry things out? Or is that a loosing battle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offshore Posted November 19, 2006 Report Share Posted November 19, 2006 Firstly, you may be better to run a test before opening, ie breaking, what may already be a good seal. But sure, if you resilicone the rear O ring, and have a correct case tool, it certainly won't do much harm. You can use other methods of heating, but don't go shoving it in a hot oven, you will get too much temp, too fast! "Warm" is the operative term here! If you have got the watch warm, and it doesn't have "major" leaks: any bubble streams you spot, will be warm ( higher pressure) air escaping, BUT not water entering, at that time. Water will only get in once the pressures equalise ( bubbles stop) If for some reason, you do get water inside, opening and drying with a hair dryer, and/or leaving it sit overnight in silica gel, MAY help remove water, but is not a guarantee. Anyway, the movement would need a pull down for reoiling, at the very least. The other method, is to get one of the Bulova vacuum testers, they go for $10-$50 on ebay. This will do almost the same as the test we are talking about, albeit, no water is involved. Only a film of soapy or leak detector fluid over the outside of the watch, and the tool creates an external vacuum, to "suck" air out through any leak areas. But they do not give any indication of pressure, just show the leak areas. Hope this helps. Offshore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devedander Posted November 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2006 Yes it helps very much... the Bullova method also sounds very reasonably priced and desireable... I assume the testing compound is easy to clean off? This is excellent and I thank you very much for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offshore Posted November 19, 2006 Report Share Posted November 19, 2006 I assume the testing compound is easy to clean off? Yes, wash it off ( if there are no leaks) Wipe it off if there are I used some radiator leak detector fluid, with one I had...... now in the hands of one, Kenberg He can probably tell you if he has had any good or bad results with it. Offshore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vmena Posted November 19, 2006 Report Share Posted November 19, 2006 Last week I was discussing waterproof topics with a watch master, and he indicated me something very interesting and that I've never took in account before: A watch indicating 50 Mt. waterproof do no mean that can b used up to 50 mtr. I means the pressure it can support, but the simple pressure that the watch receives when you jump into the water can make a 50 mtr. pressure (depending how strong you impact). From now on, I'll step into the pool by the stairs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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