where have I gone wrong, watch still fogs up inside?

[horologist]

HI to all,

I don't post much as I usually find most of my answers from the older posts here on this fourm.

 

However, lately  I have been having a problem with my replica sub 16610 (eta 2836 from Silx)  which continues to fog up, freshly being serviced after four years of wear.  Prior to this, I once went swimming with it accidently at the pool which was about 7 feet deep without any problem, but would always try to keep iit away from water when I could.  I never expected any replicas of this standard to be water resistant to more than this depth after a standard pressure test. I returned to my watchmaker and he pressure tested it with a dry tester and all he said to keep it away from the drink, but could not locate the cause.  He checked the mvt and accuracy mentioning that it has no other problems which of course I wasn't fully satisfied

 

I then replaced the back seal, greased it, a new crown and tube, but still continues to fog up after going for a jog in the morning.

 

Obviously it has a leak which never had and I am trying to get my head around it as to what I could have possiblly done wrong.  I wouldn't dare wash the dishes with it either, but fogging up is really annoying as reading the time is not always clear. 

 

For anyone with more experience on waterproof testing or remedies - I would really appreciate your feedback with my thanks in advance 

[Watchmeister]

If you are confident about the crown seal and a properly greased case back with gasket than I would guess it is your crystal gasket/seal. You would need a new gasket and potentially crystal glue. If that is the case it is not surprising that your watch smith said don't bother. Even that doesn't insure a proper seal. It requires trial and error.

[prdubis]

I think the humidity is captured inside your watch, and just fog up when the watch turns hot (when you jog for example).<br />Open the caseback, let it open and put your watch in direct sun light or under a bulb for 30 minutes...

[SSTEEL]

The only way to locate the leak for sure is to use a water resistant tester, but of course removing the movement first, then replacing screw in crown and case back.  Pressurise the equipment after hanging your watch, then once up to say 6bar, slowly release pressure, whilst submerging watch case into the water, and locate where the bubbles are coming from.

[FxrAndy]

I think the humidity is captured inside your watch, and just fog up when the watch turns hot (when you jog for example).

Open the caseback, let it open and put your watch in direct sun light or under a bulb for 30 minutes...

Ditto above or put it in a sealed container with silica gel packs for a day or so with the back off

[Ephry73]

I would take it apart and make sure your gaskets are fresh. If the crystal gasket was reused, chances are that's the source of the problem.

[horologist]

Thank you all for your replies.  You have all given me something to look into  Much appreciated!!!!  The suggestion that it could be the crystal gasket didn't cross my mind.  Maybe this could be one of the main problem.  If so, is there a tutorial here on how to do it?  This is something I have never seen done!!! Thanks fellows ,

[Nanuq]

I had a Sea Dweller that fogged up when I went mountain biking and NOTHING would fix it. Very frustrating. I'm thinking your leak is somewhere where your skin meets metal, so your cast off moisture gets in. This means crown gasket, tube-to-case gasket, or caseback gasket. Those are also all the new pieces.<br /><br />I have a Big Crown with proper gaskets and it worked fine underwater for a day in Hawaii, then leaked the next day. The thickness of the crown o-ring prevents the crown being screwed all the way down, and I had to learn to tighten the crown just enough to squeeze the o-ring but not grossly deform it. Now it's watertight again.<br /><br />Like he said, your best move is to remove the movement and do a water immersion pressure test. There's going to be an impressive leak somewhere.<br />

[horologist]

Someone had mentioned to me in a private email to look at the case back and check if there are any vertical scrapes/scratches or even pittings that are are close to the foot of the threads.  In this event nothing will make it water tight unless the back is replaced.  Any thoughts?   I will look to see if this may be the situation? 

[Nanuq]

That's another good place to check.  But if it was watertight before and now it isn't, I'm thinking gaskets. 

 

Is the caseback gasket the correct thickness, IE, does it fill the gap between the case and back?

 

How many gaskets did your tube and crown have? 

 

Did you use Loctite on the tube threads?

 

Again, build yourself a Nalgene bottle pressure tester, remove the movement, and try it in water.  You'll the see problem in 2 seconds.

[horologist]

That's another good place to check.  But if it was watertight before and now it isn't, I'm thinking gaskets. 

 

Is the caseback gasket the correct thickness, IE, does it fill the gap between the case and back?

 

How many gaskets did your tube and crown have? 

 

Did you use Loctite on the tube threads?

 

Again, build yourself a Nalgene bottle pressure tester, remove the movement, and try it in water.  You'll the see problem in 2 seconds.

Thanks again!!! just noticed in the wet pressure tester that some bubbles are coming from the glass.  so it must be  the crystal gasket.  Is there a post or tutorial on this site that I can see how it is done?

[Nanuq]

Simple, you just gotta make sure that sucker is REALLY pressed in there right. Here's how I do it:

[SSTEEL]

Remove crystal with a crystal press, renew gasket, or use water proof clean sealant then use crystal press to refit.

[Jkay]

Just so you are clear on this .. bubbles will always escape from under the bezel and bezel insert. At 6ATM you are compressing 6 units of air down into 1 unit of air. A very tiny bubble under your bezel will inflate to 6x it's size and pop out.

 

What you are looking for is an impressive stream of bubbles. That watch case (if it leaks) as 6x more air in it than it normally does and it will come out .. in a torrent of trouble.

[watchguyoh]

Simple, you just gotta make sure that sucker is REALLY pressed in there right. Here's how I do it:

[horologist]

Just so you are clear on this .. bubbles will always escape from under the bezel and bezel insert. At 6ATM you are compressing 6 units of air down into 1 unit of air. A very tiny bubble under your bezel will inflate to 6x it's size and pop out.

 

What you are looking for is an impressive stream of bubbles. That watch case (if it leaks) as 6x more air in it than it normally does and it will come out .. in a torrent of trouble.

You might be right!!!!  I have re-checked it and bubbles escaping are not as you described!! In one way,  I am hoping  that it isn't the crystal as I do not have a crystal press and my watchmaker is getting very impatient as he hates working on replicas!!!  At first he refused to even service the watch (even though I paid him the same amount as if he were servicing a genuine Tissot etc,), so it doesn't put me in a pretty picture

[horologist]

I still haven't resolved the problem. However, it has been a good education for me to appreciate water resistant timepieces even more.

I am looking at long shots for what the likely cause may be. I was looking inside the case back and noticed where the case back meets the seal, there are some scrapes possibly made by a tool or needle for removing the back seal, but the back seal in this case actually sits in the mid case gasket groove. I am wondering if this may be the cause for mositure to slowly creep in, like the analogy of a dripping tap where the seat under the washer needs to be shaved out with the reseating tool????? I now wonder about the analogy of timepieces with pitted sections under case seals, how one overcomes the water resitance issue?????

[FxrAndy]

Have you properly dried out the inside of the watch ? And then tested it in a wet tester!

[horologist]

Have you properly dried out the inside of the watch ? And then tested it in a wet tester!

Yes!

[mymanmatt]

Case tubes and crowns are notorious for leaking, if not installed correctly. Make sure your case back gasket is in correctly. You must be careful when installing the case back. Im betting it is your crown and tube.

[seeaye]

The gen tag heuer booklet says that it is normal for the watch to fog up due to sudden temperature changes. This is nothing to worry about and it goes away within a minute or so. It's just condensation on the inner surface of the glass.

[FxrAndy]

Well that is surprising that they say it is ok. Moist air inside a watch is not good as it will cause corrosion on steel parts