Omega Seamaster Pro (SMP) Chrono Waterproof Testing

[Toadtorrent]

I received my beautiful SMP Chrono from Josh a couple weeks back and it's awesome.

I opened it up and greased the gasket with silicone grease and tightened the caseback down with a Jaxa wrench (much tighter than it came in the mail).

I tried to unscrew the HEV right off so I could try and stick some grease around any threads or gaskets that I saw, but it seems to stop unscrewing after a few turns, but not enough that I can fit anything in to apply any grease.

I tried to unscrew the crown to apply whatever grease I could there, and I can't unscrew the crown enough to stick anything in to apply grease.

I brought that watch down to a watchmaker and asked if he would test it for waterproofing, and he said he has had such bad experiences testing replicas, that he refused. I said that this is not a regular replica, but a good one, and upon examination of the watch, he was quite impressed. He said the cheap reps usually just glue on the casebacks and HEVs and you can see glue spilling out of the seam. After checking that the back could be tightened and opened easily, he was more willing to test it.

So, I have an appointment tomorrow to have it tested. I'll try and post pictures.

The bottom line is...aside from greasing the caseback gasket, and tightening the HEV and crown down...this will be right out of the box. I'm hoping there aren't any embarrassing huge leaks on the chrono pushers.

Does anybody have any other suggestions aside from opening the watch, removing the guts and glueing down the HEV post from inside?

I'll try and post pictures and results.

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UPDATED WATERPROOF TESTING RESULTS

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Well...some get lucky...and some don't.

I brought my watch to the watchmaker and had him test it in a Bergeon tester. He pumped it up to 3atm, and there was a stream of bubbles coming from the 2 chrono pushers.

He opened the watch up, dropped the movement, put some sealant at the 2 chrono pushers and re-ran the test.

He pumped it up to 3atm again...and a smaller stream of bubbles appeared...but still...

LEAKAGE!!!

Interestingly enough, there was no leakage at the crystal nor the caseback (no surprise), and there was no leakage at the winding crown or the HEV (happy to know...but not too surprised given they are screwdown units). I don't have pictures unfortunately.

So, some were able to get 300'...I'm not one of them. That's kind of a bummer...but hey...it was entertaining.

I have to tell you, in spite of the sad results, it was worth every penny in entertainment value.

The anticipation of watching the pumping, initial scanning for leakage, and then the pressure releasing...wondering...waiting...wondering more....

It was like waiting for my first rep to arrive in the mail...really quite exciting.

So...now I have to get another watch to swim in. My noobmariner should arrive this week...and hopefully that one will work alright. I wanted the Steelfish...but it's too big on my wrist.

[piratedzeus]

Well I can only tell you that gioarmani has tested this thing.... and his was waterproof like hell. If your pushers are not waterproof I think you cannot do much about it

[Toadtorrent]

Well I can only tell you that gioarmani has tested this thing.... and his was waterproof like hell. If your pushers are not waterproof I think you cannot do much about it

Yeah...his review is what inspired me:

Gioarmani's SMP Chrono Comparison and Waterproof Reference

I have no idea what I can do to the rep to improve water resistance.

I guess I'm just hoping the chrono pushers out-of-the-box, are good enough for at least swimming...if not, I'll have to switch to the Noob.

[piratedzeus]

Thank god there are people like me that annoy each forum to death to be sure what they buy

GIO in a PM to me:

THANKS GIO BTW

"'d pay the $10-15 to have it pressure tested. If not, at the very least, never swim with a watch without greasing the gaskets with a light coating of silicon grease. Mine actually pressure tested to 10 ATMs hot from the box, but I always, ALWAYS seal them first. And keep sealing them every 3-6 months, depending how often you swim. Salt-water won't hurt the gaskets, but will stroy the movement if it leaks. Chlorine water won't destroy the movement if it leaks, but will shrink & rot the gaskets.

If you press a pusher under water on the rep, you'll see a bubble start to form around the pusher, meaning water's trying to get in. People complain about this, but who the hell needs to time things under water?...

"

"Another thing:

I use to swim with all my reps. I do not want to use the chrono under water (I know this can't end good) but how easy is it to accidently push the pushers in? Can you swim with this thing or is it only waterproof if the pushers are not touched."

"Easy to swim in."

Hope this helps

[Toadtorrent]

Thank god there are people like me that annoy each forum to death to be sure what they buy

Hey...if you can't annoy people on watch forums about watch questions...who can you annoy? Spouses and non-hor friends?

Thanks for the info...that's great.

Too bad I'm paying a lot more for the WP test than $15...but I pay for convenience to my office.

I'll post results for sure...hopefully pictures as well.

[piratedzeus]

Hey...if you can't annoy people on watch forums about watch questions...who can you annoy? Spouses and non-hor friends?

Thanks for the info...that's great.

Too bad I'm paying a lot more for the WP test than $15...but I pay for convenience to my office.

I'll post results for sure...hopefully pictures as well.

By now everyone I know is annoyed by my rep addiciton.

Office? What do you do for work?

[rek001]

I dunno, seems to me that if you're going to take it to a watchmaker to have it pressure tested, might as well have him waterproof it again, even if you think or dealer has told you it is waterproof. Can't hurt.

Then have it pressure tested.

[dastrix]

I dunno, seems to me that if you're going to take it to a watchmaker to have it pressure tested, might as well have him waterproof it again, even if you think or dealer has told you it is waterproof. Can't hurt.

Then have it pressure tested.

Im bored today, I might go to my local watch maker and ask him if he can tighten/seal the case back and waterproof test. I hear they can test without subjecting to water first...

[Toadtorrent]

I dunno, seems to me that if you're going to take it to a watchmaker to have it pressure tested, might as well have him waterproof it again, even if you think or dealer has told you it is waterproof. Can't hurt.

Then have it pressure tested.

From what I've read, there's not a lot you can do to waterproof the watch beyond the obvious. Some have decased the thing and epoxied the HEV and I'm not going down that path...yet. The HEV doesn't seem to just be a straight unscrew so I can't do anything from the OUTSIDE of the watch.

The chrono pushers are going to be the obvious weakpoint, and there's not much you can do with those, other than what's already there out-of-the-box...so I think I've done what can be done, and there's no reason to have it waterproofed again.

Bill wrote a great post on waterproof testing that can be found HERE.

The article essentially outlines that if it's done right, there should be no penetration even at low (high) atmospheres...just raise the watch out of the water while the bubbles are coming out and before equalizing the pressure.

I figure, The Zigmeister recommends that new Asian 7750s should be serviced around the 9month mark. So, if I was smart (but I'm more impatient than smart)...I would actually book my servicing with him, and before the servicing just go swimming. If it leaks...hey...it's being serviced anyways.

[Toadtorrent]

I came back from the watchmaker, and the results are contained as an edit to the original post to make it easier to see the results with the original question.

[piratedzeus]

Oh.. Too bad.I think that this wathc is not designed for bein WP.

All my 3 Noobmariners were WP - so Good luck

[Toadtorrent]

Oh.. Too bad.I think that this wathc is not designed for bein WP.

All my 3 Noobmariners were WP - so Good luck

Yeah...a bit of a disappointment...but...at the cost of a properly aligned bezel, and an HEV that can't fall out even without applying industrial epoxy (at least as far as I can tell), I'm not too disappointed.

I can wear a Swatch if I want to swim.

As to the Noobmariners...I will just do a combat test on that one...straight into the water. I figure if it leaks...then I'll get the Steelfish. There's no point paying for too much testing and maintenance given the price of the Noob.

[gioarmani]

Just found this thread--sorry 4 the delay, and you're more than welcome.

[Toadtorrent]

Just found this thread--sorry 4 the delay, and you're more than welcome.

Thanks for your review on this watch...it inspired me to get it...too bad I didn't have the luck of getting a water resistant one. Hopefully, when I get it serviced down the line, maybe they'll find the factory just didn't put in pusher gaskets, and that can solve the problem...