Bitter Sweet $23 pressure test.

[camrok]

So the choice of watch for a holiday is a fairly calculated one amongst most who tread these this and other forum.
I had decided on this- the beloved 6309-7040.

The case and seals have been replaced about a year ago and Ididnt have seals handy following a crystal and movement replacement.

On my way to the campground I dropped into a mister minute for a quick test.

He told me it had failed miserably and he would avoid washing his hands with it on.
He said his watch maker would likely suggest it be thrown in the bin.
Gasp. (I wonder how many watches have been discarded for such ill advice!)
I challenged him on that piece of information.

So I'm without a Water resistant automatic diver for my beach holiday
Disappointed but glad I found out this way rather than the hard way.

[lewie]

If he was that ill informed about the watch I wonder how good he was at pressure testing it

[Adrian-VTA]

Mister Minute here are only really capable of doing battery changes and they struggle with that.

It's likely he said that so the customer will just leave the watch and he can sell it.

If in AU, I'd avoid these kinds of places like the plague.

Dec 23, 2016 3:29:49 GMT -8 lewie said:

If he was that ill informed about the watch I wonder how good he was at pressure testing it

[lewie]

Dec 23, 2016 3:32:39 GMT -8 Adrian-VTA said:

Mister Minute here are only really capable of doing battery changes and they struggle with that.

It's likely he said that so the customer will just leave the watch and he can sell it.

If in AU, I'd avoid these kinds of places like the plague.

Dec 23, 2016 3:29:49 GMT -8 lewie said:

If he was that ill informed about the watch I wonder how good he was at pressure testing it

I'm surprised he didn't offer a battery change😂
Just swim with your left arm out of the water

[camrok]

Like any good WIS. I have a Sea Touch and a pro-trek for my water adventures but their just not as satisfying to wear as the 6309.

[leffemonster]

If it's a knacker, better send it my way Cam, I promise I won't even take it out in the rain

[camrok]

No chance of peeling this watch off my wrist. I'd even consider sealing it with wax as a temporary measure. I

[pip]

Bugger, but like you say better find out like that than when you see sea-water sloshing about inside it and little fishes swimming under the crystal!

[HiBeat]

Cam this guy is a petty thief hoping you'd leave it with him.   How silly that you can't wash your hands - now maybe don't scrub in for surgery, but how often does your watch get wet when you wash your hands !   The crystal, back and crown seals are I am sure good enough to hold back hand washes.

I love my SRP777 for this very reason - new, watertight, homage style in a true Seiko.

BTW nice strap

[Deleted]

I replaced the crystal, gasket , retaining ring case back and crown gaskets on this old warrior...


Then I tested it to 4ATM and it did not leak...I actually forgot I was testing it and left it over night!
I think these old watches can still have reasonable water tight use

[tritto]

He does sound like a scammer. Did he say from which seal the air was leaking, or do you need to go back and replace them all? A new Christmas project.

[tritto]

Dec 23, 2016 9:58:38 GMT -8 @penguinbce said:

I replaced the crystal, gasket , retaining ring case back and crown gaskets on this old warrior...


Then I tested it to 4ATM and it did not leak...I actually forgot I was testing it and left it over night!
I think these old watches can still have reasonable water tight use

Yep, I did the seals in my 7548 and it passed a pressure test fine. It's survived two annual holidays with depths as deeps as 1.5m 😃

[GuyJ]

What do you guys use generally for pressure testing, I mean what would do the job and isn't too expensive?

Sounds like the guy was Dr.Shakamoto. Just reminded me of the end of this clip. 'looks like you need a whole new chassis!'

If you know Reeves and Mortimer...


youtu.be/sfs4vGDMWBE

[camrok]

He said there was a fair torrent of bubbles from the case back and some from the crown.
I'm wondering if the case back gasket was pinched when I tightened it.

[ausimax]

I wouldn't trust these places with a dead Timex, first one I ever saw was on Wednesday had to go to Grand Central at Toowoomba and there was one there at the bottom of the stairs, advertising battery replacements, watch glass replacement & pressure testing.

From the stairs you can look down into the booth, and from the condition of the workspace I would not let my watch go there even if it were drunk, I thought I worked in primitive conditions, and as far as tossing it in the bin, he is either a "chancher" or knows bugger all about the watches he is supposed to be capable of servicing.

[Deleted]

Dec 23, 2016 13:52:56 GMT -8 GuyJ said:

What do you guys use generally for pressure testing, I mean what would do the job and isn't too expensive?

Sounds like the guy was Dr.Shakamoto. Just reminded me of the end of this clip. 'looks like you need a whole new chassis!'

If you know Reeves and Mortimer...


youtu.be/sfs4vGDMWBE

I use a pressurized pesticide sprayer.
Basically it is a plastic bottle with a pump that you can use to pressurize any liquid you want to spray/atomize.

What I do is place the watch under test into the tank then pump it as full of air as it will stand(60 psi according to the manufacturer when I asked them). I then leave the watch in the tank for a couple of hours so that if there are any leaks, the air will get inside the watch.

After that, I take the watch out of the tank and lower it into a 2 litre bottle of water and watch to see if there are any bubbles coming out of the watch.
Any gross leaks will be obvious as there will be a steady stream of bubbles.
If there are no obvious streams of bubbles then watch closely for the occasional bubble, say every second or two.
Either of these occurrences are not good so remove the watch from the test bottle and dry it off.
If you saw where the bubble originated from you might have an idea of which seal is leaking.

So, basically any tool you can use to produce a positive pressure in that you can place your watch into will work.

[28A]

Even if he was actually telling the truth and it needs new seals.. it's about a 30 second job to do the back seal and the crown seal isn't that big a deal either. Any local REAL watchmaker should have it done and dusted in 15 minutes or so. Both my watchmakers have told me the crystal seals in these generally seem to last but you could always put a new one in if you can get a NOS one or a good repro.

[Adrian-VTA]

Crystal seals will outlast the apocalypse if they aren't exposed to acids and filth.

Dec 23, 2016 22:32:14 GMT -8 28A said:

Even if he was actually telling the truth and it needs new seals.. it's about a 30 second job to do the back seal and the crown seal isn't that big a deal either. Any local REAL watchmaker should have it done and dusted in 15 minutes or so. Both my watchmakers have told me the crystal seals in these generally seem to last but you could always put a new one in if you can get a NOS one or a good repro.

[Adrian-VTA]

They wanted to recruit me at one point. They do some basic training and that's about it.

They run as a franchise.

www.misterminit.com.au/franchise.html

Dec 23, 2016 15:54:39 GMT -8 ausimax said:

I wouldn't trust these places with a dead Timex, first one I ever saw was on Wednesday had to go to Grand Central at Toowoomba and there was one there at the bottom of the stairs, advertising battery replacements, watch glass replacement & pressure testing.

From the stairs you can look down into the booth, and from the condition of the workspace I would not let my watch go there even if it were drunk, I thought I worked in primitive conditions, and as far as tossing it in the bin, he is either a "chancher" or knows bugger all about the watches he is supposed to be capable of servicing.

[jringo8769]

Well anyone with any sense would not go to a so called watchmaker like that ...it is so sad people are like that