|
Post by seikoholic on Dec 13, 2013 10:37:50 GMT -8
I picked up some vintage GL831s recently and was sad when they came in because they were like plastic. One was so stiff it felt like a chunk of a vinyl record album. One of these super-stiff straps was also insanely gross and dirty, so I put it into a nice hot soapy ultrasonic - water and dish soap only. I left it in there, buzzing away for a few cycles. When I got it out, it was the softest most flexible original strap I'd ever touched. I thought that once it cooled that it'd go back to being totally stiff, but it didn't. It stayed flexible. The next day it was slightly less flexible, but not much. It's entirely relaxed.
Is this a fluke? Does this work this way normally?
|
|
trandy
Needs a Life!
Posts: 3,274
|
Post by trandy on Dec 13, 2013 12:24:12 GMT -8
I've never tried that but I like the Seiko MM300 straps and usually put them in a coffee cup full of hot water to give them some curl....works like a charm.
Doesn't really soften them up that I've noticed....but it does give them the shape I want.
YMMV
|
|
sdoocms
Is a Permanent Fixture
Carl
Posts: 5,296
|
Post by sdoocms on Dec 13, 2013 15:12:55 GMT -8
I picked up some vintage GL831s recently and was sad when they came in because they were like plastic. One was so stiff it felt like a chunk of a vinyl record album. One of these super-stiff straps was also insanely gross and dirty, so I put it into a nice hot soapy ultrasonic - water and dish soap only. I left it in there, buzzing away for a few cycles. When I got it out, it was the softest most flexible original strap I'd ever touched. I thought that once it cooled that it'd go back to being totally stiff, but it didn't. It stayed flexible. The next day it was slightly less flexible, but not much. It's entirely relaxed. Is this a fluke? Does this work this way normally? I would be afraid to wear a strap like what you have described. I have a couple of the GL831s and another strap from an early nineties that I will not wear. I would be afraid that they might break and one of my watches would end up on the sidewalk. So those straps go into a drawer and a new one gets put on the watch.
|
|
|
Post by seikoholic on Dec 13, 2013 15:22:55 GMT -8
The worst one I'd already resigned myself to not using at all. But it was insanely gross, so into the ultrasonic it went. I'm wearing it now - it's awesome. Soft as anything, instantly molded to my wrist.
|
|
|
Post by seikoholic on Dec 13, 2013 15:41:28 GMT -8
It worked again. I did my second-worst, second-stiffest GL831, and it came out with the same flexibility as thickish leather. I left it in cold water after that, and it's still soft.
Perhaps the heat is driving out the chemicals in the interior that make the rubber pliant?
|
|
mikeyt
Needs a Life!
Krusty Olde Pharte
Posts: 4,821
|
Post by mikeyt on Dec 14, 2013 6:59:18 GMT -8
Hmm, I'll have to try that, Spencer. I find most dive straps to be too stiff, but if I can soften them up a bit....
I wonder if it's the heat, or the vibration, or the soap? A little experimentation is called for, I guess.
|
|
|
Post by seikoholic on Dec 14, 2013 8:21:31 GMT -8
Day 3 update: Three days after doing the first strap, it has stiffened up a bit, BUT heating it relaxed it beautifully. It had been stuck in a really uncomfortable & weird bend that made it impossible to wear. Loosening it up flattened that out, and then wearing it for three days re-molded it to my own wrist. It's quite comfortable.
|
|
scubarob99
Moderator
Just bought a 6309-7049...this is the last one, I promise.
Posts: 3,659
|
Post by scubarob99 on Dec 14, 2013 12:08:32 GMT -8
Great tip Spencer, two of my straps that felt like plastic, an original GL831 and an original old Z22 just got the treatment and now they're soft and supple.
Rob
|
|
|
Post by seikoholic on Dec 14, 2013 19:41:15 GMT -8
I'm doing all of my original straps.
|
|
cobrajet25
Needs a Life!
"Underweared curmudgeon!"
Posts: 3,357
|
Post by cobrajet25 on Dec 15, 2013 2:38:26 GMT -8
I LOVE old GL-831s, and what you describe is very typical. I am sure there is some fancy chemical or molecular process going on when these straps are subjected to even mild heat, but they do all seem to respond very well to it. Pity Seiko does not make straps like this anymore. Newer Seiko dive straps are too long, too stiff, and too cheap-feeling. Unlike their GL-831 predecessors, many older Z-22s will simply crumble into pieces when they get old.
|
|
|
Post by seikoholic on Dec 16, 2013 11:20:48 GMT -8
I LOVE old GL-831s, and what you describe is very typical. I am sure there is some fancy chemical or molecular process going on when these straps are subjected to even mild heat, but they do all seem to respond very well to it. Pity Seiko does not make straps like this anymore. Newer Seiko dive straps are too long, too stiff, and too cheap-feeling. Unlike their GL-831 predecessors, many older Z-22s will simply crumble into pieces when they get old. I'm currently buying the new JDM DAL1BP's from Wjean. They're awesome, way better than any Z-22 I've ever seen.
|
|
cobrajet25
Needs a Life!
"Underweared curmudgeon!"
Posts: 3,357
|
Post by cobrajet25 on Dec 16, 2013 20:44:20 GMT -8
With the rising interest in 6309s (and rising prices), I hope somebody eventually makes a correctly marked, natural rubber, 1:1 reproduction of the GL831.
Just the strap and keeper...I will use my own vintage buckles. You can sign me up for half a dozen right now!
|
|
|
Post by seikoholic on Dec 16, 2013 21:13:33 GMT -8
With the rising interest in 6309s (and rising prices), I hope somebody eventually makes a correctly marked, natural rubber, 1:1 reproduction of the GL831. Just the strap and keeper...I will use my own vintage buckles. You can sign me up for half a dozen right now! Yeah, no kidding. It's amazing the demand for this stuff and yet no one seems to be able or willing to make a decent version. Boatloads of crappy Z-22 fakes, but not a decent GL831-type strap. Half the reason I was so gung-ho about this auction pictured below that I won this a.m. was the strap on the 6309.
|
|
cobrajet25
Needs a Life!
"Underweared curmudgeon!"
Posts: 3,357
|
Post by cobrajet25 on Dec 17, 2013 2:05:53 GMT -8
I dig the zip-tie keeper!
|
|
scubarob99
Moderator
Just bought a 6309-7049...this is the last one, I promise.
Posts: 3,659
|
Post by scubarob99 on Dec 17, 2013 3:36:48 GMT -8
I have a Z-22 or should I say a 22-Z... It's a bit shorter then other z straps that I have, but not as short as the GL-831, yet its just as supple...made from a different material, that feels more rubbery and less plasticky. Both have flared buckles and both came off H601 ana-digi divers from very early eighties, pretty sure both watches and straps are all original. my question is about the transition from GL831 to Z-22 , or in this case to 22-Z...when, why, were different materials used, length of straps and variety of buckles...what gives?
Rob
|
|
|
Post by saul on Dec 18, 2013 4:38:58 GMT -8
With the rising interest in 6309s (and rising prices), I hope somebody eventually makes a correctly marked, natural rubber, 1:1 reproduction of the GL831. Just the strap and keeper...I will use my own vintage buckles. You can sign me up for half a dozen right now! Have you tried the Bonneto Cinturini 284? A real bargain even if it is synthetic rubber (I'm pretty sure it is synthetic regardless what the listing says). www.thewatchprince.com/Italian-Rubber-Pro-Diver-22mm-Black
|
|
|
Post by seikoholic on Dec 18, 2013 15:56:03 GMT -8
I dig the zip-tie keeper! Ghetto as hell but it gives it a real working watch look... and I'm sure that's what it was.
|
|