Pressure testing at home

[Mbalce]

Question - how many of you have your own WR tester? I have 3 older watches, a 1024, a 16013, and a 18038. All run great but they are all over 5 years since last being serviced. Thinking about starting to bring them in but have to prioritize. May also elect to do gasket change only on them depending.

Hate leaving a watch somewhere to get tested and have thought about buying one of the inexpensive (about $200) testers to have at home.

Anyone use one? Are they accurate? Any recommendations for a decent one?

Thanks in advance!

[mag]

Hi,

I use my own WR tester, but only when i know the watch is o.k.
Otherwise, for fault analysis, when the movement and case are separated.

It s nice to change gaskets on my own and be a little bit independent :-)

Greeting from Germany
MaG

[timnik]

I take mine off just to do the washing up...

[ravenhome777]

what does WR stand for?

[77T]

Originally Posted by ravenhome777

what does WR stand for?

Water Resistance


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Andad]

I converted a wet tester to deflection measurement.

No issues so far.

[ravenhome777]

Wow. That's cool. So you fill that thing up with water and it puts water pressure on the watch? Cross your fingers and hope the seals hold?

[Mbalce]

Originally Posted by ravenhome777

Wow. That's cool. So you fill that thing up with water and it puts water pressure on the watch? Cross your fingers and hope the seals hold?

I believe the concept is you pressurize the watch slightly and the chamber has a vacuum. A watch that fails should just stream some bubbles but not allow water into the watch. If the watch floods someone forgot a gasket or it’s really really bad.

Not that it can’t happen - lol.

[Andad]

Place the watch on the holder and set the dial to zero.

Place the assembly inside the cylinder and seal it.

As I pump up the pressure up to 6 Bar I can see on the dial gauge that the pressure is pushing the dial down and on the watch in the pix the deflection was about 0.25mm.

I leave the watch under pressure for say 15 minutes.

If the deflection holds and is stable the the watch passes a 60 metre test.

If the dial shows no deflection as I pump the pressure up (deflection remains at zero) or it does deflect but reduces towards zero over the 15 minutes then the watch failed.

With this modification no water is involved.

FYI the deflection on the watch in the pix was 0.25mm (thin crystal).
The deflection on a SubDate (much thicker crystal) is only 0.08mm but the deflection is readable.

[zapokee]

Oh, Christ. This is self-dentistry again. Just get an expert to do it for you. Why risk it?

Unless, of course, you're super-passionate about the hobby and really enjoy this kind of stuff. We all have our own form of BASE jumping.

[bayerische]

I have mine occasionally tested at a watchmaker, he charges 5 euros/watch or free. Depends on his mood I guess. :D

[zapokee]

Originally Posted by bayerische

I have mine occasionally tested at a watchmaker, he charges 5 euros/watch or free. Depends on his mood I guess. :D

Same. My guy usually does it free. I give him a bottle of Scotch at Christmas.

[Andad]

Originally Posted by zapokee

Oh, Christ. This is self-dentistry again. Just get an expert to do it for you. Why risk it?

Unless, of course, you're super-passionate about the hobby and really enjoy this kind of stuff. We all have our own form of BASE jumping.

I can also set the time and date.

I will upload the instructions for you.

[swatty]

Originally Posted by directioneng

Place the watch on the holder and set the dial to zero.

Place the assembly inside the cylinder and seal it.

As I pump up the pressure up to 6 Bar I can see on the dial gauge that the pressure is pushing the dial down and on the watch in the pix the deflection was about 0.25mm.

I leave the watch under pressure for say 15 minutes.

If the deflection holds and is stable the the watch passes a 60 metre test.

If the dial shows no deflection as I pump the pressure up (deflection remains at zero) or it does deflect but reduces towards zero over the 15 minutes then the watch failed.

With this modification no water is involved.

FYI the deflection on the watch in the pix was 0.25mm (thin crystal).
The deflection on a SubDate (much thicker crystal) is only 0.08mm but the deflection is readable.

That’s great Eddie, I always worried about using water

[jeorge]

Put an ice cube on the glass for 30 seconds take off if the the inside condisation doesn't clear up in a few seconds tells you its not wr. Sort of thing Rolex does at the factory they warm the case up and put cool water on it and see if water vapor appears and doesn't clear up.. Its the last thing they do after all the other testing.

[Mbalce]

In any of the above testing procedures, would there be any difference in procedure or analyzing the results in plexi vs sapphire?

The ice cube thing sounds quick an easy and should not be any more stressful on the watch than if I still lived in Minnesota.

And yes - I tinker with my stuff. Part of why I hobby in things. Vintage cars and bikes, old Nikons, old tools, etc. If I break it, the expert can bail me out. I think in the long run i not only still save money, which means I can afford to collect more items and ultimately have a greater sense of satisfaction figuring out how to do more things myself.

[ravenhome777]

Originally Posted by Mbalce

In any of the above testing procedures, would there be any difference in procedure or analyzing the results in plexi vs sapphire?

The ice cube thing sounds quick an easy and should not be any more stressful on the watch than if I still lived in Minnesota.

And yes - I tinker with my stuff. Part of why I hobby in things. Vintage cars and bikes, old Nikons, old tools, etc. If I break it, the expert can bail me out. I think in the long run i not only still save money, which means I can afford to collect more items and ultimately have a greater sense of satisfaction figuring out how to do more things myself.

Interesting stuff here.

Yes, I'm a tinkerer too.

[1791]

Originally Posted by directioneng

I converted a wet tester to deflection measurement.

No issues so far.

Great idea! Dry testing is a much better method for home use.

[donq]

I have the WR testing app on my I-Phone.

Works great.