helium release valve

[fat-sam]

i read on another site while browsing that you should never unscrew it without reason- this makes sense, but being a typical man i have already done this without reason because...'it was there'

have i done something terrible- i still dont understand it being that i will probably not go much deeper then 10 meters

[HK33]

The helium release valve does nothing for anyone who is not a professional saturation diver. It is not applicable to any type of scuba diving. On deep scuba dives technical divers breathe trimix which contains helium but the watch would never be in contact with the gas so it is still not applicable.

Professional saturation divers that primarily work for oil companies spend time at depth in a diving bell. The gas that that they breathe and work in depends on the depth but at really great depths it may be 1% oxygen and 99% helium. Because helium molecules are so small they will penetrate even the smallest gaps between parts in the watch pressurizing the inside of the watch to the ambient pressure.

When the divers decompress in the chamber or diving bell the helium needs a way to escape the inside of the watch and is released through the valve. The gap in the valve is so small that it lets out helium molecules but does not let in the much larger water or other molecules.

Unscrewing the helium on a watch like an Omega Seamaster doesn’t do anything. On a Rolex Seadweller I think the valve is built in and there is nothing to unscrew.

So long story short you are not going to mess anything up.

[Mrdi]

How did you unscrew the helium valve?
Perhaps you just unscrewd the crown?

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by Mrdi

How did you unscrew the helium valve?
Perhaps you just unscrewd the crown?

I think he could be referring to an OMEGA Seamaster which has a screw-down Helium valve at 10 o'clock.

JJ

[charles]

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

I think he could be referring to an OMEGA Seamaster which has a screw-down Helium valve at 10 o'clock.

JJ

That's what I figured as well...I'm not sure any other manufacturers make the screw type He release valve. Gotta be some but I'm drawing a blank.

I think there's about zero chance of damage assuming you simply unscrewed it and screwed it back in place without overgoing either way.

[SLRdude]

It won't do anything to the watch. I even went for swims just to realize that the valve was unscrewed.
Water won't fit through the valve. I believe I even read somewhere an email from an Omega rep stating that the watch still maintains water resistance, so while not recommended, it will not damage anything.

[charles]

Originally Posted by comatox

It won't do anything to the watch. I even went for swims just to realize that the valve was unscrewed.
Water won't fit through the valve. I believe I even read somewhere an email from an Omega rep stating that the watch still maintains water resistance, so while not recommended, it will not damage anything.

I think the claim is 50m with the valve open...
http://www.omegawatches.com/uploads/...ga/English.pdf

[roadcarver]

So for the SD, will the HEV open up under water?

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by roadcarver

So for the SD, will the HEV open up under water?

No, Vernon. The He valve on the SD has been designed to open automatically only if the He gas pressure inside the watch gets too much and then seeks its escape via the valve.

99.99999% of us will NEVER use this feature. Deep sea divers who go down inside a diving bell or a bathyscape, are given breathing air which contains high amounts of inert gases, one of them being Helium.

Because of the very minute microscopic size of the He molecules, they manage to enter the watch. If the pressure inside the watch becomes too much, the crystal could pop off the watch. Hence the valve to release this gas (and thus the pressure!!)

JJ

[charles]

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

No, Vernon. The He valve on the SD has been designed to open automatically only if the He gas pressure inside the watch gets too much and then seeks its escape via the valve.

99.99999% of us will NEVER use this feature. Deep sea divers who go down inside a diving bell or a bathyscape, are given breathing air which contains high amounts of inert gases, one of them being Helium.

Because of the very minute microscopic size of the He molecules, they manage to enter the watch. If the pressure inside the watch becomes too much, the crystal could pop off the watch. Hence the valve to release this gas (and thus the pressure!!)

JJ

I wonder if anyone on the board has dared to take apart an SD? I'd love to see the mechanisms under the covers...

[roadcarver]

Thanks JJ.

Will there be a point where the diver is underwater and the pressure is too much that it will open while they are still in the water?

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

No, Vernon. The He valve on the SD has been designed to open automatically only if the He gas pressure inside the watch gets too much and then seeks its escape via the valve.

99.99999% of us will NEVER use this feature. Deep sea divers who go down inside a diving bell or a bathyscape, are given breathing air which contains high amounts of inert gases, one of them being Helium.

Because of the very minute microscopic size of the He molecules, they manage to enter the watch. If the pressure inside the watch becomes too much, the crystal could pop off the watch. Hence the valve to release this gas (and thus the pressure!!)

JJ

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by roadcarver

Thanks JJ.

Will there be a point where the diver is underwater and the pressure is too much that it will open while they are still in the water?

Once again....No, Vernon. There is no Helium gas in the water.....so the question does not arise.

The He gas is present in the air which the divers are breathing whilst confined inside the bathyscape - NOT in the water!!

So, in actual fact, this He valve has nothing whatsoever to do with the water!!

JJ

[roadcarver]

Ahh.. now I get it! Thanks JJ!!

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

Once again....No, Vernon. There is no Helium gas in the water.....so the question does not arise.

The He gas is present in the air which the divers are breathing whilst confined inside the bathyscape - NOT in the water!!

So, in actual fact, this He valve has nothing whatsoever to do with the water!!

JJ

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by roadcarver

Ahh.. now I get it! Thanks JJ!!

Remember the air that is being pumped into the bathyscape for the benefit of the divers is not just pure oxygen!!! Pure oxygen is very flammable and would sear the lungs.

So O2 has to be mixed with Nitrogen and other inert gases to subdue it. It's the He molecules that are so tiny in terms of atomic size that they manage to seep into the watch and build up the pressure within the confines of the watch threatening the crystal to pop.

That's when the He valve takes over and does its job!!

[henry2703]

so.. by the same theory, will the divers after coming up from the depth find themselve farting and burping more than usual? :)

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by henry2703

so.. by the same theory, will the divers after coming up from the depth find themselve farting and burping more than usual? :)

Good question, but I don't know!! Have to ask some of the guys here who have done quite a bit of diving in their lives....like Padi, David and a few others!!

[fat-sam]

thanks again you guys

[miner]

Originally Posted by henry2703

so.. by the same theory, will the divers after coming up from the depth find themselve farting and burping more than usual? :)

We all are born with natural gas escape valves...Where do you think Rolex got the idea from??

[padi56]

Originally Posted by miner

We all are born with natural gas escape valves...Where do you think Rolex got the idea from??

And how very true and yes myself had quite a bit of excess air after a few dives.

Around 1969, Doxa introduced the first diver watch equipped with a Helium Release Valve that was available first to the general public.And its widely believed to have been co-developed by Doxa and Rolex.And Rolex submitted a prototype patent on 6th November 1967.Although Rolex fitted Submariners (model 5513 - non date) with prototypes of this escape valve, for the COMEX divers.They did not start to build the Helium Release Valve into their retail dive watches until the SD in 1971,two years after the Doxa.Now after a bit of negotiations with Doxa and both companies had a good working relationship they decided to share the H/Valve patent to get it into the new Rolex SD.