Well, as I do more and more watch tinkering, the need for more equipment comes up fairly regularly. This can certainly be expensive, and this was no exception!
I bought a brand new AF waterproof tester capable of measuring to 11 atmospheres. It's a very well built piece of kit!
So today I decided to take the plunge. Or more accurately, I decided a watch should take the plunge in my new waterproof tester!
So here is the candidate for testing.....
One of my own watches - an Archer Aero Pilot watch, with a case rated for 5 atmospheres. It's a 3-piece case, so the bezel and case back screw on and are fitted with gaskets. The crown is not a screw down crown, but does have a gasket inside the crown that seals on the case tube.
So out came my tester, and some distilled water. I use distilled water because it has less minerals in it that mnight leave deposits on the seals and interior of the vessel.
So step one is to open the vessel, and fill it to the red line with water.
Then I hang the watch head from the hook that is on the underside of the plunger fiited to the lid.
I fasten the lid down tightly, and the test is ready to start with the watch out of the water.
I use the hand pump to raise the pressure inside the vessel to just above the rating of the watch.
The next step is.....waiting. I let the watch sit out of the water for at least 5 minutes. The theory here is that if the case does leak, the air pressure inside the watch will rise to the 5 atmospheres that is inside the vessel. Once the time is up I deviate from the normal instructions a bit. I let the pressure out of the vessel quite quickly, but with the watch above the water. The reason for this is to make sure that if I have a defective case where the crystal is not secure and it pops off from the pressure, it happens above the water and does not flood the case and movement.
This watch passes this test well, so I pump the pressure back up and wait again. Once the time is up I push the plunger down and submerge the watch.
Then I release the pressure slowly, and if the case was leaking, air would have been forced into the case and it now would escape since the pressure outside the watch is dropping. There would be a stream of bubbles coming out where the leak is, and water can't get in. Pretty cool.
This watch passed the test and had no troubles at all. Now there are pressure testers that don't use water, and measure case deflection. These are "safer" since no water is involved, but they don't tell you where on the case the leak is. The method I'm using is pretty safe as long as you raise the watch out of the water before the pressure gauge reaches zero.
So once I had done the first test, I wondered how good these cases really were. I decided to try double the rated pressure.
I pumped the unit up to 10 atmospheres as shown here.
I let it sit for a few minutes, submerged the watch, and let the pressure release. No bubbles and the watch passed with flying colours!
I made a short video but it's not great since I was trying to film, release the pressure, and watch for bubbles all at the same time - basically I'm not watching what I'm doing with the camera as I'm watching the watch, so it's a little out of focus. The pressure release started out a little fast. LOL!
http://media.putfile.com/10-Atm-Waterproof-Test>
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this short overview of how a waterproof test is done.
Thanks for looking!
Cheers, Al
Best,
K
A true friend stabs you in the front.
-Oscar Wilde