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Water got in my watch

Bigpapa

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13/2/18
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Guys help ???? I got some water in my DJ41 and the crystal has some moisture from the inside. It has a gen crystal and DW and I want to minimize any damage. What do I do to do so? I wanna send it back out to Grimlocktime to make it water resistant. But until then how can I make sure I minimize any damage?

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OldNavitimer

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Let it sit in a small container with a couple of silica packs and the crown unscrewed


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chocolito

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Remove the caseback and open the crown . Then place in a sealed container with a couple of those silica packets that come in shoe boxes etc . Preferably level near a low level heat source a large watt light bulb etc . Leave alone for a couple of days and this should get rid of moisture so you can reseal .
 

Bigpapa

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Remove the caseback and open the crown . Then place in a sealed container with a couple of those silica packets that come in shoe boxes etc . Preferably level near a low level heat source a large watt light bulb etc . Leave alone for a couple of days and this should get rid of moisture so you can reseal .
Thanks guys for the quick response. I’ll do it when I get back home tonight. I’m mad that some dust got in too.
 

chocolito

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If you don't have silica packs you could fill the bottom of the box with rice . It will probably be a gasket failure or total lack of gasket . I had the same problem with a ZF Tudor BB i discovered the caseback wasn't fully screwed down ( needed one last turn ) and the watch was missing a caseback gasket from the factory .

If you act quickly you may get away with moisture in movement . I did the above remedy replaced the gasket and the watch has been fine since, it has run like a champ . However moisture can rust the internal moving parts . Your watch smith may recommend as well making the watch water tight that the movement is fully serviced , which will mean it is disassembled and cleaned .
 

Bigpapa

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13/2/18
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If you don't have silica packs you could fill the bottom of the box with rice . It will probably be a gasket failure or total lack of gasket . I had the same problem with a ZF Tudor BB i discovered the caseback wasn't fully screwed down ( needed one last turn ) and the watch was missing a caseback gasket from the factory .

If you act quickly you may get away with moisture in movement . I did the above remedy replaced the gasket and the watch has been fine since, it has run like a champ . However moisture can rust the internal moving parts . Your watch smith may recommend as well making the watch water tight that the movement is fully serviced , which will mean it is disassembled and cleaned .

I want to send it out to grim but by the time it gets to him I wanna make sure the moisture is out. I may just drop a gen movement in it now and get it water proofed by him.
 

chocolito

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Thanks guys for the quick response. I’ll do it when I get back home tonight. I’m mad that some dust got in too.

Once the moisture has dried out then dust under the crystal is a possibilty but not a certain. If there is then your watch smith can also sort this when he services/ sorts gaskets WR by disassembling the watch further . Before you reseal back up the case back run a 'COLD' hair dryer at 'LOW' speed over movement . Don't blow directly over the movement hold level with the caseback and let the air blow across the movement (say left to right ) . This won't get rid of the dust under the crystal but will blow it from movement .

Hopefully this DIY fix will sort the moisture without any dust intake . However the watch is still letting in moisture , hopefully it will be something obvious like my missing caseback gasket . If it isn't then your watchsmith will need to diagnose where it is coming in anyway .

Sending to grimlock putting gen movement sorting out seals and WR ( maybe any dust intake ) sounds like a good idea . Especially as you were going to send to him for service movement change anyway it seems . In my case the watch is my ( rather amazing looking Z4 red shield on a ZICZAC red Ostrich strap ) $200 daily beater watch . So a home DIY fix was fine , no dust under crystal and the watch runs like a champ .

Looking agian at that picture , looks like you have both dust and moisture under the crystal .
 
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Bigpapa

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13/2/18
152
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18
Once the moisture has dried out then dust under the crystal is a possibilty but not a certain. If there is then your watch smith can also sort this when he services/ sorts gaskets WR by disassembling the watch further . Before you reseal back up the case back run a 'COLD' hair dryer at 'LOW' speed over movement . Don't blow directly over the movement hold level with the caseback and let the air blow across the movement (say left to right ) . This won't get rid of the dust under the crystal but will blow it from movement .

Hopefully this DIY fix will sort the moisture without any dust intake . However the watch is still letting in moisture , hopefully it will be something obvious like my missing caseback gasket . If it isn't then your watchsmith will need to diagnose where it is coming in anyway .

Sending to grimlock putting gen movement sorting out seals and WR ( maybe any dust intake ) sounds like a good idea . Especially as you were going to send to him for service movement change anyway it seems . In my case the watch is my ( rather amazing looking Z4 red shield on a ZICZAC red Ostrich strap ) $200 daily beater watch . So a home DIY fix was fine , no dust under crystal and the watch runs like a champ .

Looking agian at that picture , looks like you have both dust and moisture under the crystal .

This might be a stupid question but, I opened the case back and put some rice in a container along with 2 silica packets. Does it matter how I place the watch in the container? Right now I got crystal facing down on the rice, wondering if it matters if I should have the exposed back facing down on the rice. Also my o-ring on the case back seems loose. Any one know what part I can order to replace that? On a side note, the moisture cleared up while I had the watch in my bag wrapped around some paper towels and the crown pulled out to stop the movement. There seems to be no sign of dust either.

Edit: Realized the 2nd pic looks foggy, but it just the lighting. Bad pic.

VOYGzL.png

VOYP22.png
 
Last edited:

OldNavitimer

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Rice doesn't actually work for your needs. The silica packs are more efficient.
The O-ring doesn't fit on the caseback, it fits in a groove in the midcase itself. The O-ring is probably fine if replaced in its groove properly and screwed down correctly. Look at the O-ring for any pinch marks or flat spots. As long as it isn't dry, brittle, or too stretched, you should be good to go.

Can you take a pic of the watch from the crown side? I think your crystal may be setting up too high on the gasket. Unless you know that the crown was unscrewed, I'm betting that's the source of your water intrusion.
 

Bigpapa

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Rice doesn't actually work for your needs. The silica packs are more efficient.
The O-ring doesn't fit on the caseback, it fits in a groove in the midcase itself. The O-ring is probably fine if replaced in its groove properly and screwed down correctly. Look at the O-ring for any pinch marks or flat spots. As long as it isn't dry, brittle, or too stretched, you should be good to go.

Can you take a pic of the watch from the crown side? I think your crystal may be setting up too high on the gasket. Unless you know that the crown was unscrewed, I'm betting that's the source of your water intrusion.

I tried putting on the o ring onto the grove in the midcase and I can't get it to go in all the way perfectly. It moves around and the groove isn't deep enough to catch it. I took a pic and its as perfect as I can get it, but you can see where I circled, it isn't sitting in the grove. Grim built this watch for me. It's a ARF DJ41 v3 base and he added a gen xtal and DW.

VOYojK.png

VOYfud.png
 

OldNavitimer

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I tried putting on the o ring onto the grove in the midcase and I can't get it to go in all the way perfectly. It moves around and the groove isn't deep enough to catch it. I took a pic and its as perfect as I can get it, but you can see where I circled, it isn't sitting in the grove.

That's odd, as O-rings usually stretch and get too big, not too small. It looks like you need a newer / different O-ring.
 

Bigpapa

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That's odd, as O-rings usually stretch and get too big, not too small. It looks like you need a newer / different O-ring.

How does the glass look? Is it too raised? I'll try and get it to fit with some tweezers.
 

chocolito

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This might be a stupid question but, I opened the case back and put some rice in a container along with 2 silica packets. Does it matter how I place the watch in the container? Right now I got crystal facing down on the rice, wondering if it matters if I should have the exposed back facing down on the rice. Also my o-ring on the case back seems loose. Any one know what part I can order to replace that? On a side note, the moisture cleared up while I had the watch in my bag wrapped around some paper towels and the crown pulled out to stop the movement. There seems to be no sign of dust either.

Edit: Realized the 2nd pic looks foggy, but it just the lighting. Bad pic.

VOYGzL.png

VOYP22.png

So movement up / crystal down as you have placed it in picture . If you place it the other way you will get rice in the watch :D You can place the silica packets on top of the movement if you like . Then seal the container and leave it be for a couple of days .

The case back gasket is more of an flat exact part on a DJ to fit in the groove .Rather than a stretch to fit O ring .

I reckon due to poor fit etc you report that is how the moisture has gotten in !

The good thing with it being for a DJ you can get the exact case back gasket ( either gen or aftermarket ) which has a part number. It should be easy to source using Google ! I don't know the part number off hand but it should easy to identify the gasket you need . I know Cousins will have them , other watch bits suppliers , loads on Ebay etc .

With regards to just opening the crown and wrapping in paper towels . It may dry out the crystal visually but the moisture is still there . When you seal the watch back up it will come back . A bit like moisture that comes and goes in a unit of double glazed glass were the seal has gone . The moisture comes and goes due to atmospheric pressure but the moisture is still sealed in the unit .

That is why you need to open the case back and crown and use silica . Give it time to fully dry out .

If it was my watch I would order a new gasket and leave the watch open in the container until it arrives . Then replace the gasket and close the watch up .

Before I sealed it up I would leave it in the open air near a bulb as a low level heat source for a couple of hours .

Hopefully there no moisture under the crystal , the watch runs OK and you have gotten away with no corrosion to the movement. That might be enough to make the watch water tight again , and get it back on your wrist . Perhaps a further pressure test to check the WR might be prudent

Of course you still have the option of sending the watch away to Grimlock as well .
 
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Bigpapa

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13/2/18
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So movement up / crystal down as you have placed it in picture . If you place it the other way you will get rice in the watch :D You can place the silica packets on top of the movement if you like . Then seal the container and leave it be for a couple of days .

The case back gasket is more of an flat exact part on a DJ to fit in the groove .Rather than a stretch to fit O ring .

I reckon due to poor fit etc you report that is how the moisture has gotten in !

The good thing with it being for a DJ you can get the exact case back gasket ( either gen or aftermarket ) which has a part number. It should be easy to source using Google ! I don't know the part number off hand but it should easy to identify the gasket you need . I know Cousins will have them , other watch bits suppliers , loads on Ebay etc .

With regards to just opening the crown and wrapping in paper towels . It may dry out the crystal visually but the moisture is still there . When you seal the watch back up it will come back . A bit like moisture that comes and goes in a unit of double glazed glass were the seal has gone . The moisture comes and goes due to atmospheric pressure but the moisture is still sealed in the unit .

That is why you need to open the case back and crown and use silica . Give it time to fully dry out .

If it was my watch I would order a new gasket and leave the watch open in the container until it arrives . Then replace the gasket and close the watch up .

Before I sealed it up I would leave it in the open air near a bulb as a low level heat source for a couple of hours .

Hopefully there no moisture under the crystal , the watch runs OK and you have gotten away with no corrosion to the movement. That might be enough to make the watch water tight again , and get it back on your wrist . Perhaps a further pressure test to check the WR might be prudent

Of course you still have the option of sending the watch away to Grimlock as well .

Thanks for the info. I didn't open the watch back and set it in paper towel. I just wrapped my watch up, closed with the crown out to stop the movement and I put it away in my bag til I got out of work. I'll let it dry for a few days and order a gasket online. What seal should I use for the gasket? Recommend any?

I can't seem to find the part number, any help?
 
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chocolito

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For the gaskets you need silicone 0 ring grease there are loads of options . For the gasket just put into Google your ' watch model number O ring case back ' gasket . Again there are loads of options ebay , Cousins , Esllinger ,etc etc etc . It shouldn't need a rocket scientist to work out the Part number and the correct gasket . Otherwise perhaps send it to me and i'll fix it for you :D Come on chap you can lead a horse to water and all that . I think you can sort this out yourself from here let me know how you get on .
 
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Bigpapa

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13/2/18
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For the gaskets you need silicone 0 ring grease there are loads of options . For the gasket just put into Google your ' watch model number O ring case back ' gasket . Again there are loads of options ebay , Cousins , Esllinger ,etc etc etc . It shouldn't need a rocket scientist to work out the Part number and the correct gasket . Otherwise perhaps send it to me and i'll fix it for you :D Come on chap you can lead a horse to water and all that . I think you can sort this out yourself from here let me know how you get on .

I searched google, Chrono24 and eBay. I just want to make 100% I’m buying a gen piece. So to minimize any error I was asking if anyone knew the exact model number I needed. But thanks for your help and time. Be well and stay safe.