What a time saver....

[Thewatchbloke]

....and a lot less hassle!

One of the more onerous tasks when repairing watches is the pressure testing element, I've been using a 6bar wet tester for my basic leak tests for some time - you know the machine, it's the one below. What it does it does well but it is a labour intensive time consuming process, especially when your doing watches day in and day out.



Simply preparing the wet tester, sometimes having to remove the watch strap if it's fitted, hanging the watch, sealing the pressure cylinder, pumping it up, waiting 15 minutes, releasing the pressure whilst taking pictures as proof, drying the watch afterwards then doing a condensation check takes a good 30 minutes of my time that can be better spent doing other tasks. This is without mentioning that I don't enjoy testing chronographs in a wet tester as the chances of failure are considerably higher than a basic wristwatch, and the last thing you want is the crystal blowing out once it's submerged! With this in mind I've been saving for some time to get my dream tester, a Greiner Poseidon LT-100 which is a dry tester, can test a vacuum of 0.7bar and a pressure of up to 10bar. The thought of just putting a watch in, pressing a button and walking away has been a dream of mine for ages. Well finally it's here, it was delivered today so this afternoon was spent commissioning the compressor, printer, tester and running the air lines.

This is what it looks like



And this is what powers it, a small Bambi compressor that is normally found in laboratories, dental surgeries and the like, in fact anywhere where dry, oil free air is required.



To work it you first open the chamber



Place the watch on the rest and lower the bridge



Close the chamber and choose which test you want to run, this submariner is having a 10bar waterproof test



And that's it, I can walk away and get on with other stuff now! The display shows whats happening as the tests are running, here the vacuum test is in operation



Once this is completed it moves on to the pressure test



Once this is done the machine vents and that's it, finished



The thermal printer prints out the results ready for inclusion with the receipt.



All that's left is to remove the watch ready for the next one. To say I'm pleased with it is an understatement, I've just gained back a few hours each week and that's worth every penny

[nibby]

That is a lovely piece of kit and must take away the worries of wet pressure testing as you say.

[bparker170]

Great investment Duncan, i'm sure quite a few TZ'ers divers will see that piece of kit in due course!

[ralphy]

Well done, I'm sure your hard saving will pay dividends. ;-)

R

[TaketheCannoli]

Tremendous bit of kit but it ends on era of those great wet tester shots!

Pleased you're happy with it.

[Dave S]

Nice piece of kit.
Does this mean you now have a reasonably priced wet tester for sale?

Dave

[walkerwek1958]

I`m envious!.......I`d love one of these but I can`t justify it on the scale I work.

The wet tester is a flawed device, it needs using with care. I`m far happier testing built up cases without a movement in for obvious reasons! It is time-consuming to use and there's always a risk of getting water in a watch if it isn`t used with great care. I`d never put a watch in if I hadn`t already mocked up the case and tested without the movement, if there's a huge leak it can end badly.

Paul

[Thewatchbloke]

Nice piece of kit.
Does this mean you now have a reasonably priced wet tester for sale?

Dave

I'm afraid not, if the Greiner ever goes down I'll need something in reserve!