Ploprof, was it water tight?

[bayerische]

All right gentlemen and ladies too, you remember the bezel DIY?


I'm on a mission to restore my Ploprof 600 to "active duty".

Sofar parts ordered;

Some tools, (watchmaker screwdriver set, hand remover, dial protector, wise, hand pusher)

New service replacement dial, lumiova (still to show up).

New service replacement luminova hands (still to show up)

New seals, crown, movement and glass. (Came today)

New mesh bracelet. (Still to show up)



Now while I know the chances of me ever getting my money back, especially IF I go ahead and order a new bezel, I'm not doing this as an investment, but a fun project where I do some of the work myself, and some left for the true professional.

And of course the pleasure of diving with a legend on my wrist.



SOME HORROR content below.....

















So opened the case today. The ring pressing down the glass was so loose that I could have unscrewed it with my bare hands. It didn't look good, as I knew it should have been VERY tight.



Got it off easily, and to my horror, almost 40 years have made goo of the seals.




To my luck, no one before me, nor myself have put this watch in any water lately. Because the seals are liquid themselves at this point.

Goooey glass and ring:




The glass was a bit tricky to get out due to the rubber seals turning into a sticky mass. But some good nerves prevailed.


Movement removed, I was terrified, and soooo careful not to get the rubber goo mass on the movement, wasn't exactly easy to remove... Didn't know what end the crown needed to be screwed to let go of the stem. A good 20 minutes of carefully twisting, tapping shaking, and the movement dropped lightly into my hand.

Look at those two ex rubber O-rings...



Movement:
It made it our OK, some residue on the sides, carefully wiped the worst off, leaving the rest for the watchmaker.






Removed everything, but the ball bearings, and cleaned the case with acetone. My hands still look like I've switched a drive belt on a car! Damn this was messy... Shows me, no point leaving anything without service for 40 years!

Clean and nice once again. Original case stamped SF 166.077.



New crown seals. There are two, a small one half way in the barrel, bigger one sitting inside a metal washer, so that it will not deform. Screwing the crown back in now, feels soooo much different than before.

The outer seal was non existent, the inner was in perhaps 20 small pieces.

As I said, LUCKILY no-one has had this watch in the water. Why on earth someone has had such a nice watch and never serviced it, while taking so good care of the outside of it, is beyond my comprehension.

The new seals in the crown was very easy to replace.



The case is now screwed back together, I put it in about 30cm of water for a few hours, and had it under the tap at full power. It's dry, so the basics of the operation worked. Will be tested in a machine once all is serviced and changed.

To be continued.....