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.....

[RedBaronF2001]

Solid work getting that movement out.

Why the service dial and hands? The original hands and dial look great.

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by RedBaronF2001

Solid work getting that movement out.

Why the service dial and hands? The original hands and dial look great.

Yes they are very nice, but I want the luminova back.

This will be my dive watch, and at some point I'll probably start with night dives too.

The old and original hands and dial will be spared, and saved for a day when I might want to put them back in.


Thank you, yes it wasn't an easy task getting out the movement, I was so afraid of messing up the dial or hands.

[dieseldragon]

I have sent mine to Omega to be done. My locking ring was loose too.

MAKE SURE YOU DON'T DISCARD THE MOVEMENT RING. IT WILL BE TRAPPED IN THE SEAL SOMEWHERE. Calls it rubber segment in the foto.

It's very important as it stops the movement moving around and is easily lost.



Towards the end of this page is the manual for assembly of the watch.

http://omegaploprof.blogspot.com/

Good Luck!

[dieseldragon]

PS, sent mine to Omega as needed movement work, and it worked out cheaper for them to install and supply the new bezel etc than me source them and do them myself.

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by dieseldragon

PS, sent mine to Omega as needed movement work, and it worked out cheaper for them to install and supply the new bezel etc than me source them and do them myself.

Ian,

Thanks.

How much was the Bezel from Omega, and when was this?

The bezel has gone up in price about 100% lately... Maybe stock is getting sparse?

[dieseldragon]

Originally Posted by bayerische

Ian,

Thanks.

How much was the Bezel from Omega, and when was this?

The bezel has gone up in price about 100% lately... Maybe stock is getting sparse?

From Cousins it was 475GBP, from Omega 275GBP. Watch is there now.

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by dieseldragon

From Cousins it was 475GBP, from Omega 275GBP. Watch is there now.

Wow, so quite the difference.

I've been quoted 575 GBP!

[dieseldragon]

Originally Posted by bayerische

Wow, so quite the difference.

I've been quoted 575 GBP!

Sorry - 425GBP www.cousinsuk.com and search either by case number or item number X22361. They also have all the gaskets, mesh strap etc..

Where are you getting your parts from?

According to Omega's website, all restoration work is done on a cost basis "it is not a profit centre".

[FeelingTheBlues]

Very nice job Andreas, thank you for sharing and keep us up with news!

[goldminer]

Excellent work I look forward to the next installment.

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by dieseldragon

Sorry - 425GBP www.cousinsuk.com and search either by case number or item number X22361. They also have all the gaskets, mesh strap etc..

Where are you getting your parts from?

According to Omega's website, all restoration work is done on a cost basis "it is not a profit centre".

Thanks for the info I'll look into them.

They are trust worthy right?

I've sourced some parts from ebay, some from my local vintage watch shop who has some connections to Omega spare parts.

[bayerische]

Shame I didn't know about this cousins website, could have saved some money on gaskets and dial...

Oh well... Can't win them all.

Bezel is really the only thing left to get, as the rest is already ordered.

It's the cheapest here for sure.

[dieseldragon]

Originally Posted by bayerische

Thanks for the info I'll look into them.

They are trust worthy right?

Yes, very trust worthy, have been using them for many years, as have many people on this forum.

[snog]

Originally Posted by bayerische

Thanks for the info I'll look into them.

They are trust worthy right?

I've sourced some parts from ebay, some from my local vintage watch shop who has some connections to Omega spare parts.

Cousins are very good but they mainly only deal with trade customers,they will deal with the puplic but they do expect you to know what parts you need,so will not offer a replacement if you should order the wrong part,which is understandable when dealing with small watch parts that will take more time in checking they have not been used or replaced with worn parts if they were to be returned,than they cost.

[bayerische]

Thanks.

Most likely I'll become a cousins shopper too! :thumsbup:

[bayerische]

OK...


So the project continued today.


Got a few more tools today, dial protector, hands remover. Also got the new dial, damn it looks sharp!

Still waiting for the hands from Otto frei, should have them tomorrow I think.

So disassembled the watch again, since last week I put it back together, just in case since I knew it was going to be a week to get rest of the parts.

Removed the hands, that was easy, but they where very close to the dial, so the hour hand wasn't so easy. But a little work and it popped free.





Nex dial, two screws hold it in place, was very easy to remove. Some of the goo from the old seals had made it in beneath the dial, and pressed a bit against the date wheel. Hence a bit sticky date wheel.





Next I had the date disk revealed, it's in great condition, but the goo was sticking a bit to it, so just in case I opened the top three screws, took of the retainer plate, took loose the disk and gave it a good clean. Now it pops almost as nice as a Rolex date change!






Some new parts....

Luminova Dial.





And finally the new dial in place. All went well, and I assembled the movement back into the case. So hopefully tomorrow I'll get the hands.

I don't mind this new fresh look at all!

[bayerische]

New hands are at the post office, going to go and get them soon!

Woopee!

[bayerische]

And the new luminova dial and hands:





All went really well, re-attaching the hands wasn't the easiest, but on a whole everything did work out considering I'm a novice.

[dieseldragon]

Looking good! Mine arrived at Swiss Time in the UK today, the nice lady rung me, on my Spanish mobile phone to tell me. If their watch work is as good as their customer service, I am in good hands.

[bayerische]

Oh, the hands in the picture has been adjusted, they are not really right, made a small mistake at first.

It's been a really cool experience for me sofar.

[slcbbrown]

Thanks, for the pictures.

[Beek]

Originally Posted by slcbbrown

Thanks, for the pictures.

Ditto!

[bayerische]

Originally Posted by Beek

Ditto!

Let's open your Panerai next shall we?

[davestan]

You won't regret any part of this restoration - good work!

[bayerische]

Ploprof now tested for waterproofness, and it passed 10atm. Probably would have gone further, but the machine couldn't test further.

[Beek]

Originally Posted by bayerische

Let's open your Panerai next shall we?

Can you do the honours?