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Is this kind of silicone grease okay for watch gaskets


Genti

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I have an skx and I want to keep it 200m water resistant. I opened the case to fix the oscillating weight and did not know I should lubricate the gasket when I closed it. So now I want to reopen it and use silicone grease. But I am not sure if this particular silicone grease works for watches as well because it is advertised as divers equipment silicone grease. Can someone confirm that I can use this silicone grease for watch gasket?
 

 

Thank you in advance!

Best regards,
Genti

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Be reassured all of these are the same and it won't  make a difference.

Rather if you want an easy task and uniform film get a sponged applicator.

Also note that especially on the case back gasket is the O-ring that makes it waterproof, not the grease, which is there mainly to keep it in place and peace of mind. It is not even used by the factory.

Edited by jdm
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I don’t recommend using that grease made by Anchor as I don’t believe it is silicone grease and may cause deterioration of gaskets if it is mineral oil based. 
 

If you’ve ever used a waterproof tester then you’ll appreciate that grease can help waterproof-ness. It can fill in voids. And also helps to stop the gasket displacing on screw-down backs. 

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Hi there ,I think what jdm means is they don't apply silicon the same way .Replacement rubber o rings always come with a bit of silicon applied from the factory where there made so that they don't dry out or tear when screwing down the caseback, also as jdm states to hold the gasket in place . Always good practice to add a bit more with a sponge applicator to be sure when putting a replacement gasket in as rodabod states to fill voids for waterproofness . Hope this helps

Edited by Graziano
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26 minutes ago, Genti said:

Thank you! I ended up ordering this one https://www.amazon.de/dp/B019CNE7TK/ref=sr_1_40?dchild=1&keywords=silikonfett&qid=1583797883&sr=8-40 .
Looks like it is used in diving equipment. They do not specify anything, other than call it silicon grease (silikonfett) and it's made in germany.
Please, let me know if this was a mistake. :)
 

Hi there , it will be ok for this purpose  for rubber o'rings only ,best applied with foam applicator ,being for scuba equipment it would have good anti washout properties  . Hope this helps 

 

Edited by Graziano
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This is probably better but I couldn't get this foam applicator from "esslinger" because I had to pay $16.73 shipping to Germany. And it made no sense to me. So I ended up buying that silicone grease. As it is in a tube I will just apply a light coat using my fingers .

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33 minutes ago, Genti said:

This is probably better but I couldn't get this foam applicator from "esslinger" because I had to pay $16.73 shipping to Germany. And it made no sense to me. So I ended up buying that silicone grease. As it is in a tube I will just apply a light coat using my fingers .

Have a look from your location you will find some on amazon or ebay , should be fairly cheap but fingers will be fine

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8 hours ago, rodabod said:

I don’t recommend using that grease made by Anchor as I don’t believe it is silicone grease and may cause deterioration of gaskets if it is mineral oil based. 
 

If you’ve ever used a waterproof tester then you’ll appreciate that grease can help waterproof-ness. It can fill in voids. And also helps to stop the gasket displacing on screw-down backs. 

It is silicon and not mineral based for sure, otherwise I wouldn't use it and Cousins wouldn't sell it as silicon grease

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9 hours ago, Graziano said:

Replacement rubber o rings always come with a bit of silicon applied from the factory where there made so that they don't dry out or tear when screwing down the caseback

There is no  silicone present on the gaskets that I buy, these come dry. I don't have the chemical equipment to find if perhaps there is an infinitesimal amount.
A proportionate amount on grease may marginally help water resistance especially on the crown that is the weak point of single-seal systems like on the Seiko SKX, but cannot do much when subjected to pressures of just 3 or 4 bar, that is the job of good synthetic rubber. Of course to verify water resistance one has to use a device, but if work is done meticulously and the materials are good, there is 99.9% confidence that it will be safe for snorkeling, air diving, etc.

For the record the material (NBR)  commonly used on watch gaskets do resist to mineral oils, fuels, any many more agents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrile_rubber

Edited by jdm
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3 hours ago, Jon said:

It is silicon and not mineral based for sure, otherwise I wouldn't use it and Cousins wouldn't sell it as silicon grease

You can find a thread on here where I discussed this previously. It doesn’t smell like silicone grease. It melts when heated. And it’s easily flammable. I took it to my watchmaking tutor who used to be a chemistry teacher and he agreed. 

Edited by rodabod
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Thank you all for your replies.
So, as far as I understood. The silicone grease helps in preserving the rubber o-ring for a longer time and also helps a bit for WR to a certain bars (like 3 or 4), but does not help in water resistance, where the o-ring is supposed to do that job.
But also, on the other hand one can close the case back of a watch without lubing the o-ring with silicone grease and this way he/she will not compromise the WR of the watch as long as the case is closed properly good.

In short, it's good to use silicone grease but can work without it as well.

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22 hours ago, rodabod said:

It doesn’t smell like silicone grease. It melts when heated. And it’s easily flammable. I took it to my watchmaking tutor who used to be a chemistry teacher and he agreed. 

Maybe you got a different product. I've received the one below yesterday, the word "silicone" is not printed anywhere but I did a quick test which shows that actually it is. Of course, one can also clean off the supplied grease to use anything of his liking.

Please excuse some lack of focus. I'm an absolute beginner to video.

 

Edited by jdm
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Hi JDM. That does not look like the stuff I had. The stuff I had was like dubbin (a tan colour) and smelled like dubbin mixed with petrol. It melted as soon as I applied a flame, ignited, and then produced a white smoke like you'd get from a candle.

What you have there look more like silicone grease. It should remain solid while hot.

The reason why it's important (which I'm sure you know already) is that some greases and oils will break down rubbers. This is why spraying WD40 on car distributor caps was a problem in the past as it damages the HT leads.

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5 hours ago, teegee said:

I have that one as well, but am always annoyed by the huge amount of grease it leaves on the o-ring. I have to wipe most of it off again.

Just touch the gasket slightly on the sponge, do not close the box.

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  Hi My method is that I have a shallow jar with a lid on it. The grease is impregnated into the sponge . The gasket in question is pressed lightly in to the sponge , both sides. This leaves a grease film on the gasket for re fitting. doe's the job ok.       Use a natural sponge usually used in cosmetics its absorbacy is better than synthetic.

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