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Cartier/Ebel 81 - Cleaning Advice

sstakoff
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sstakoff WRT Addict

sstakoff

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So a friend asked me to change the battery on his wife's Cartier Tank Quartz. It has a Cartier/Ebel 81 movement which I believe to be equivalent to the Frederic Piguet 8.20  calibre. As it turns out the watch was subjected to moisture in the past and the battery was also corroded :(. A new battery didn't fix the issue - so I decided to clean it. Upon disassembly one of the battery strap screws was corroded into place - it took some creativity to wrestle it out. But now, careful inspection seems to indicate that the 2 strap screw posts are actually fit in place with what looks to be either a black plastic or rubber washer or similar fitting - presumably as an insulator. I cannot clean the main plate in the ultrasonic with these plastic/rubber seals in place. Can someone please confirm that this is indeed what I am seeing and offer any advice on whether I can safely remove these fittings (and how). I am reluctant to just start pressing them! 

This image shows the "stuck" strap screw. Notice the corrosion around the battery area and near the removed strap screw hole as well.

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Finally got the screw out!

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You can see the black inserts below.

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Here's a view from the dial side:

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sstakoff WRT Addict

sstakoff

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8 hours ago, JohnR725 said:

I am attaching the technical brochure which has some information on cleaning.

820p.pdf 193.05 kB · 1 download

This is very helpful - has a bit more detail than the other docs I have. So - we now have this movement being equivalent to the Cartier 81, Ebel 81, Frederic Piguet 8.20 and the Piaget 820P :). 

I am still very surprised by the cleaning instructions in the Piaget document. They explicitly state that you can clean the main plate conventionally. But I am certain that there is an insulator between the battery strap screw tubes and the main plate. I cannot imagine they would not be substantially damaged by watch cleaning solutions. This movement requires the + side of the battery to be placed down and make direct contact to the main plate. So the strap is negatively charged and must be insulated from the main plate. I am curious if anyone here has actually cleaned one of these in a cleaning machine. I am heavily leaning towards my prev thought which was to clean the main plate in my water-based jewelry ultrasonic instead of the Watchmaster.

Edited by sstakoff
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  • 3 years later...
TimothyP New Member

TimothyP

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Can you tell us how this went?  I now have one on my bench.  I've printed off Tech Pub.  What did you find or learn while servicing yours?  
V/R
Tim Psaledakis
North Conway NH

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