Cartier/Ebel 81 - Cleaning Advice

[sstakoff]

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.

 

Finally got the screw out!

 

You can see the black inserts below.

 

Here's a view from the dial side:

[sstakoff]

I suppose I "may" be able to clean this plate in my standard jewelry ultrasonic with just hot soapy water instead of my watch cleaner. Thoughts??

[Nucejoe]

I'd be concerned about the EB, moisture ruins it or the circuitry pulls excess current which runs the battery down in couple of months.

Regards

[sstakoff]

I'd be concerned about the EB, moisture ruins it or the circuitry pulls excess current which runs the battery down in couple of months.
Regards

EB??


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[Nucejoe]

The  Electronic Board.

Regards

[sstakoff]

Ahh!!! Yes worried about that too


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[JohnR725]

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

820p.pdf

[sstakoff]

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 July 16, 2020 by sstakoff

[TimothyP]

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