Warning! These Graphic Pictures Are Certificate 18. Look At Your Own Risk!

[RyMoeller]

Oh my.  WD40 clearly is not the wonder lubricant so many people think it to be.

[oldhippy]

Never ever use the stuff for a permanent solution. I have seen some terrible results from people who have used it, not many watches but with clock movements after use it will cause and leave permanent damage to the movement and in some damage to the case.   

[jdm]

3 hours ago, RyMoeller said:

Oh my.  WD40 clearly is not the wonder lubricant so many people think it to be.

It's not even a lubricant, it's a Water Dispersant.

[bobm12]

3 hours ago, jdm said:

it's a Water Dispersant.

OOOOH goody! I'll start using it in my divers!

[clockboy]

Agree with oldhippy I have also encountered the WD treatment several times with clocks. I once made the mistake by cleaning the wheels and smaller parts in my cleaning machine. It ruined my cleaning solutions & I had to change them for fresh.

 Now if encounter this I pre-clean first.

WD is a wax based solution so is very good for locks and parts that need water resistance but clock & watches it is a no,no.

[MilTimeCan]

"WD-40's formula is a trade secret. To avoid disclosing its composition, the product was not patented in 1953, and the window of opportunity for patenting it has long since closed."

The problem with this lubricant is that it has a lot of oil in its declared composition, petroleum based oil.

Using WD 40 is basically the equivalent of using acid on tin toy gears, the solvent content (50% "aliphatic hydrocarbons" mixed with 60–80% hydrogen-treated heavy naphtha) is far too harsh, that's why you see black pitting on the affected parts.     

Many American firearms owners in the Southern United States use it as a cleaning solvent to clean out rifle bores (lead and fowling) and as a rust proofing because the high content of mineral oil displaces water so efficiently.      

WD40 is a great product, in Canada we use it to coat the chute inside residential snow blowers so the snow and slush doesn't stick and it also offers rust proofing to the equipment, but we don't use it in watches :-)  

 

[Alienfox]

I got a batch of 6 watches from ebay, all had WD40 inside, contacted the seller who said he had sprayed the oil through the winder, he thought they may work, got my money back and through the watches in the bin, all completely ruined.

[szbalogh]

30 minutes ago, Alienfox said:

I got a batch of 6 watches from ebay, all had WD40 inside, contacted the seller who said he had sprayed the oil through the winder, he thought they may work, got my money back and through the watches in the bin, all completely ruined.

The only one watch i serviced for money was a fake Rolex with Seagull ST-6 movement. The owner put "some" oil on the balance to make it more reliable or something  After cleaning he was satisfied but the poor watch was to fast with +5 sec a day and he started tinkering with the regulator. I told him not to open the case to many times, since he wont even notice the small dirt he is putting in it. 

Recently, after half a year or so he was contacting me that the watch stopped and even WD-40 was not helping and he is sending me the watch for cleaning and i should buy it from him. I denied this and since then i dont accept service jobs. 

[bobm12]

Tst, tst, Szbalogh! A fake Rolex! Sacrilege!  

Well, not that it deserved WD-40, not even fakes deserve that luck! On the other hand, probably because it was a cheap Chinese movement and fake to boot, the owner tried so many "bright" ideas going against your advise. Pity, because 5 sec a day is not bad.

Cheers,

Bob

[oli]

On 6 March 2015 at 6:43 AM, matabog said:

The client should return to his last watchmaker... and beat him. Such a shame!

Very much doubt this is the work of a watchmaker! More likely an over inquisitive/ enthusiastic DIYer, who should have done a bit more research

[Outlaw]

Wow. I had this once. A customer came in with a Victorinox Quartz though. He told me that it had some sort of moisture ingress as there was some droplets on the inside of the glass...I opened up his watch and oil spilled out....not just a little...a good teaspoon, haha. I told the customer and he said 'ahh maybe I put a little too much WD40 in' I was left speechless.

 

I finally got my words together and had a discussion about his watch as I wanted to understand what had possessed him to destroy his watch and I learned that he had apparently took this advice from an old clock maker

 

I still to this day do not know where this WD40 being a quick fix theory comes from...

 

Good luck with the service Mark!

[Alienfox]

2 hours ago, Outlaw said:

Wow. I had this once. A customer came in with a Victorinox Quartz though. He told me that it had some sort of moisture ingress as there was some droplets on the inside of the glass...I opened up his watch and oil spilled out....not just a little...a good teaspoon, haha. I told the customer and he said 'ahh maybe I put a little too much WD40 in' I was left speechless.

 

I finally got my words together and had a discussion about his watch as I wanted to understand what had possessed him to destroy his watch and I learned that he had apparently took this advice from an old clock maker

 

I still to this day do not know where this WD40 being a quick fix theory comes from...

 

Good luck with the service Mark!

There is a book about the unknown things that WD40 can fix, maybe the quick watch fix in there?   Just as a thought would the oil I put on my motorcycle chain be better than WD40, it repels water and lubricates? 

[dadistic]

No, not chain oil!

Rendered bear fat. 

http://www.wildedible.com/blog/bear-grease-rendering-lard

[bobm12]

Too dangerous, bears don't give their fat willingly like cows "give" milk (although not willingly either, we have to take it).

Maybe the right word is "peacefully"!!!

Cheers,

Bob