Condensation beneath Crystal.....

[mcass]

OK so Friday I received in the mail my first early '80s Vostok Amphibia. After wearing it over the weekend I have to say I absolutely LOVE IT! That being said, I wore it to work today and didn't think anything of it and didn't take it off when I climbed into an attic. I was working in the probably close to 140-50 degree attic for probably close to two hours. When I came out I noticed that condensation had formed beneath the crystal while I was up there. When I got home, I gently blew a hair dryer over it to see if I could get it to dry (didn't open the watch) and while after a few minutes it looked to be gone, just a few minutes later it again returned. I decided instead to remove the caseback and stick it in a ziplok bag with some rice which appears to be working. My questions are 1) Would this be a natural thing simply because of the heat in the attic, 2) or do I have some bad seals in it, and 3) is what I am doing to get the moisture out OK, and finally 4) is there anything I can do to keep that from happening again other than taking the watch off?

[Geo]

You definitely have a problem, a "waterproof" watch should never suffer fom this.  You did the correct thing by opening it and drying it out.  I would recommend replacing all the seal, or at least removing the and re-lubricating them with silicon.  Make sure that the watch is bone dry before closing it, and do this when air humidity is low.

[WileyDave]

I learned the hard way on moisture in crystal, but was told to lay watch crystal side down until dry, if crystal side is up, moisture can wick down in movement.

[oldhippy]

Take the movement out and let air get to it, clean the inside of the case, check the seals and I would replace them all. 

[TheFixer]

Is the crystal a good fit?

[mcass]

It appears so

[ramrod]

i have read where some guys will take out the movement and place it near a low wattage light bulb to dry it out. as a matter of fact, a seiko diver that i gave to my brother is suffering from this exact condition. i'm gonna remove the movement and seal it back up. i'll drop it into very hot water to expand the air inside of the case to see if if leaks out somewhere.

[jdm]

 

12 minutes ago, ramrod said:

 i'm gonna remove the movement and seal it back up. i'll drop it into very hot water to expand the air inside of the case to see if if leaks out somewhere.

I'm quite sure that won't work, but let us know.

[ramrod]

it does work. it had a very tiny bubble growing at 3 o'clock. i removed the guts, cleaned the glass at the perimeter as well as the gasket. i just got done with the second test. it bubbles at 6 and 10. i made it worse. as the water heats up, the air inside of the case expands and will push out at the weak spot.

my conclusion is that this needs a new crystal gasket.

 

edit....plus a crown gasket. bubbles there.

Edited June 22, 2016 by ramrod