Stiff bezel on Seiko diver

[wong]

I have a Seiko SKX 007 which I bought ~ 1 year ago. The Bezel has seems more noticeably stiffer recently. Especially after I washed it - little washing up liquid water and toothbrush.

Do bezels need lubrication?

[ShadownINja]

Sounds like the water has affected the tab. Which seems a bit odd.



Perhaps something's stuck under the bezel that may have got in after or during the wash. Hm. Has a bit of toothbrush bristle got under it?

You'll have to remove the bezel to check:
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f365/how-change-bezel...

Edited by ShadownINja on Saturday 21st August 10:08

[sneijder]

Don't be tempted to oil it, it'll turn into a proper crap magnet.

Will a blast of hot tap water not do the trick ?

Is there loads of crap under it ? You're not James Herriot are you ?

[wong]

Thanks.
The bezel popped off quite easily. Cleaned it - wasn't that dirty anyway. But its still a bit 'stiff'. I think its the rubber gasket that provides the friction when you move the bezel. Maybe hot water affected the rubber? I may put a tiny speck of grease on the gasket to see if it helps.
The bezel pushed back on with a lot of thumb strength.

[ShadownINja]

The rubber should go softer with heat. Try pushing the tags in slightly (see above pic).

[wong]

I put a tiny speck of grease on the gasket with a needle, and now its fine. I think I was over zealous with the washing up liquid before.

Prior to that, I tinkered :-
-I tried refitting the bezel without one way spring bar - still stiff, just bi-directional now. The angle of the one way catch only seemed to affect how loud the clicking was.
-without gasket - too loose .

Now that I know how easy it is to remove the bezel, I'll check for dirt in ~ 3 months and see if greasing it has encouraged crap to build up.

[ShadownINja]

Interesting. I read that the bit that sticks up did change the stiffness. Maybe that was just for Breitlings even though the tab looks like it does a similar job.

[CO2000]

May be worth trying Graphite dust as a lubricant that won't attract dust etc

[Agrispeed]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

And again - today, random times it is as free as a whistle - other times it nigh on won't turn at all !

could it be the heat off your wrist or something? not much but you never know...