RWG Technical Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 (edited) Review of new Cyclops installation on PAM models Although I took the summer off from visiting RWG and TRC, I am still busy at the workbench with various projects. One of these projects is the new Cyclops installation and testing on the PAM models. This has been on the go for a while, and I have been waiting and saving space to do the trial installation. The parts arrived at my door Friday, and I got time Sunday to do the actual install. Although I am keeping my word on being away from the forum until September, this was a prior commitment and I need to post it before September. This is NOT a how-to exercise or post, for a couple of reasons, 1, you need at the minimum a case back wrench and experience removing and installing movements to do this mod, (not hard to do, as there are helpful posts in my sub-forum on this particular task), 2, you must have a crystal press and UV glue to get the Cyclops glued to the crystal and re-installed. If you have these tools you already know how to do the work, and therefore a how-to is useless, if you don’t have the tools, it’s not very economical to go out and buy them for this one time job…unless of course you want to set up to do your own work (never a bad idea…). In any event, you can figure it out by what I will cover in this post, and if you decide to do it yourself, you should have little problems, as it’s straight forward and simple. Here is what I have on the bench for the trial, 3 PAM’s… So the first things you need to do are: 1, remove the case back, take the movement out of case, and, 2, remove the crystal so you can get the Cyclops off. All of these steps are covered in detail in various posts in the repair and upgrade section under my subforum… Removing the Cyclops Now comes the hard part (sort of) that is removing the Cyclops from the crystal. There may be various ways of doing this, I only know of one way and that is by heating the Cyclops with a BBQ lighter and slicing it off with my case back knife. What I do is to hold the crystal with heavy leather gloves, and put a flame on it from a BBQ lighter for about a minute, at least long enough that I can feel the heat through the gloves (so hot that I can’t stand the heat). Then I hold the crystal straight up and down on a counter, and with my case back knife slice the old Cyclops off. It takes two things to get this to work right, one you have to get the glass really really hot, and two, you have to press really hard with the knife to get the Cyclops to come off…most times I end up chipping a small part of the Cyclops, so it’s really a one way mod, as the old Cyclops gets damaged 8 out of 10 times during removal. I have not tried any hotter flame such as a Torch, as I am not sure what may happen to the crystal. Too hot - too fast - and it may shatter, if you ever had a sapphire crystal shatter (I have had it happen) it ain’t a pretty sight, as the crystal is under much stress and it literally explodes… BBQ (BarBeQue) lighter works for me… Once the Cyclops and crystal are apart, you get this… You can see the burn marks from the lighter on the crystal. Some glue may be left where the Cyclops was attached, and I scrape it off with a knife, no risk of scratching the crystal, it is sapphire after all… once I get the glue scraped off, then I clean the glass with Acetone and buff it up with a lint free cloth. Reinstallation the Cyclops Now before you can put the new Cyclops and crystal back in the case, you have to reinstall the movement and put the stem back in place etc. Why? Well simply because you need to have the movement and dial in the case, secured in it’s proper location before installing the crystal. Otherwise you have no reference for where the Cyclops should be positioned. So after the movement is lined up and secured in the case, we move on to the crystal again. I put a drop of UV Crystal cement on the Cyclops, and place the Cyclops on the crystal in the approximate location. Approximate as I can’t determine the correct location for the Cyclops until the crystal is installed in the case. I temporarily install the crystal in the case, and look at the position of the Cyclops in relation to the date. Since the crystal is much farther out now than when it’s pressed in place, there is considerable distortion and you have to get the Cyclops in what you think is the best position, the final test will be once you press it down in the crystal press. If it’s not right, you have to start all over again… Remember that the UV glue does set up fairly quickly and you have to work fast, once the glue sets up, you have to start all over again and remove the Cyclops as we did initially…the only advantage is that although the glue is set up, it’s not as hard as once it’s fully hardened. So there is little risk of chipping the Cyclops during this removal… So if you have read this far, we now have the crystal in place and lined up with the date window. And here is what it looks like… Here are some side by each views of the before and after, on the black dial models, as hard as I tried to reduce reflections (my GF who is a professional photographer tried to help as well…) I could not get a clear shot without some reflections… Once your all done, you have to remove the movement from the case, and let the glue harden, either with a UV light, or by putting the watch outside in the sun for a few hours (inside won’t work as the windows block UV light). After the glue is hard, you have to remove the crystal again, and clean the residue of the glue off with Acetone and then do the installation all over again… You could try and clean the glue off without removing the crystal, but I think it’s better with it out of the case so you can work on it and make sure it’s clean and there is no residue. So that’s the end results, I was asked to do the install and share my results with you…which I have done…now I will again sign off for the summer…which means I won’t be offering feedback to any questions. From what I have heard, I am glad I am away from the forum for a few months…I need the break from the politics and accusations…and if your not careful and nice to me, I will put the Hex Of the Black Chicken on you too…. Thanks for reading, RG Edited June 5, 2006 by ziggyzumba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwai02 Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 Great job like always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 Here are some side by each views of the before and after, on the black dial models, as hard as I tried to reduce reflections (my GF who is a professional photographer tried to help as well…) I could not get a clear shot without some reflections… Tell her to give you a camera with a polarising filter on next time. Nice work, as always. Coo, I'm paraphrasing Cwai02 here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swdivad Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 I would think that if you marked the center of the date window with a marker, on the outside of the crystal while it was installed, you'd have a pretty good idea of where to place the crystal... To do this properly, you would have to create a fixture with close tolerances. This would enable perfect placement of the cyclops every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchmeister Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 Rob- Thanks much for doing this. Especially as this is coming to you from the deserts of Northern Chile. OLA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubiquitous Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 Great stuff, as always Rob!! The new cyclops makes a HUGE difference! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archibald Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 Great stuff, as always Rob!! The new cyclops makes a HUGE difference! Add this to the list of The Zigmeister Classics! Thanks, Rob! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indyclmbr Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 Great post-Thanks Rob. Climb on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supermanx Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 instead of marking the center you could place the new cyclops on the outside (upside down) and mark the edges all the way around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chronus Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 Great news everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palpatine Posted June 6, 2006 Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 nice review!! thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spock Posted June 6, 2006 Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 The Zigmeister thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck88 Posted June 6, 2006 Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 Someone please sell me an extra crystal! Surely someone ordered an extra that is just going to sit and not get any love... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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