# Stuck crown - betcha this is a new problem



## Hawk404

...at least I didn't find it with the search function.

Briefly:
The crown on my Diver Worldtime is seized up big time - can't be unscrewed by any normal human.

It was never "torqued down" with exuberance.
Hence the mystery.

My best guess is that, between the humidity and temperature increase lately, my "not quite finger tight" screw-in crown, or the gasket thingy, expanded and seized up the assembly.

I'm guessing this is easily cured with thin cardboard and needle nosed pliers but thought I had best check here first - should it be sent to the AD?

Seems like something I should deal with myself and, if I mess it up, a replacement crown wouldn't break the bank....
Correct?...

Thanks in advance.


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## samanator

At this point impossible to say. That gasket would not do that and general temperature shifts would not cause the gasket to expand. These are pretty positive on thread engagement so I'm not sure if you can cross thread it. You would have twist until you are blue in the face to screw the crown over the gasket pinched between the crown tube. The only thing I can tell you for certain is that there is no way to get at it with cardboard and needle nose pliers. If the crown can not be loosened by hand then I think it is going to Ball for service. The AD do not do service on site. To remove the crown would require first getting it unscrewed. Then opening the case back and releasing the crown on the movement and making sure the mechanism is in the proper position before releasing it or you will need some service on the movement too. Not something I would do on a watch under warranty (These have not even been out for a year yet so there is more than two years left).


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## Hawk404

You are most assuredly correct insofar as cross-threading is concerned - I found it to not be susceptible to such and, when screwing the crown down, I found it to be very smooth until it (gently) bottomed out.

What bound it up is a mystery at this point but it sure isn't cross-threading.

I'll point my AD to this thread and see if he has anything to add.

Thanks!


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## Freelance

I had a similar problem with a Seiko some time ago. I was able to loosen it using one of those "rubberized jar opening pads" and some muscle. (you know those thin rubber mats to help get a grip on hard to loosen jars rubber jar opener - Google Search )

I later pulled the crown/stem to look at the threads, and there was no issue, just a fluke....


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## Hawk404

It seems I am blessed with an AD that picks up the phone after hours.

Anyhow, it seems the problem is more common than I would have guessed - AD reports he sees it often enough it's not a big deal.
Crown is back to normal compliments of a micro-fiber cloth and delicately wielded needle-nosed pliers.

It's still a mystery how it happened but conjecture has it I simply over tightened the thing and didn't realize it. 

All's well that ends well - good thing as the diver worldtime seems to have become my favorite.


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## Freelance

Two things come to mind based on my experience, and my moon lighting as an amateur watchsmith.

In my Seiko experience, I had a habit of 'rotating the crown counter-clockwise' to 'take a set' before tightening it down (an old trick I learned on nuts/bolts to prevent cross-threading). However, this activity on the micro-level of a watch proved to have some correlation in the stuck crown. It threw something off, as I managed to stick the crown/tube a few more times, but never again when just going straight on clockwise.

Next, depending on the crown design, and to your point of over tightening-- You may have threaded the crown a hair too far, causing the tube to go past the threaded area of the crown causing enough of a mis-match in threads. 

At least the good news is you seem to be out of the woods...


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