Rolex SD Helium Escape Valve in Action

[tmoris]

So we all know how a Rolex HEV works, but I couldnt find any picture or video actually showing how it works in real life..

meaning:
- how does it look like when helium actually escapes through it.
- Does it push the whole HEV thing out of the case?
- Does it then come back on its own, or you have to push it back into place?
- Do you have to service your watch after it having let the helium out of the watch?

So is there anyone who could either answer these questions or provide pics / vids showing the actual real life functionality of this feature?

[Exiztence]

I doubt it is possible to actually see it, imagine you are living in underwater habitat, the habitat is not filled with air, it is filled with special blend of gases including helium and pressurized to greater than atmospheric pressure in order for divers to not have to undergo decompression after every dive. When you are inside this habitat, helium bubbles enter the watch, after the work is done, the habitat gets depressurized and the divers undergo decompression, during this phase the valve lets out helium bubbles....or if it would not have the valve, the crystal would pop off.

[RAJEN]

Re:
‘So is there anyone who could either answer these questions or provide pics / vids showing the actual real life functionality of this feature?’


There is no real life functionality for 99.999999% of the owners. As we all know.
Seadog should be able to answer but haven’t seen him around for a while. Hope he is well.

[33JS]

It'll just pass a minute amount of gas without any visible movement. It takes 4 or 5 days to decomp divers so it's a very, very gradual process.

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[ralphy]

It's not going to be much of a 'show', I'm afraid.

It would be hard to see the valve opening with the naked eye, it only pushes out the top of the valve minutely and it is an internal spring that returns the valve to the closed position.

You can see the patent here:

https://worldwide.espacenet.com/pate...pn%3DCH492246A

R

[tmoris]

I doubt it is possible to actually see it, imagine you are living in underwater habitat, the habitat is not filled with air, it is filled with special blend of gases including helium and pressurized to greater than atmospheric pressure in order for divers to not have to undergo decompression after every dive. When you are inside this habitat, helium bubbles enter the watch, after the work is done, the habitat gets depressurized and the divers undergo decompression, during this phase the valve lets out helium bubbles....or if it would not have the valve, the crystal would pop off.

well I imagine the manufacturers still need to test it though, so hoped there might be videos of the decompression phase..

[tmoris]

It'll just pass a minute amount of gas without any visible movement. It takes 4 or 5 days to decomp divers so it's a very, very gradual process.

Sent from my SM-G988B using Tapatalk

ah. I thought this would take a much shorter timeframe.. much more boring than the marketing descriptions then :-/

It's not going to be much of a 'show', I'm afraid.

It would be hard to see the valve opening with the naked eye, it only pushes out the top of the valve minutely and it is an internal spring that returns the valve to the closed position.

You can see the patent here:

https://worldwide.espacenet.com/pate...pn%3DCH492246A

R

thank you for the link. this really doesnt give away much..

[Exiztence]

well I imagine the manufacturers still need to test it though, so hoped there might be videos of the decompression phase..

I imagine you could test is by having a sealed case, taking out crown assembly and pumping gas into the case via crown entry, after the inside of watch reaches certain pressure point the pressure is let out via HEV.

[ralphy]

well I imagine the manufacturers still need to test it though, so hoped there might be videos of the decompression phase..

There'd be nothing to see, other than a figure on a digital display showing the reduction of weight of the watch.


R

[Chris_in_the_UK]

well I imagine the manufacturers still need to test it though, so hoped there might be videos of the decompression phase..

The decompression phase takes days, so the movement of the valve is minimal - there is no 'burp'.

[ralphy]

ah. I thought this would take a much shorter timeframe.. much more boring than the marketing descriptions then :-/
Under actual testing for certification the timeframe is 3 minutes.


thank you for the link. this really doesnt give away much..
There isn't much to give away...

R

[tmoris]

I imagine you could test is by having a sealed case, taking out crown assembly and pumping gas into the case via crown entry, after the inside of watch reaches certain pressure point the pressure is let out via HEV.

Im not that brave. Or crazy enough :D

[ralphy]

I imagine you could test is by having a sealed case, taking out crown assembly and pumping gas into the case via crown entry, after the inside of watch reaches certain pressure point the pressure is let out via HEV.

That is one way of testing (by internal pressure) the standard measure is to overpressure the watch (+25%) leave it at that for 15 days and then reduce the external pressure to atmospheric for 3 minutes and then measure the resultant loss of air.

R

[Loupe]

Not in action but pretty cool to see

[chrisparker]

So we all know how a Rolex HEV works, but I couldnt find any picture or video actually showing how it works in real life..

It should be named the Marketing Excuse Valve, it works in real life when a buyer looks at Submariner and it's measly 300m water resistance and decides that's just not rugged enough for them, they don't want to give the impression that they scuba dive. They want people to think they spend their weekends in the Titanic.

[Rev-O]

There'd be nothing to see, other than a figure on a digital display showing the reduction of weight of the watch.


R

Increase, surely? Helium is famously light.

[744ER]

Here's what the Rolex helium valve tester looks like in use. A pressure tester and at 4 BAR it should release air and show bubbles. It's always replaced and tested during service at RSC. At your local watch tinkerer, perhaps not so much.

[TKH]

It should be named the Marketing Excuse Valve, it works in real life when a buyer looks at Submariner and it's measly 300m water resistance and decides that's just not rugged enough for them, they don't want to give the impression that they scuba dive. They want people to think they spend their weekends in the Titanic.

Ah yes but take the scenario that whilst on a cruise your Submariner slips off your wrist and goes overboard in 500m of water and sinks to the bottom chances are it will implode and hence be a write off, whereas if you had bought an SD it would comfortably sit on the seabed at 500m until such time you rent the Trieste and recover it....HEV essential.....

[magirus]

It should be named the Marketing Excuse Valve, it works in real life when a buyer looks at Submariner and it's measly 300m water resistance and decides that's just not rugged enough for them, they don't want to give the impression that they scuba dive. They want people to think they spend their weekends in the Titanic.

Hahaha! Excellent! Sums up all of this nonsense perfectly.

[M1011]

It should be named the Marketing Excuse Valve, it works in real life when a buyer looks at Submariner and it's measly 300m water resistance and decides that's just not rugged enough for them, they don't want to give the impression that they scuba dive. They want people to think they spend their weekends in the Titanic.

If we weren't all buying in to needless tech for the sake of it, this forum wouldn't exist. HEV is no different really

[ralphy]

Increase, surely? Helium is famously light.

It's not measuring helium, it's measuring the mixed gases used in commercial/saturation diving, of which helium is one of the blend. The ratio of the mixed gas is the same used for the measurement of the reduction in weight.

R

[tmoris]

Here's what the Rolex helium valve tester looks like in use. A pressure tester and at 4 BAR it should release air and show bubbles. It's always replaced and tested during service at RSC. At your local watch tinkerer, perhaps not so much.

Is that an empty case? Or how exactly does that work?

[744ER]

Is that an empty case? Or how exactly does that work?

Yes its just the case and crown, screwed between gaskets and the pressure comes from within.

[Kingstepper]

It's not measuring helium, it's measuring the mixed gases used in commercial/saturation diving, of which helium is one of the blend. The ratio of the mixed gas is the same used for the measurement of the reduction in weight.

R

In real use won’t only helium be inside the watch, not the blend?
Of course, even with helium there will be a loss in weight, but maybe too small to measure so use the mixture?

[Rev-O]

Hats off to Rolex for making a useless feature fairly unobtrusive.

Not like the wart on an Omega.

[RAJEN]

I realise it is not a useful feature at all but it is probably a reflection of my shallow taste, that I like the feature. I don’t even mind Omega’s universally hated He valve.

[Glen Goyne]

Ah yes but take the scenario that whilst on a cruise your Submariner slips off your wrist and goes overboard in 500m of water and sinks to the bottom chances are it will implode and hence be a write off, whereas if you had bought an SD it would comfortably sit on the seabed at 500m until such time you rent the Trieste and recover it....HEV essential.....

Not sure but think you actually need to be diving with helium in the first place to get the helium in.

Just on the seafloor and using a submarine won’t do then.

You need to send in a diver using helium mix. Who then needs his on watch with HEV to get there. Or the diver will probably use a Seiko that doesn’t let helium in in the first place (better solution but hard to charge extra for something you don’t see).


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[ralphy]

In real use won’t only helium be inside the watch, not the blend?
Of course, even with helium there will be a loss in weight, but maybe too small to measure so use the mixture?

For ISO 6425 the gas mix and pressure (+20% over atmospheric pressure) is the same both inside and outside the watch for 15 days. Then the external pressure is reduced rapidly back to atmospheric pressure and 3 minutes after that the weight of the watch is then compared against the original weight. The failure rate is < 50µg/minute, so 150µg over 3 minutes.


R

[Neilw3030]

Found this on Kickstarter, not Rolex but
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...y&term=Watches