[Slim724]

So I had a dubious fog like issue in my Pathfinder PAW-1100. My gaskets for the caseback and barometer were good so I was perplexed as to what the issue was. Opened the back and ran a hair dryer on high for quite a while to no effect, this bugged me since I could see the issue whenever viewing the display at an angle in direct sunlight. I made the decision to remove the module and try to clean the inside of the glass, it was not an easy task with it being solar and atomic plus feeling that I may damage sensitive parts. Let me tell you that these watches are built well, I completely disassembled the watch and removed the module after disconnecting the barometer and atomic radio ribbon cables, once I removed the module and held the crystal up towards light you could really see the problem, I used some alcohol on the inside of the crystal but it did nothing! So I continued disassembly, once I pried off the metal trim ring you can pop out the glass which is 2-piece, this is where the issue was, between the solar bezel insert and actual glass crystal which lie on top of each other, once I cleaned in between the pieces the glass returned to "crystal" clear. During this process many pieces fell out including the atomic radio, I dropped both solar bezel insert and crystal onto the floor twice, and much force was needed to remove and re-insert the solar panel and crystal, not mention the man handling I used to adjust the metal foil module insert inside the case and to get the module back into place. I thought for sure something wouldn't work after re-assembly but I am pleased to say that all functions are working, barometer is within 0.4, altimeter is within 20 ft of my local weather station a few miles away, compass is correct and I was able to get 3 receiving bars to Denver! I have nothing but praise for Casio's engineering and durability of the internals for their watches.

 

[lvt]

Fun and breathtaking story, glad to hear you had a good experience with your watch |>

 

[pritch]

It takes a bit of bravery to do this sort of thing the first time, but more times than not the quality construction of Casio watches lends you an advantage. This is especially true on premium models like yours - I'm glad it worked out for you!

I'm curious, do we know what has caused this issue in the first place?

 

[michi098]

You didn't actually tell us what the problem was. You say it was between the two pieces of glass. What was between them?

 

[MandoBear]

Glad it worked out well for you. Next time you try it, take some pictures for the rest of us.

 

[Slim724]

It takes a bit of bravery to do this sort of thing the first time, but more times than not the quality construction of Casio watches lends you an advantage. This is especially true on premium models like yours - I'm glad it worked out for you!

I'm curious, do we know what has caused this issue in the first place?

I do not, all gaskets appeared to be in good shape but I lubed them all again before re-assembly

 

[Slim724]

You didn't actually tell us what the problem was. You say it was between the two pieces of glass. What was between them?

The problem was a haze that was similar to fogging, but more transparent it appeared to have a very faint blueish to orange tint on it visible in direct sunlight and at certain angles, I Have a 6900 that had a similar problem from what I'm guessing was from deterioration of paint or adhesives but I didn't think this model was old enough to have this happen to it

 

[Slim724]

Glad it worked out well for you. Next time you try it, take some pictures for the rest of us.

The thought crossed my mind but I was also watching my 2 young children at the time and had to stop the process many times to attend to them, and I was also supposed to be cooking dinner at the time since my wife was working late and I had gotten off work early, the task took much longer than expected and I was a bit stressed during the whole process, we ended up going out for dinner so everyone was happy. A tip for anyone trying this is that the module only comes out by prying it out from the top side, and that's when the atomic radio falls out into the case. The hardest part was aligning the solar panel and crystal together because the inner ring of markers and numbers is printed on the solar panel and the outer ring of markers and indices are printed on the crystal so they have to be aligned perfectly and then of course getting it all sandwiched back into the case without either moving

 

[etejut]

you are very brave sir

 

[pritch]

you are very brave sir

To fix a pro-trek is one thing, to fix it whilst looking after the kids and cooking dinner is quite another

Well, ok, dinner never happened but I think that's fair enough. ;-)

I must have absolute silence when working on my watches. The study door is closed, the phone is ignored and the front door is only opened if the postman is delivering another G-Shock ;-)

 

[Georgewg]

The problem was a haze that was similar to fogging, but more transparent it appeared to have a very faint blueish to orange tint on it visible in direct sunlight and at certain angles, I Have a 6900 that had a similar problem from what I'm guessing was from deterioration of paint or adhesives but I didn't think this model was old enough to have this happen to it

I have that same exact hazing underneath the crystal and probably also on the negative LCD display on my brand new Pro Trek PRW-3500SYT that I just got from Singapore the other day. I'm going to return it as soon as I receive the other 2 Pro trek PRW-3500SYT watches that I ordered from the same seller in Singapore after I inspect them for the haze. I will be very disappointed if the 2 incoming are going to have the haze problem like the 1st one that I received. I will return the 1st one and any of the others that I receive if they too have the haze issue underneath the crystal and on the negative LCD display.