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Ahelium release valve,helium escape valve orgas escape valve is a feature found on somediving watches intended forsaturation diving using helium based breathing gas.
When saturation divers operate at great depths, they live underpressure in a saturation habitat with an atmosphere containinghelium orhydrogen. Since heliumatoms are thesmallest natural gas particles—the atomic radius of a helium atom is 0.49angstrom and that of a water molecule is about 2.75 angstrom—they are able to diffuse over about five days into the watch, past the seals which are able to prevent ingress of larger molecules such as water. This is not a problem as long as the watch remains under external pressure, but whendecompressing, a pressure difference builds up between the trapped gas inside the watch case and the environment. Depending on the construction of thewatch case, seals and crystal, this effect can cause damage to the watch, such as the crystal popping off, as diving watches are designed primarily to withstand external pressure.
Some watch manufacturers manage the internal overpressure effect by simply making the case and sealed connected parts adequately sealed or strong enough to avoid or withstand the internal pressure,[1] butRolex andDoxa S.A. approached the problem by creating the helium escape valve in the 1960s (first introduced in the Rolex Submariner/Sea-Dweller and the Doxa Conquistador): A small, spring-loadedone-way valve is fitted in the watch case that opens when the differential between internal and external pressure is sufficient to overcome the spring force. As a result, the valve releases the gases trapped inside the watch case during decompression, preventing damage to the watch.[2] The original idea for using a one-way valve came fromRobert A. Barth, a US Navy diver who pioneered saturation diving during the US NavyGenesis andSEALAB missions led byDr. George F. Bond. The patent for the helium escape valve was filed by Rolex on 6 November 1967 and granted on 15 June 1970.[3]
Automatic helium release valves usually don't need any manual operation, but some are backed up by ascrew-down crown in the side of the watch, which is unscrewed at the start of decompression to allow the valve to operate. Asdecompressing saturation divers is a slow working conditions requirements regulated process to prevent sickness and any other harmful medical effects,[4][5] the helium release valve does not have to be able to cope with extremely rapid decompression scenarios, that can occur in a material/medical pass-through system lock.
Helium release valves can primarily be found on diving watches featuring awater resistance rating greater than 300 m (1000 ft). ISO 6425 defines a diver's watch for mixed-gas diving as: A watch required to be resistant during diving in water to a depth of at least 100 m and to be unaffected by the overpressure of the breathing gas. Models that feature a helium release valve include most of theOmega Seamaster series,Rolex Sea Dweller,Tudor watches Pelagos, some dive watches from theCitizen Watch Co., Ltd,Breitling,Girard-Perregaux,Anonimo,Panerai, Mühle Rasmus byNautische Instrumente Mühle Glashütte, Deep Blue, Scurfa Watches, all watches produced byEnzo Mechana,Aegir Watches and selectedDoxa, selectedVictorinox models,Oris models,TAG Heuer Aquaracer models, and theDEL MAR Professional Dive 1000 watch.
Other watch manufacturers such asSeiko andCitizen Watch Co., Ltd still offer high-level dive watches that are guaranteed safe against the effects of mixed-gas diving without needing an additional opening in the case in the form of a release valve. This is normally achieved through the use of special gaskets and monocoque case construction instead of using the more common screw down case-backs.
To enable changing the time or date during their dive, saturation divers have to act somewhat counterintuitive regarding the water resistance management of their diving watches. On the initial and any laterblowdown or compression, most saturation divers consciously open the water-resistant crown of their watches to allow the breathing gas inside to equalize the internal pressure to theirstorage/living environment.[6] This pressure differential mitigation strategy allows them to later open the water-resistant crown at their storage pressure, to be able to adjust their watch if required during their (often weeks long[7]) saturation period under regularly varying pressure levels between worksites. The storage pressure is generally kept equal or only slightly lower than the pressure at the intended divers' working depth. Opening a watch case (by unscrewing a crown) means expanding its internal volume. In a significantly higher external pressure environment, any expansion will be impeded by this environment. Every opening and closing action of a release valve or crown seal involves a risk of dirt, lint or other non-gaseous matter ingress, that can compromise the proper functioning of the seal and watch.
The standards and features for diving watches are regulated by theISO 6425 – Divers' watches international standard. ISO 6425 testing of the water resistance or water-tightness and resistance at a water overpressure as it is officially defined is fundamentally different from non-dive watches, because every single watch has to be tested.ISO 6425 provides specific additional requirements for testing ofdiver's watches for mixed-gas diving.[8]
Some specific additional requirements for testing of diver's watches for mixed-gas diving provided by ISO 6425 are:[8]
