WIS folks: adding tritium to a watch?

Pretty simple. I've got a watch that's just got the standard "needs to be exposed to light" luminescence. I'd like to add glowing, radioactive goodness to it.

Plus, it's got the Eco-Drive, so that plus radioactivity= nuclear powered watch, right?

Just go down to the local nuclear plant and ask to dip it in the reactor for a few moments. Or color it up with those glow in the dark markers. I'm a real help, I know.

Nuclear-powered watch is more Popular Science. Gasoline-powered is more Grassroots.

Nuclear powered watch, eh?

Given a few years, it might fuse to your wrist and mutate into something really awesome.

But seriously, adding a bunch of tritium vials to a watch sounds like a really fiddly process.

I looked into this a few years ago. I bought my Rolex - D A T E - in 1982. The numbers don't glow in the dark anymore. A watchsmith (watchmaker?) said he knew of a guy that could paint the stuff on it. I never bothered.

tritium paint is hard to come by it seems.

edit: I found this on some mailing list google result thingamajig:

John De Armond said: But let's say you want to play. Fair enough. You can't buy tritiated paint. The radiophobes have taken care of that. But you CAN buy tritium-activated luminous material. Many companies sell self-activated EXIT signs. I'm looking at one right now in the American Hotel Register Supply company catalog but I also know that Lab Safety Products Inc and other similar safety products companies sell them. They typically cost under $300. These look like ordinary EXIT signs except that the light is replaced by a sheet of tritiated polyethylene plastic. The tritium is bound up in the polyethylene molecule and the plastic is doped with phosphor. When you open up the sign, you find a sheet of plastic that glows fairly intensely. Once you have this sheet of plastic in hand, the possibilities are endless. The tritium is chemically bound up in the polyethylene molecule so there is zero possibility of releaseing it by cutting the plastic. Need a chunk of glow for something? Just whack off a chunk. Need glowing paint? Just file the edge of the plastic with a fine file, mix the dust in with some linseed oil and voila! Luminous paint that doesn't run down for over a decade. The sheet is large enough that you can play for years and not run out of plastic. Of course, altering this approved nuclear device without a license is illegal according to the NRC so if that bothers you, ignore everything I've written about EXIT signs. :-)

hmmm.... glowing car paint....

Yeah, it's an important componant to nuclear weapons, so the gubment watches it pretty closely.

You can still find it in old junkyards and (IIRC) some type of smoke detectors.

I highly recommend "The Radioactive Boy Scout"

Basically, a kid finds radioactive material in old glowing clocks and tries to build a nuclear reactor in his backyard.

-Rob

My dad has a watch that glows all the time. They did that back in the 50's, I think, before they realized that continous exposure to radiation isn't actually a good thing.

Your all on the list now..

crap now I am too..

That Boy Scout article was insane. Amazing what can be done if you research it. The kid took apart smoke detectors and scraped the stuff out of them. He did build a breeder reactor in his back yard. Then, get this, he's changing a flat tire and out of the blue, MIB show up and raid the trunk of his car for all the stuff he made.

I haven't been able to find tritium paint for years now.

didnt he contaminate the whole yard? I heard something about barrels of material that had to be disposed. kids, playing with breeder reactors is NOT cool.

Tetzuoe wrote: didnt he contaminate the whole yard? I heard something about barrels of material that had to be disposed. kids, playing with breeder reactors is NOT cool.

I believe it would be warm.

rob_lewis wrote: You can still find it in old junkyards and (IIRC) some type of smoke detectors. I highly recommend "The Radioactive Boy Scout" Basically, a kid finds radioactive material in old glowing clocks and tries to build a nuclear reactor in his backyard. -Rob

That's Americium or similar in a smoke detector.

They used to use Radium in watches in the 50s, but that will mess you up.

Dammit, who knew tritium was so controlled? I figured it to be a simple process to paint it on... stupid component in enhancing nuclear weapons!

interesting tidbit.. if you have anything that glows in the dark after being exposed to white light... exposing it to red light will shut it off

Tetzuoe wrote: didnt he contaminate the whole yard? I heard something about barrels of material that had to be disposed. kids, playing with breeder reactors is NOT cool.

http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/radscout.html

I found the article.

Tommy Suddard wrote:

Tetzuoe wrote: didnt he contaminate the whole yard? I heard something about barrels of material that had to be disposed. kids, playing with breeder reactors is NOT cool.

http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/radscout.html I found the article.

Don't get any bad ideas, I don't want to blow up :p

Technically, its not an explosion. Reactors explode because of expanding steam. I won't be using any water.

Wait, what?

Here goes. I am a certified watchmaker so I can add some insight.

The "Tritium/Radium" you will find will be atleast 30 years old, it has been verboten to manufacture it for at least that long. It is a powder suspended in a wax that is heated and applied. It is bad news. It would glow fairly brightly when new and applied correctly. I have a small box of it tucked away for absolutly no reson I can think of.

The older Phosphorus based stuff (that is what is on Hesses watch) is available but must be exposed to light to glow. It will glow brightly at first then fade quickly then go dark. It is a paste in water. Shake it up, put it on, allow the water to evaporate.

Super luminova is what most Swiss manufacturers are using now. It too mus be exposed to light to glow. It will glow brightly very briefly then fade somewhat quicker than tritium based products but glows for a longer period of time. It is a powder. It comes with clear enamel to mix it in.

Then there are the watches with Tritium capsules attached to the dials and hands. This is a gas that glows very brightly all the time without any exposure to any thing. It is radio active but considered safe because the gas will purportedly dissipate imediatly if a vial gets broken. There is very litle compound in them. Retro fitting them to an existing watch would be very difficult because the hands and dial are thicker. The case and movement must be manufactured to accomodate them.

I myself shy away from watches with tritium paste as it is usualy coming off the dial and hands and I dont want the exposure.

I quit using the Phosphorus base and use the Super Luminova stuff with very good results.

I have upgraded many watches to Super Lumi over a 20 year carrer. It is not somthing I would reccomend being done by someone who hasnt broken many watches already.

Sorry for the long post, shoot me a PM and I will give you contact info if you want.

By some vintage Aircraft gauges. Glow in the dark fun. But...

http://www.hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q1844.html

It's the Libyans!!

porksboy wrote: Here goes. I am a certified watchmaker so I can add some insight. The "Tritium/Radium" you will find will be atleast 30 years old, it has been verboten to manufacture it for at least that long. It is a powder suspended in a wax that is heated and applied. It is bad news. It would glow fairly brightly when new and applied correctly. I have a small box of it tucked away for absolutly no reson I can think of. The older Phosphorus based stuff (that is what is on Hesses watch) is available but must be exposed to light to glow. It will glow brightly at first then fade quickly then go dark. It is a paste in water. Shake it up, put it on, allow the water to evaporate. Super luminova is what most Swiss manufacturers are using now. It too mus be exposed to light to glow. It will glow brightly very briefly then fade somewhat quicker than tritium based products but glows for a longer period of time. It is a powder. It comes with clear enamel to mix it in. Then there are the watches with Tritium capsules attached to the dials and hands. This is a gas that glows very brightly all the time without any exposure to any thing. It is radio active but considered safe because the gas will purportedly dissipate imediatly if a vial gets broken. There is very litle compound in them. Retro fitting them to an existing watch would be very difficult because the hands and dial are thicker. The case and movement must be manufactured to accomodate them. I myself shy away from watches with tritium paste as it is usualy coming off the dial and hands and I dont want the exposure. I quit using the Phosphorus base and use the Super Luminova stuff with very good results. I have upgraded many watches to Super Lumi over a 20 year carrer. It is not somthing I would reccomend being done by someone who hasnt broken many watches already. Sorry for the long post, shoot me a PM and I will give you contact info if you want.

This is why I love this forum!

Hey, Porksboy: My watch (numbers/hands) used to glow for quite a while. Even at 2AM, I could look at it and read it. If I exposed it to light, it would glow a lot brighter and fade, but, like I said, hours later, it would still be readable. I put it up for five years or so after dropping it on the OR floor when trying to tie it to my scrubs and busting another crystal, then needing band work and trying to find someone qualified to do it. Now if I expose it to light, it will glow for a minute or so but quickly goes dark and I can't read it at night. Is this the normal for the phosphorus based stuff? I don't get how phosphorus can "wear out."

Oh, BTW, there was a watch company once. I forget the decade. Might have been as recent as the 50's. The workers painted the radium on the numbers/hands with a little paint brush. To get the tip real fine, they were instructed to lick the end of the paint brush. I'm sure ya'll can figger out what happened after that.

In reply to Dr. Hess: I've heard of the radium brush story, scary...

In reply to Dr. Hess:

that was actually in the huge long post I quoted earlier, they were using some not so intert tritium paints and had bad bone problems after years of dabbing it on their tongues. I think filing the exit sign could be fun