A sticky pusher or two is not an uncommon occurrence on Omega Speedmasters. This can be caused by a build up of crud inside the pusher tube if the seal has failed but more usually the cause is a broken spring. I thought I’d show how I approach this repair.

On this particular example the top pusher was sticking, to access the pushers the caseback has to be removed and the movement dropped out of the case. This allows the pusher to be unscrewed from the button and both components can be withdrawn from the case along with the spring that lives inside the pusher tube. With the everything removed this was what greeted me, the top pushers spring was actually in three pieces but I managed to misplace the middle section – oops!

Unfortunately new springs aren’t available separately from Omega for these, you have to buy the whole pusher assembly. However this seems overkill when it’s just the spring that’s at fault so I prefer to buy just the springs from a dedicated spring manufacturer. The replacements are manufactured from stainless steel and are the same dimensions and have an almost identical compression rate as the originals. Whats nice is my replacements have a properly coiled end which allows the spring to sit level in its tube.

The pusher tube seal is silicone greased then the spring is slid inside. I replace both springs because if one’s failed it won’t be too long before the next goes.

The pushers are replaced and screwed back onto the buttons with a dab of loctite to prevent any unwanted unscrewing. The crown seal gets the same grease then the movement is replaced.

The caseback seal is greased and the case closed up. A quick pressure test shows it’s still water resistant.

And that’s it, buttons restored to working condition!