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Vostok 2409 Service Walkthrough Disassembly Pictures (Please sort by name in ascending order) Vostok 2409 Service Walkthrough Assembly Pictures (Please sort by name in ascending order) Being able to service the ETA calibre 2824-2 was a long-term goal and a dream when I started servicing and repairing watches some years ago. However, my first “calibre love” was the Vostok 2409; a reliable Soviet/Russian 17 jewels manual workhorse without any complications which has been around since 1970. It is still in production and found in Vostok’s Komandirskie series of watches, by some called the AK-47s of the watch world, together with its bigger brother the Vostok Amphibian dive watch. Modern-day Vostok Amphibians use the automatic Vostok 2415 (w/o date complication) and 2416 (with date complication) calibres, but the Amphibian that I’m servicing in this walkthrough, an Albatross Radio Room, popular among collectors, is from the 1980s and in those days the manual 2409, as well as its predecessor 2209, was commonly used in the Amphibians as well as the Komandirskies. While I was servicing this watch, I noticed that the crystal didn’t fit perfectly in the watch case. Being a serious dive watch originally designed for the Soviet navy this was, of course, unacceptable, so I replaced the crystal and video recorded the event in my “Bergeon No 5500 Crystal Press Review”. For me, the 2409 was a great movement to get started with as it probably is the most affordable movement on the planet, and spare parts are readily available and cost next to nothing. A lost or damaged part never spells financial disaster. Also, eBay offers an abundance of used Vostok watches in decent condition housing this movement for as little as $20 and sometimes less. A brand new Vostok 2409 (www.meranom.com) can be had for as little as $27. Be aware that, almost without exception, the eBay listings always state that these Vostok watches have been serviced, but in my experience they never are. Well, maybe dipped in a can of naphtha, left to dry and then injected with a bit of oil here and there. I’ve seen horrible examples! A somewhat tricky bit about the 2409 is to remove and replace the anti-shock springs. For this, I use a self-made tool made from peg wood. It’s shown in one of the assembly pictures together with a description of how I made it. A very similar tool is demonstrated in this video. Later, as I was working myself through Mark Lovick’s watchrepairlessons.com courses, I trained with the Unitas 6498 pocket watch movement which is the selected movement for the courses. In all honesty, from a learning point, the Unitas 6498 would have been an easier movement to get started with (especially the anti-shock springs), but the tinkering with the Vostok 2409 was a low-cost and fun way to get started and made me better prepared for the courses which answered a bunch of questions and was amazingly instructive. Eventually, I plan to publish a “Vostok 2414 Service Walkthrough”. The 2414 is identical to the 2409 but adds a very uncomplicated date complication. So, if you want a whole lot of fun for next to nothing when it comes to money, there is no other movement I would recommend before the Vostok 24XX movements, and the 2409 is a great starting point if you have a desire to begin tinkering with watches. Be warned though; tinkering may take over a substantial chunk of your life!

12mm has definitely better response on high frequency:)

I find a smaller piezo to be a little better. Here I've attached a .zip file containing two comparisons between 27mm and 12mm piezos from an 18000 bph and 21600 bph movement. Hope that helps! 27mm_vs_12mm_Piezo.zip

Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum.

The bearings are very high precision, while specced as P4 as I understand SKF actually provides them at more like P2 class, and FAG (what I have)have their own designation "P4S"which is similar. The faces of the races are ground in a way that when the two sets of faces are the same distance apart there is a predetermined preload on the bearings. This is really important to get right, which is why these types of bearings generally come with it "built in". All you need is to get them equally spaced, very precisely. I don't have a grinder suitable for the spacers, so I hand lapped the faces, checking them on a surface plate with a very sensitive dial test indicator. On my Leinen the measured runout at the collet taper, outside of the spingle nose, and spindle nose face were all for all practical purposes zero. Checked with an Interapid 0.002mm indicator and Compac 0.002mm indicator, there was no needle movement. There is of course some runout, but if those indicators won't show it for watchmaking purposes they are "perfect". That was true with the original bearings and new. I really like ball bearing headstocks but still have a soft spot for plain bearings. In theory they can be made to be even more precise than ball bearings. But if searching for microns in work, with a well adjusted plain bearing setup, one would need to run the machine for some length of time to get everything up to temperature and have the right oil in for the right speed to the oil film works right and and and. It doesn't always really matter, but ball bearings sure are easier. And- you don't get an oil stripe down your face and shirt after making a stem! BTW that paint job came out great!

Welcome enjoy the forum.

Hi and Welcome to WRT forum.

@HSL I think I sent yo a PM although I can't seem to find any trace of it in my messages. Let me know if yo got it.

They don't have seals in the sense of rubber o rings etc. A plastic and metal nozzle and steel needle which is drawn back into the oil reservoir with the trigger and as you release it takes a droplet of oil with it. The 1A has an incredibly fine tip and while you technically could oil train wheels with it, it would require a few actuations to get the desired quantity of oil to them. The other numbers have larger nozzle and tips and if you tried to use an oil that was too thick in say the 1A it wouldn't flow through properly. You set them to deposit the precise droplet on an end stone with one activation of the trigger. Hour this helps. Incidentally they really are superb for oiling shock settings and can be done in situ before fitting the balance. Edit to say bergeon instructions for cleaning the nozzle advise to ultrasonic clean.

Another Timex got the treatment today, this time a 1978 Petite, almost certainly from Dundee, which goes nicely with my similar 1978 Mercury. Its actually keeping remarkably good time. +20s/day dial up, -4s/day dial down, and managing around 240 degrees.