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I had something similar with an Accutron. You could see it speed up and slow about every second, and in total, run fast . I thought the Index wheel was shot, but on removal I found a fibre bundled up around the pinion end of the arbour. A good clean and eviction of the fibre cured the problem. It wouldn't surprise me if you found the same thing on your escape pinion.

Recently I got an early 214 from 1963 that had a faulty coil. The coils on these are in two parts, a cell-coil and component coil, joined by three fine insulated single-core wires. The Cell coil had gone O/C due to water/battery leak rotting out the fine wires where they attach to the soldered binding-posts--Mainly because Bulova hadn't covered a small section of the wire with any protective varnish. A replacement cell-coil was bought from the guy in Bulgaria and the old one replaced on the coil assay. Fitting to the movement, it didn't run. It would go for about 5-10 seconds after plucking the fork, but the hum would slowly die away. I assumed the resistor and capacitor were messing round --so replaced these in the component coil side. Still the same. I checked the transistor--but it looked good in testing--I replaced it anyway, using a silicon device tacked in to test, altering the bias by changing the resistor from 3.9 meg to 2.2 meg, to accomodate the different bias requirements between a Silicon and the old Germanium device it was replacing and tried again. Exactly the same! I monitored the current using my home-made PSU, it would initially pin the meter and that would die away to 5uA, but the movement still not running and no hum either. Plucking the fork, it would run for 5-10 seconds, then the hum would die away, and no appreciable difference in current draw. The clue was the constant current it was drawing after the initial pulse. It was perfectly clear when I dragged the Scope out and checked. The coil set was oscillating at 200 odd KHz! When the fork was plucked, the 360Hz was modulating the 200KHz. I guess a Long-wave radio could have picked it up if it was close by! Fortunately,--Bulova had also run into this problem as well and on some coils added an extra capacitor to the component-coil to damp out the radio-frequency oscillations. A 0.01uF (1 Nanofarad, 1000pF) cap was installed at the point the wires from the cell-coil attach to the component-coil. Its placed between the leads of the drive coil (Red wire) and the feedback coil (Green wire). Doing likewise with an 0805 1nF SMD cap cured the issue completely and the movement runs normally, even self-starting--with lots of wires and components hanging out of it! I just now need to rebuild it all properly and neatly into the component-coil recess--Which should be fun!. I'm guessing that the inductance of certain Cell-coils must be just right to cause this oscillation so they added the extra cap on those causing troubles.

Ooh Nice! A Bulova Tuning Fork Accutron! I don't see the square ones that often. JC

An Accutron tuning-fork Always has the positive terminal (main case of battery) Downwards in the movement--giving the impression its wrong way round, they certainly Wont run with the batt reversed--In fact a reversed batt can do damage to the 0.22uF Tantalum cap in the circuit, if its left in the wrong way for some time, a PITA to change on a 218x calibre- In fact, Most things are a PITA with a 218!... Only the Accutron Spaceview that Citizen re-issued and made 1000 of as an Anniversary watch in 2010 has the batt in conventional orientation--with the pos uppermost......

did you know that an accutron will run with the battery reversed? i bought one that way. it had been running for months. the quartz watch may not,BUT i don't think reversal of current could damage it.? vinn

Thanks for the links rogart, WOW! 100 bucks for a crystal!!--Unprinted too! (Of the wrong size, 7581 comparatively common anniversary model as opposed to the unknown and squarer 7387--No one on earth, except this guy on Bulova Accutron forum has correct one--Who wont sell it, even after making a whole thread with lots of pictures of it as if he was selling, Strange!) Ive found a fairly local Co that can make one also unprinted for less than 20 bucks, and can probably even make it out of Sapphire too if needed,--I'll check with 'em when I take the case to them, I may as well get a few made, and experiment/find a printer for the logos etc.... Here-- http://www.watchglasscutting.co.uk/web/ Only problem now--How to sort out the Printing on the inside of the glass....

Looking for a good cell-coil for a 214. original is a three-wire coil, but I can re-wire a two-wire cell coil into a three to work in place, if you have one going spare, maybe from a set with a duff component-coil. Thanks.

Hi Alistair, This is a pretty specialized challenge, and you may need specialized help! I would try some of the following... Ask at mybulova.com - a member on there sold me an original glass crystal for a 1920s ladies watch! Contact electric-watches.co.uk - this is clearly their thing There is a uk seller on ebay called grassbox2020 who seems to specialise in accutron repairs Regards, Stuart

there is a guy who sells accutron crystals in the US (one of the guys who bought parts when the accutron repair shops closed down) . i have a round space view and refused to pay $ 200 for an original crystol. good luck with square glass ! i suggest " professional polishing. vinn

I have a square Bulova Accutron that has a pretty badly scratched Glass crystal. Its 29mm across the flats and has rounded corners. The 100 Year Accutron Anniversary issued in 1975 is slightly similar, but has a 30mm square one, which appears to have very slightly bowed sides and are available at around £30. Mine however Isnt one of those, I cant find out much at all about it at all.--its a couple of years earlier and seems to be a very rare one, and a chunkier heavier watch altogether. Only found a couple of references to it on the web. Seeing I boobed and it no longer has its name on the glass, a new crystal could possibly be marked/painted with the name etc... Here it is, The Case Number is 7387 and dates from 1973-- It wouldn't be out of place in that old Si Fi series, Space 1999!

I think for someone that has developed the skills to work a peculiar movements like the Accutron, case refurbishment will be a relaxing and rewarding task. Polished / brushed cased are no problem, for the latter I use 600 grip papers on a buffing stick always applied in a single direction, and then follow with a "magic pad" from Ebay. I have stupendous results with that, on the watches below the turtle had pretty bad dings on the front lug and case edge by the bezel, the Alpinist was in indescrivibile conditions, I still wonder what the owner did to bring the case and bezel to not have more than 5mm between one damage and another. Investment is maybe 30 euro for a generic rotary tool (get one that can rotate slowly), 2.50 per Dialuz bar, same for and hard felt wheel and mandrel. I've heard that in my country "casecrafters" can extract 600 Euro from a Rolex owner.

Well I really appreciate the answers given. TBH, my normal profession isnt in watch-repairs (Electronics) and buffing/polishing I'm sure I could learn, but the cost to set up and the time to gain the knowledge for this single one-off watch-case. The case is two-finish, One is a brushed finish, the other a polished finish It appears this particular square Accutron is rather rare, I can only find 2 pics of its type on the web and one reference to its case-number. (7387) Its not featured in the case-number catalogue either 7386 jumps to 7390. 7386 appearing to be the gold/gold plate version... Another bungle I made was after checking the movement and locating its fault (Cured, mis-adjusted hack-spring but its desparate for a service) I cleaned the Inside of the glass flat crystal--and the 'Bulova Accutron' paint markings on the inside of the glass came off. I only used a light artists brush as there was, and still is a heavy bloom on the inside, but that was enough, name gone.... As the case is two-finish I think it really would need someone who knows what they are doing to do it rather than a bungler like me! The Movement I'm well aquainted with, the case--And now the crystal--I'm not so sure on!

Jdm, you are over simplifying, easy to think that it's easy if you've learnt how to do it, can do it well or even if you haven't had trouble with it before. But I have a fair amount of experience restoring SS myself, I don't consider it overly difficult or complicated, but there's nuances and pitfalls, things you need to know. Some of these things you can only really know through experience. When I was first learning I damaged a fair number of scrap SS items and many people do the same, they end up effecting the symmetry of the piece, smoothing over hard edges, creating 'dents' etc. I would encourage anyone here to learn how, but not on a piece that has importance, I don't want to see someone do something that might cause damage to a piece they value, especially if it's a collectible and potentially valuable piece like a spaceview. A spaceview accutron is not a practice piece. Treating it as such would be reckless.

I'm looking for someone who can renovate a stainless-steel watch case. My latest aquisition, a Swiss Square Accutron Spaceview has a reasonable case but does have some light scratches and is looking a little tired. This is something I cant do myself as Ive not ever attempted, looks to be a specialist kind of thing... Any ideas who could do this sort of work?

Nah--Too much like a rip-off of a Sub for my liking, my wrist would miss the Hum it usually gets from an Accutron or ESA Omega, the Folex I use when there's a risk of possible damage--Like at work! Recycling centres can get a bit hairy for a timid tuning-fork!

Ive got a bit of a mad Accutron project in my head at the mo... I would like to get a generic unsigned dial of the correct diameter and fit to a 2180. The problem is the feet. They are Never where you want them! Is it possible--or are such items available, that look a little like tiny drawing-pins that could be fixed to a dial by adhesive after removing the dials original feet?

The jewels of the index finger are only sort of dirty. If what you are seeing was on the active surface the watch wouldn't run at all. The system tends to be self-cleaning anything on the surface of the index wheel is usually pushed to the edge of the jewels. But I don't recall ever seeing this quantity of whatever it is on the end of the fingers. I suspect if you look carefully you'll find zero lubrication in any of the jewels an indication that the watch hasn't been serviced in a incredibly long time. Then I would really strongly suggest reading the service manual before servicing this watch. Parts aren't readily available and there's lots of places where bad things can happen No matter how careful you are. http://www.yeagley.net/Accutron/Accutron 218 service manual.pdf

Ive just joined after watching many of Mark's excellent videos on Youtube. They have taught me many things and reminded me of many I had forgotten... I'm now 55 and slowly getting back into watch-repair. When in school at age 12 or so I used to mess around repairing, and by age 16-17 was OK-ish I thought, even tackling an Omega 861 with complete success. I would never contemplate doing one now however! I Thought at the time that there was little future in watch-repairs as the Q revolution had taken a big hold so went into electronics repair instead I was pretty wrong!..... Is the age of 55 too old to get back into this?--I dunno maybe, but with lots of loupes and glasses plus a £5 microscope from ebay I manage--so far! I'm particularly into Accutron Tuning-Fork types and have a number of 'Vicims' I have four 214, four or five 218's, and a couple of 219's most running well Recently Ive aquired a couple of ESA 9162 types One of these, a very poor Tissot looked as though it had had a very hard life and was used as a donor for others--Even the bezel is missing from the case, Both coils faulty, missing hour-wheel etc, Very sad condition but does have a nice blue dial. I managed to fix the coils, (the windings themselves were good, or I wouldnt have stood a chance.) The TR coil had a broken transistor and the RC had a high value resistor (4M8 instead of 3M3) so both the res and cap were replaced (One benefit of being electronics engineer!). bought a new hour-wheel, serviced it now its working good, so the hunt for bezel is on.... This afternoon, I'm going to tackle an ESA 9164 in an Omega, See what sort of mess I can make of that!

Hello from L A again, well I have been to a flea market and there was a load of watches but mainly 2nd hand modern Quartz. The only guy selling vintage watches was a tad pricey and the watches were beaten up and I could do better on the bay. Speaking of which I have bought about 6 watches since being here some working some not but nothing very rare or high value all worked out at about $15 and I would have been put off in the uk by the postage cost but being here it was about $3.50 so at current Brexit rate that is about £15 a pop. There is a promising looking Waltham and Tissot amongst them and I managed to get an Accutron 214 movement that I need the tuning fork from. Luckily I noticed a tiny screw stuck to it near the coil so I am hoping that proves it retains its magnetism and will work for me. (Top tip - never demagnetise an Accutron hummer - it ain't the same as clockwork), also if the screw is what I think it is that is handy as well !. Cheers, Vic

Today, it's a Bulova Accutron. I got this a few weeks ago, and it runs like new......well, it's about -2 seconds a day. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Yowza. That's some pretty bad water damage. I'm happy that you're invested in the repair job though. There's nothing quite like a hand-me-down, especially in this line of work. My father gave me his Accutron 218 when he discovered I was interested in watch repair. It was a wedding gift from his parents. It does run but the hour and minute hands are frozen in place. I've worked on more expensive and complicated movements but I'm waiting until until I've reached a certain level of experience before tackling the Accutron project because it means so much to me; it's the one I really don't want to screw up. I really cannot wait to see how this turns out.

As a new member, and just getting into the 'tinkering' side of things, I thought I better show the collection as it stands today. I've been a member of RLT (The Watch Forum) for many years and lots of watches have come and gone, but this is what I have today. There are a few Seikos! First up is a Rolex GMT Master 2. This is a 16710 'Y' series with the lug holes. It dates from 2003. Next is an Omega SMP Cal.2231.80 in Titanium. This is on a 'Bond' bracelet, and has the rarer electric blue dial. This is from 1999-2000. Then come the Seikos. First up is the 6139-6002 Pepsi/Pogue. This is the one that I did a cosmetic refurb on...you may have seen the post. The famous SRPO43K1 or 'Spork'... The SKZ 251 'Frankenmonster'... My latest acquistion, the blue Sea Urchin SNZF13 J1. I had one of these but sold it ages ago and immediately regretted it....it's taken me 4 years to find another one! A quartz this time...the 7T32 7F70... A Lorus 'Mickey Mouse' watch from 1990. This has a Seiko Y621-6050 A1 Singapore made 17 jewel automatic movement with quick set date. Another 'Mickey', this one is the wife's. It's a Bulova Accutron 2193 hummer from 1977. There are a few Casio beaters that are used for work (landscaper), most are pretty beaten up, but this is the current one... There's been plenty more over the years...Seiko Orange monster, Seiko 009, Blue and red Majesyks, Bulova Accutron Deep Sea...etc , etc. Anyway, I hope this SOTC meets with your approval...

Hi Bill, I was looking around yesterday and saw your post here. It seems to me that you have the desire to learn the watch repair techniques but have hit a few road blocks. I went back and found your post about the Hamilton that is giving you the winding stem issue. From what I saw I must say that if that was your first attempt well done! You took it apart and got it back together and it still runs. That is no small feat. From what I understand the only issue is the stem will wind the watch but when you try to pull it out to put it in setting position the stem comes out. This could be from a problem totally unrelated to anything you have done. The tip on the setting lever that holds the stem in place could be worn out. You may not want to think about that watch anymore but to me they are puzzles that beg me to figure them out. If you have time ask yourself a question or two. Did the stem work before you took the watch apart? If the answer is no then you did nothing wrong and you have a watch with some worn out parts. Could be the setting lever, (you might be able to check this by removing the stem and looking through the hole it came from to see if you can see the tip of the setting lever and estimate if there is enough there to hold in the stem. Look at the stem to insure the groove the tip fits in is in good shape) Could be the plate itself is worn allowing the stem to wobble around so that it drops under the tip of the set lever and pulls out. ( could be on end next to crown or end next to the center of the movement where the crown fits in after going through the sliding pinion. In any of these cases you did everything right and just have a watch with worn parts. Determining what is wrong with a watch that doesn't work is different that disassembling, cleaning and reassembling a working watch, that's why everyone says to start your first watch project on a watch that is working. Now if you answered yes to the question then something has happened. The end of the stem that fits into the center of the movement may have snapped off. When you cleaned the movement you may have cleaned out some debris that was actually keeping the stem in position. Or it may be something as simple as the stem may not be all the way in. Watching some videos I see where some stems have just been pushed it and the set lever spring allows the set lever to jump up and allows the stem to pop into place. On this sort of watch that won't happen. Here you have to partially unscrew the set lever spring and sometimes push down on the set lever screw while inserting the stem. Didn't mean to tell you what you already may know but I don't have any idea what you do know. Now I still have to say that if you took that movement apart and got it back together so that it runs on your first try then you did well. Sometimes stems can be a bear. I was putting new hands on an Accutron 218 the other day and I was afraid I was going to have to disassemble the watch just to get the stem back in. For some reason I could get the stem in but then the watch would only set the time and I could not push it in to home position. I finally got it to seat properly but I was a little worried for a minute or two. I see that you are fairly close to me geographically speaking so if you should want you could send me the movement and I could take a look. All it would cost is postage. Or if you want I could try to talk you through the process of finding out what the issue may be.

the title says it all. i have been working on a few recent purchases and i'm not having too much success - except when it comes to screwing up. i began working on my seiko EL-330 last night. i wanted to look at the movement and take a closer inspection of the keyless works. it looks like some water had gotten in in the distant past. i removed all of the works, taking pictures as i went along. well, i lost a screw somewhere in the carpeting. on top of that, there is a part of the keyless works that has a very tiny wire riveted to it. yup, broke the wire. now i need a screw and that part for the keyless. not an easy find. next up - an elgin that i got this week. a monster of a watch with no complications. it is an auto with an elgin 996 movement (AS 1920). well, it was grinding when i would wind it so i wanted to check it out. i removed the rotor and the winding bridge. it took forever to reinstall that bridge. after i reinstalled it, i spun the rotor and could see that the barrel was winding. all buttoned up and now it won't manually wind. the crown won't even turn. it will auto wind, but no manual wind. next up - my latest bulova accutron. a beauty. i took the movement out to take some pictures of it to post up on "my watch collection". buttoned it all up, pulled the crown to set it - the crown came right out. i can't tighten the screw to lock it in. the watch runs beautifully, but i can't set it. i think i'm gonna back slowly away from the desk so no other watches get hurt. believe me, i can do some damage.

Husband does Accutron repairs and needs a tool: two long wires, one yellow and one blue attached to a small disc that has a plus and minus on the disc. Can anyone help?