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Ive made up a variable PSU just for the job, from 0 to 2.5V. It uses a precision voltage regulator and a multi-turn pot, a 30uA Ammeter and a LED Voltmeter. It is supplied by a 7.2V battery of two 18650 rechargeable cells. Ive not tested how long it would supply a movement considering the batts supply the LED voltmeter as well, but I expect a couple of weeks would be possible on a single charge. Most of the parts I had hanging round. The voltmeter on it is for monitoring the supply sent to the movement, so apart from checking cells--its somewhat better than an Accutron tester, as its continuously variable supply from 0 to 2.5V, great for finding the Lowest Phase voltage at which a movement will run that I find Much more accurate for phasing than any other. I do have an Accuton 700 test-set Somewhere, but havent seen it for a while, I must search it out, , the ammeter would be better than the cheapo thing I used in my tester! Thanks to the web, Ive a few manuals on the Accutrons...

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.

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

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....

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?

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

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.

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.

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?

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

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.

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.

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?

My take on this, being an area of personal opinions: Moebius 8200 is for mainspring barrels and has been a long-time standard for manual wind watches. When working with automatic watches you may get better results using Moebius 9020 or Moebius 9141. Moebius 8200 can also be used on stems and winding gears of older manual wind watches. Moebius 8300 is for mainspring barrels and has been a long-time standard for clocks of all sizes. Moebius 8300 is slightly thicker than Moebius 8200 and is used in mainspring barrels of watches when 8200 is deemed too thin. Moebius 8300 can also be used on stems and winding gears of mechanical movements from all sizes from small 5 ligne watch movements to large tower clocks. Moebius 8300 can also be used on winding gears of quartz watches. Moebius 8301 is is a solid grease particularly for winding mechanisms and springs & slip springs. This grease has a wide range of applications. Same as 8300 but with graphite. Also: Moebius 8217 (Glissalube 20) is an anti-sliding grease for the walls of the barrels of automatic watches. Moebius 8201 with Molybdenumdisulphide: Recommended for the Bolova Accutron watch movements, Moebius 8201 is the same as Moebius 8200, however 8201 has some Molybdenumdisulphide added to it. Moebius 8212; for aluminum barrels; strong braking. Moebius 8213; for brass barrels; strong braking. So, the choice is very wide...8200 will do it all if you are not picky! A different way of applying it is normally used -- thicker oil is rubbed, lighter oil is deposited -- in general...nothing is written on stone. Cheers, Bob

Thank You,... I had it on my watch list for a while . Interesting lugs and rotor with 3 Accutron tuning forks .

Very cool, I don't wonder why Bulova wanted to market the Accutron 'brand' with and eta auto, especially a limited edition, nice move Bulova!

this is a great thread. and my methods are similar to most of you guys - especially will's. i never buy with the intention of resale. the only watches that have left my possession have been given away. i'd love to sell to make money, but i'm just not good at it. i rarely buy plated or gold filled. stainless all of the way. however, seeing will's explanation of gold filled watches, i would reconsider them. if i buy a plated watch, it's with the intention of placing the movement into a SS case. automatics and handwinders are neck and neck with me. quartz is almost entirely out of the question - i don't go looking with the intention of buying quartz. although, i do own a few. small watches - i don't buy them because no matter how beautiful they are, i don't like how they look on my wrist and therefore i won't wear them. two of the most beautiful watches i own are bulovas - but they're too small. i've not had them on my wrist. it's interesting to see what the rest of you view as being valuable watches. lately, i'm drawn to bulova, mido, roamer (and i will keep in mind will's tip on pre 70's roamers). these are the mid level swiss watches that are often overlooked. another thing that i'm drawn to is unusually shaped cases. mido makes a sweet oval shaped case, bulova is way out there with some of their stuff - especially asymmetricals. to me, these could hold the most value because you almost never see them on someone's wrist - and they attract the most attention. it's always the round watches that get wrist time. as much as i love seiko watches, i am strongly attracted to swiss movements. therefore the bulova, mido and roamer attraction - and i count accutron in there with the bulovas. i see an omega in my future. just a simple 60's seamaster with date and i'm good. i think you would do well with bulova, roamer, waltham, hamilton, longines and the like. they are the steady eddie of the watch world. just keep away from the midos - i want all of them.

It was a busy weekend , but I managed to give the Seikomatic a Spa treatment . I also installed a watch-strap I had that was too tight so I put a spring-loaded extension link on it . When I took off the case back it had 3 service markings in the inside that were ink stamps . I tried to preserve them but the acetone got to them , probably from my fingers , and they washed off...[darn ]. In saying that I am saying that I haven't done my own service yet , but the movement is running great and keeping good time . I serviced and cleaned another Seiko 5 Sportmatic with a crosshair black dial and got my first non-running Accutron running by taking out the teeney tiny bent index and pawl fingers , straightening them out [similar to a hairspring , only smaller ] , reinstalling and aligning the fingers , putting a new battery in and pushing in the crown to cancel the hack , and did a couple of back-flips when the thing started running . Oh what a feeling .....oh yeah , I also put a new movement in my Seiko Flightmaster chronograph. But back to the 39 jewel Sportsmatic ,...I took a few pics to share .

They made the Accutron Astronaut GMT in the late sixties, it's a collector http://www.mybulova.com/taxonomy/term/333?page=3

I picked these up this year...It was an Accutron , Omega year.... Blue Ripplss.... Constellation.... Seamaster

Howzit ramrod , Happy Holidays to you and all the members . I really do like and wear my Astronaut . Since I bought it I have installed a new crystal and changed out the watch band to a coffin link bracelet that I had on a vintage Seiko DX . I swapped the deployment clasps also . Believe me when I say that I would not dissuade you or anyone from getting a watch that they had their sights on . ...But as far as the Accutrons go , they ARE a different breed . If you decide to get one I suggest that you read up on them first , get one that is running , and know that they are not as easy to work on as say , a mechanical watch or even a Quartz . If you need to get one serviced there are sites [even advertised on Ebay ] , that do a flat rate service for a little under $200 . I am still learning to service them , starting with the 218 model . I have bought and am still buying watches , movements , and parts , running and not , the tools and meters to service them , the tech manuals , and even a new stereo microscope with a camera port and camera so I can see them on my monitor . So far I have about 10 complete working watches , and 2 or 3 works in progress . I even have a Citizen Hisonic which is the same tuning fork movement . FYI , there is also a Bulova Astronaut Limited Edition with a Swiss ETA automatic movement . That one is on my wish list . It has a crystal presentation back and is signed by the Astronaut Buzz Aldrin . A little pricy , but very nice . I hope I shed a little light about these beautiful Accutron movements....

So I have two links with some additional information about the Accucells irst link it's at the bottom of the page. Second link is from the person who is selling these http://members.iinet.net.au/~fotoplot/accbat.htm.. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Accucell-1-Battery-For-Bulova-Accutron-Power-Cell-/231786028602 Then a slightly different link mercury batteries were just a problem for watches their problem for other things. So you read all the way through this or skim through it they do talk about the diodes it might be possible adapt one of their diodes release give you a clue as to what you're looking for. http://www.butkus.org/chinon/batt-adapt-us.pdf Then the original one of these my understanding was they use the resistor to drop the voltage later ones use a Diode. Then the link below is a picture of the internal construction. http://www.accutron214.com/accutronparts/pages/batteries.htm

Hi ramrod , I believe that the only watches that will hum are the tuning fork watches....Bulova Accutron , Citizen Hisonic , Omega f300 , Longines Ultrasonic and others . Most other electrics use a balance and pallet fork to drive gears , therefore tick . I just checked a Hamilton electric I have and it was ticking away as was my Elgin , Gruen , and Timex electrics . The innards of the electrics are interesting to look at , but if not used for a while it seems that they all need a shake back and forth to kick start them . After going through my electric watch phase I think that I'll stick to Accutrons and Mechanicals , although I like the look of the Seiko chronographs . I just don't care for their finicky circuit blocks [circuit boards ] .