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I've been working on a couple of Accutron watches all this week. Both of them are non-runners from a watch lot I bought last year. Both of them qualify for the 404 club. The first is a 218. The caseback wS missing and a whole lot of stuff got in. The coils tested ok but I suspect the transistor is the culprit. I am planning on replacing it with a 2N2222, SOT23 transistor. The second one is an Accuquartz 224. There is a hum when I tested it but the hands won't move. I've cleaned up both movements but I just figure out how to get the capped jewels out. They look like novodiac type jewels but are so tight that the ring doesn't turn. I need the help of you Accutron experts out there. Is there a special tool needed for these?

From a recent junk watch lot from eBay, I found a ladies Accutron watch. I was expecting a ETA quartz movement inside but to my surprise and delight, it's an actual tuning fork watch. But my delight quick turned to disappointment when I discovered that someone jammed in a wrong size battery in. The battery is so huge that it has deformed the forks to the maximum limit. I tried prying it out but it's really stuck fast. Does anyone have the service manual for a ladies Bulova 2210 movement? I have to figure out a way to get the battery out without causing further damage. Thanks in advance.

I just acquired this tester and want to use it as a general tool working on quartz watches. 1) Does anyone have the schematic of the tester because I may want to mod it? 2) Can anyone tell me what is in that accessory puck that I am pointing to? @JohnR725must surely have the answer to both of these questions!!

Hello everyone, I hope this finds you all well! So a friend of mine picked up a non running Accutron 214 and asked me to have a look at it for him. I’ve worked on a few in the past but this one is giving me some trouble. The watch hums nicely but when I look at the indexing mechanisms something seems a little off. I’ve been going through Henry Frystak’s tutorials about indexing and also have compared it to some of my personal Accutrons and something doesn’t look right. The jewels are extremely close to each other compared to watches I have and videos I’ve watched. Also, the springs, if possible seem long? In Frystak’s videos he mentions that both springs should have a slight bend in them when not in contact with the index wheel, but be flat when in contact with it. If these springs would be flat they would be really high on the wheel. From what you see in the picture, is this something that can still be adjusted or is something else going on here? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

Hello everyone! So I've picked up a Accutron 214 non runner and decided to have a go at servicing it to see if I can bring it back to life. I own a few accutrons but have never gone this far into one before. So after cleaning and inspection I have found the 4th wheel has some damage. Doing a little research, it looks as though the 214 and 218 4th wheels have the same part number. Before ordering one for a 218, I was just wondering if anyone can confirm that they are the same?

Hello, I am working on an Accutron Astronaut and after putting it back together, (cased up) I notice it hums, (doesn’t hack) and the minute and hour hands don’t move... everything was looking good during the overhaul. Paul and index line up how they should, the tuning fork vibrates the coils are good. Can anyone with more experience on these help me out? Please and thanks.

Good afternoon everyone. I have a great project, however my skills and knowledge on the subject are limited. Let's say that I inherited from a relative of mine, my father's brother, a watchmaker, this beautiful machine from about 1974. Although it is very well cared for, it does not work. I have inspected and I think the problem is with a zener diode (BZY92C10). Or a pair of transistors that activate the solenoid that hits the cylinder with the helical track that prints the succession of points. PCB1. The side tracks is rotate to match PCB 2 Is rotate o mirror to match The motor turns and the paper strip advances. But the characteristic sound of the impression tapping is not heard. In fact I was able with the help of a tip to check current of 12-24 volts, I could see that at the output to the printer / solenoid, a pulse corresponding to the beat of the clock is generated. But it seems that the current is not enough to drive the solenoid coil. The solenoid coil works if I activate it with a 9 volt battery. In other words, you can hear the “click”. If any of you wish to join me in this project, I would greatly appreciate his help. Thanks

Ok. Working on a 214 tuning fork astronaut! I am getting dizzy trying to fix this one. I lack the experience on tuning fork watches. So my big question is what is affecting the gears from rotating on the dial side. After I install hands? The cannon piñion rotates well on its own, the minute wheel will rotate if added, then after I put the minute bridge on it will stop, but this isn’t happening with a different bridge(without hack) a lot shorter bridge just covers minute and setting wheels. So that’s how I have it on now, saw rotation of gears, got excited so I dialed up and installed hands, watch buzzes the second hands spins, but the hour and minute hands don’t move... so my quiestions are as follows. specific to astronaut model only 1. Does it matter if I use regular 214 minute bridge? 2. What causes the rotation of dial side to seize, when the stem hasn’t even been installed? If the hack is missing ( watch can’t be hacked) correct? if stem is out of the casing, it can’t be the stem! Right? I am sure I am overthinking. Your help is appreciated. TIA Ps. I did replace the centre second pinion jewel with new shatton.

Can anyone clarify if this is a genuine or conversion? I'm thinking of buying it..... serial number 1-714271 M9 I have no reason to doubt the seller, it all seems legit but someone might say otherwise! Lee

Well I finally did it. Dug out the old Hamilton with its demised 500 movement and modified it--just a bit! but not with a 667 Hamilton to make 'Pacermatic' oh no, much more fun with a tuning-fork movement, still 'electric' and still a revolutionary movement, with that graceful seconds hand flow motion. Go Quartz?--You Must be joking! The original 500 movement had broken trip/contact wires, and try as I did, cant find any anywhere. Looks like they went unobtainium sometime last century! I recently got hold of a mens Accutron, I had thought was a 2180, but turned out to be the smaller 2301 so-called, ladies movement in the mens case with a substantial brass spacer-ring. This movement is just a fraction bigger than a British penny, runs at 480Hz with 240 tooth Index-wheel but unlike the other ladies Accutron this caliber has a seconds hand. I dismantled both watches. The coil was dead in the Accutron, so I sourced another complete working watch for £20--Bargain! I serviced the first movement then borrowed the coil from the worker fitted it, where it ran under a glass in its holder for a couple of weeks. I used the now coil-less worker movement as a template for my experiments. I examined the Hamilton movement ring. This part has two projections that serve to retain the battery overhanging the side of the 500 movement, so these would need to be removed. A small grinder took care of that. I now had a more or less round hole in the Hamilton spacer-ring, into which I hoped to fit the Accutron brass spacer. The Accutron spacer was just a little too big, so I reduced its external diameter a little until it fitted the Hamilton ring. I lined up the stem slots and roughly held in position with rodico. fitted the template movement in the middle then came the dial. Here I had a problem. The feet were exactly in line with the outer diameter of the Accutron movement and the inner diameter of Accutron spacer-ring--Bugger, they had to go, which is a shame as I had wanted to retain them, hoped to drill the spacer-ring to accept them, it was not to be! So,--Off they came and the dial feet stumps ground down flush. Again with Rodico (love that stuff!) held the dial to the combo spacer-ring then offered it all into the front case half. Snapped the back on and checked for position of stem hole in movement to case--Amazingly, it was a straight clear shot right into the movement, so I tried the Accutron stem, all good! Out it all came again, so cleaned everything and securely soldered both the spacer-rings together, making one solid part. I then fitted the running movement to the spacer combo after flux and excess solder removed, and reattached the dial with a small amount of double-sided tape, that strong very thin stuff. Only issue now was the hands. The original Hamilton ones are all too big for the Accutron movement, so until I find a solution, I took the original straight gold hands from the mens donor Accutron and cut them to size, fitted them and reassembled back to the case. If you didnt know what a Hamilton Ventura or Pacer is supposed to look like, I guess you wouldnt tell, Its not too bad. The stem proved a Lot easier than I first thought. I shortened the mens case stem and again surprisingly, the Hamilton crown fitted perfectly. Its running now and will take some pics when I strip it all out again to clean the case and crystal, but its nice to wear this frankenstein love-child of two arch rival American watch makers.... --It even has kept time more or less to the second too! Anyone any ideas how I can source or modify hands to fit the Accutron movement so to re gain its correct appearance?

I understand this seems to be a common problem related to the canon. Does anyone have any advice or a link to a manual or diagram that can explain how to fix this? the watch gums fine and when setting it the hour and minute hands move correctly.

Hi all.. I recently purchased the above watch with 221 movement for my daughter. Everything works, but as expected it runs fast. Does anyone know of anyone in the UK that can sort this out? It's a lovely, clean example that should be worn (if it can tell the time) Thanks in advance

I bought a fully restored Bulova accutron spaceview 214 a couple of months ago. A beautiful watch with an amazing history. The hands started to fail by not turning, and once i give it a small shake, it starts working again. Even though the hands stop moving, i can still hear it humming. I thought it might be the battery dying, so i changed it with the recommended accucell-1 1.35 silver oxide battery. Unfortunately as before i face the same problem again, it works for a couple of hours and then it just stops until i give it a light touch or shake. I would appreciate it if you could help shed some light on this issue and how i can go about resolving it, thank you.

In 2011, while still in college, I was watching modern marvels one Sunday, and a short segment about the Accutron came on. I was intrigued, yet never really was a watch person. I saved up and bought a 214 hope it to later convert it to a Spaceview. Since then I have been repairing all types of watches, especially Accutrons. My most recents are an Electroquartz and Ultraquartz. I have no formal training, but love new challenges. If you ever have Accutron questions, I may be able to answer them! Can’t wait to be a part of the forum! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This was an odd repair. Had a screw loose within the movement from the rotor gear plate. It was jammed under the Balance wheel preventing it from moving and likely would shake loose from time to time. I got it out and screwed it back in place: correctly and sealed the back and cleaned it up. Ready and working. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I've owned this "Accutron" branded chronograph for quite a few years. It's had numerous battery replacements. Last years, I the 1/100 hand stopped resetting (the other hands reset fine). Last month, it stopped completely and I thought that the battery was dead. I put in a new battery and it is still dead in the water. This blog entry about the watch says is uses the ETA 251-282 movement https://robswatches.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/bulova-chronograph-2006/#comment-648 From what I find, that movement does not have a date. Some pictures of my movement, which appears to read 251-292 I've found two similar movements: http://www.startimesupply.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=ETA251292-4S&Category_Code=09-Movements And http://www.startimesupply.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=ETA251294-4A&Category_Code=09-Movements Will either work? Star Time Supply won't sell to a hobbyist, is there another retailer that sells this movement? I found this one on Ebay, sold by a Greece seller. It does have the date at 4 O'clock: https://www.ebay.com/itm/ETA-251-292-Genuine-Movement-251-292-Quartz-251292-Date-at-4-white-dial-NEW/263427762010?hash=item3d5584a75a:g:NtYAAOSwHm5ZtpAJ I know the watch doesn't have great monetary value, but it was gift from my wife, so it has sentimental value Any advice is appreciated!

I'd like to share a couple of watches I recently acquired ...... The first is a 1961 Hamilton T-403 Automatic . I had been on the lookout for this one for quite a while as they don't come up for sale very often . This one may be only the 1st or 2nd I've seen offered . It was offered by a professional watchmaker with 25 years at the bench , so the movement has been serviced by him . The case is a Gold filled Asymmetric design and I have seen this model referred to as the Shark owing to the fins of the case design . According to the seller , the watch came to him missing the crown so it has a generic replacement . The hour and minute hands are original . but the second hand was gold and "all - over wrong " in his words , so he replaced it with a second hand as close as possible to the original . The acrylic crystal is new . The movement is the same as used in Hamilton's Thin-O-Matic models , using a micro rotor for reduced Thickness . The dial is a gorgeous original finish with , un-noticeable really , a few tiny dots here and there . The Watch : Next is a beautiful 1965 14K and Stainless Steel Bulova Accutron 214 model watch . As soon as I saw it offered I knew I wanted to claim it , so I upped my Max Bid 3 times . It is a 100% original , fully serviced watch that the seller offered as a Solid Yellow 14K and Stainless 2-tone watch . I asked the seller why he offered it as 14K solid gold . His response was that the gold on the bezel is 14K solid Gold ,....So I dunno ?? Anyway ,....I had to have this beauty , and luckily for me , the bidding was not heavy . So here it is....

Hi all, It's been a while since I posted anything here but tonight I was working on a watch and I thought there might be some interest in looking at it. The customer said the second hand would move but the hour and minute hands wouldn't. Usually that means the minute wheel assembly has became worn however today that part had became seized onto the center tube. Anyway I took a picture of what is under the dial of a 218 in case there was any interest. Notice the three springs that are laying about. The first time I tried working on one of these I lost every one of those things and maybe some of the other parts as well. I told my wife it was like trying to bait a mouse trap after you had already cocked it. Anyway I have this watch going now and here's what it looked like before. Charles K

Hi gang, it's been way too long since my last post. Been a busy Summer! I have mt grandfathers Accutron and it looks like the original or maybe second battery is as long as he wore it (circa 1970). The movement looks very clean and free. I'm a little hesitant to just plop a battery in without cleaning as Im reading that any abnormal resistance in the gear train could damage the ratchet wheel or even knock the tiny pawl and pusher jewel into oblivion when the fork starts. I have not serviced one of these but I did watch some factory videos. Interesting movements, but that ratchet mechanism makes me nervous, yikes! Chad Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

The post office just delivered this Astronaut ll . I got it to compliment my collection of my two other Bulova Astronauts . Bulova has seen to install three different types of movements for each . My first Astronaut is a vintage Accutron with the 214 Tuning fork movement . My second is the Automatic Buzz Aldrin signed limited edition version . And my latest is the Astronaut ll with the Very accurate Precisionist movement ,...what a smooth second hand . Here's a look at the second hand's sweep...... I chose the economical blue model with the blue textured leather strap because of its simplicity that seems to highlight the smooth second hand's sweep . Not a bad price at all.... And you have an option . Black dial and SS coffin link bracelet ,...at yet another deal.... From 2014... And the Watch...

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!

Aloha All , Here's a trio of Accutrons I just received . I got the "Bowtie" in one auction and the other two watches in another... First off is the Accutron Bowtie...it's stamped M7 on the back which dates it at 1967 . It was running when I received it but have not yet removed the case back to check things out so I'm not really sure what the movement # is , but it is a date only . It has the tuning fork second hand . I had a new Accutron Teju Lizard strap that I installed on it ,... the strap has a gold Tuning fork emblem on it . It's a Long size and a bit too long for me so I am going ask an acquaintance that works with leather if he can size it for me . It's nice . Next is a really nice looking Woman's Accutron . Gold with a metallic Orang y dial with Gold indexes , and a 10K gold filled case . It has a snap on case back and is stamped N2 which dates it to 1972 . It was advertised as a mans watch ,...but it's not . The mesh band is part of the watch and not installed with spring bars . It has a 2183 movement ,...no day/date and no second hand . Last but not least is a kind of different character . I think it does not have the original case back as it does not have the date stamp that I can see and is stamped Swiss on the inside of the case back . It has the 2182 day/date movement with USA stamped on it , but it is skewed so that the stem is at 3 o'clock instead of 4 o'clock....this movement was probably re-cased . It has an accutron dial but there are a couple of small letter "T"'s by the 6 o'clock index . Still , it is a nice watch ,....a bit larger than other Accutrons .

I just picked up this Accutron last weekend at an estate sale. This is my first and have a question. It is not running and I'm assuming the battery needs replaced of which I have ordered. It is a 218 movement. Am I OK to just install the battery and see if it works or should I completely service it before installing the battery? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hello, I am new at this forum, and I have a question right at start. I have got an accutron for a year, and I looked into it with a microscope first time (only with loupe earlier). I found out that fingers are dirty, looks like oxidation. I put photo of them. Is it possible to clean them without disassembling the movement? I have read that someone has applied naphta to the index wheel while running... Thanks in advance for help! BR Jukka