I'm so sad with my MS cleaning/oiling results!

[aac58 9]

Yes I am sad. So far I have only serviced two mainsprings, but they ended to be worse than before.

I open the barrel of my Seiko 70xx watch, take the spring out carefully and then I use a piece of paper sinked on naphtha to clean the old oils. Then I use another piece of paper sinked on IPA to rinse the spring. And then a third piece of paper with some drops of 8200 to oil it.

I clean the barrel and arbor in the ultrasonic, also using naphtha and then IPA. Dry it properly and apply 4 drops of 8217 grease, in quarters.

Lastly I insert the spring into the barrel, manually, mount the arbor and close the barrel.

The problem is that althoug the watches run with these MS, they run only for a few hours after wearing them all day. The last watch I've serviced only runs for 4 or 5 hours, sometimes less than that, so I've replaced the barrel complete with an old one, not serviced, and now the problem is gone, so no doubt the fault is mine.

I guess the spring is slipping inside the barrel. Is 4 drops of 8217 too much? How do you oils mainsprings?

[Nucejoe 338]

Roughen up barrel's inside wall with fine sandpaper.

[watchweasol 70]

As Nucejoe says roughen up the barrel walls, I would use a fine wet/dry paper used with a bit of oil probably finer than 120 grit, maybe 240 just to take the polish off the walls

[rogart63 677]

I have problems with 7 series mainspring also . I only oil the barrel walls with 8217 very little. 

[meanoldmanning 6]

I have problems with 7 series mainspring also . I only oil the barrel walls with 8217 very little. 

 

Same here. I have found if I use as much 8217 7 series as I do in a 6 series barrel I can’t get more than 3 or so turns before the spring slips. So I barely use any on these.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[matabog 174]

maybe one needs a new MS, maybe the bridle lost it's hardness. 

Use the old MS instead, the one that works.

I don't think making the MS wall more rough is a good idea (in time)....

 

What is the amplitude of the watch when the MS slips?

 

[aac58 9]

Yes, roughing it lost me a bit as I don't see the point to doing it and oiling at the same time  It can be a technique of course, but I haven't heard of it before. The MS/barrel set was working before I put my hands on it 

Next time I'll put just one drop of 8217 instead of four.

About the amplitude, I don't know, I do not have a timegrapher yet.

[oldhippy 1,570]

 

First of all Seiko barrels where made so as not to be opened. You were supposed to replace the complete unit every (I think) 5 or 7 years. Now parts are become obsolete, it is common practise to clean and lubricate the mainspring.  If you can clean the all the barrel parts including the mainspring in your watch cleaning machine. Never stretch out the spring and clean it by hand. This can cause the spring to become weak. If you do not have a watch mainspring winder, you can put the spring back by hand. Use tissue paper so your fingers do not meet with the spring. If it is an auto you should use braking grease not oil on the spring and inside the barrel. The only place to use oil is where the arbor makes contact with the barrel.

[aac58 9]

Thank you oldhippy, I basically comply with what you're saying. 70xx barrels complete are no longet available, so we have to open them, or I tought I had to open and clean it. Everything by hand, using gloves but no estrapada involved as I don't have one, but I've seen lots of videos doing it just by hand. I don't think I've bended the spring or damaged it, but of course it's always a possibility.

I've oiled the spring itself with Moebius 8200 grase, the barrel/arbor friction area with HP 1300 oil and the barrel wall with 8217 which is a braking grease. I want to keep trying servicing those springs, but I'm going to rest for a few weeks.

[saswatch88 47]

On 6/14/2019 at 6:19 AM, oldhippy said:

 

First of all Seiko barrels where made so as not to be opened. You were supposed to replace the complete unit every (I think) 5 or 7 years. Now parts are become obsolete, it is common practise to clean and lubricate the mainspring.  If you can clean the all the barrel parts including the mainspring in your watch cleaning machine. Never stretch out the spring and clean it by hand. This can cause the spring to become weak. If you do not have a watch mainspring winder, you can put the spring back by hand. Use tissue paper so your fingers do not meet with the spring. If it is an auto you should use braking grease not oil on the spring and inside the barrel. The only place to use oil is where the arbor makes contact with the barrel.

 I work a lot on seikos and old hippy is right,  for the 70XX series you can buy the MS and barrel separate now and i have never seen them sold complete. but good servicing practice is to replace the MS, esp if its been 3+ years since the last service. breaking grease is a must, i only use 8217 on manual winds. kluber makes an excellent breaking grease but cost about $65 a worthy investment if plan on working on more automatics. I dont however agree with hippy on using breaking grease on the spring, i havent heard of this before and i would imagine could decrease your amplitude, but then again old hippy knows his stuff so i could be wrong here.

also i recommend using a MS winder for sure, you can easily warp an MS when hand winding it, and that could also cause a decrease in wind down time and amp. clean the mainspring with a dry cleaner or ultrasonic, the only time you should stretch is when applying the grease. as far as sanding goes never done it and never plan to but thats not to say it wont work.