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Help with 7S26 diagnoses


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Hi all, i have no experience repairing watches but I am a pretty hands on and mechanical guy. I am looking for some advice for my Seiko SNZG15, 7s26 movement. It's a pretty cheap watch so I have a feeling it might not be worth taking to a professional to repair. I will explain what happened and I hope that someone here can offer some advice.

I have worn the watch for three years straight. I was taking it off the other night and it slipped out of my hand and hit the floor face down. The Seiko emblem bent out from the face with the S still flush on the face and the o sticking out a bit, just enough to interfere with at least the hour hand. It's still ticking fine, but in my foolish curiosity I attempted to adjust the time. I don't remember which hand, but one of them came into contact with the emblem and got hung up. I was able to free it, but damage had already been done. Now I can't really adjust the time and the hour and minute hands are out of sink. When I turn the crown the hands don't move hardly at all, if any.  I'm thinking that since it is still ticking and keeping time that the actual movement is okay, but maybe some gears related to adjusting the time are damaged. Any thoughts? Can you even get replacement parts for this movement? I have watched some of the videos on this movement and I think that if it were the gears under the calendar and date wheels I might be able to replace them and just remove the emblem.

Thanks,

Eric

IMG_20171215_213132_01.jpg

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This is a simple movement to work on and while spares are available it may be easier to buy a used movement. The problems with the hands not moving could just be they need to be re-seated.

Check out Mark's video..most of the information you will require is here. Check back here if there's anything you need clarification on.

For the Seiko badge, if it is bent you will need to remove the badge, straighten it then re-install. The badge has two feet visible from the back of the dial.. you can poke it with a needle and the badge will come off.  You can't really bend it back while its still on the dial because it will spring back up. Once its flat, put it back in place and seal the pins in with some super glue. Let it dry overnight as the glue will give off gasses which will cloud the crystal.

Good luck

Anilv

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Further to the above, bond the pins with tiny spots of glue applied with the end of a needle, to the ends of the logo pins from the rear of the dial. Do not bond it directly to the front, as the glue will show and ruin the dial. Use just enough glue to make a solid bond, but remember, you may need to remove it again if things are not perfect. Acetone will remove superglue, but use with care, as it will also remove or damage many dial finishes.

The outgassing of superglue is a major issue when using it around anything transparent, near optical components and on some polished finishes.

I tend to use something a little slower curing if there is any risk of messing up glass or polished surfaces. Two part epoxy, and UHU, will also work, though they are more difficult to work with. They have the advantage/disadvantage (depending on the application) of much longer set up and cure times.

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Thank you all for your input! It seems that the hands needed to be reseated as anilv suggested. I simply removed the badge for the time being and I'm not sure if I'll put it back on our not. It was a pretty stressful task having the watch taken apart even to the small extent that I did! The watch is now running really fast, gaining 5 minutes a day. Does it just need to be regulated? Or is that an indication that something else could be wrong?

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It is possible that the regulator was moved when the watch was dropped resulting in a change in the rate or even the beat. Another possibility is the hairspring has escaped from the regulator but this would usually result in a bigger variance.

Anyway, wear it for a while before you attempt to fix the rate.

Anilv

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  • 2 weeks later...

I wore the watch for two weeks and it was consistently gaining 5 plus minutes per day. Before I dropped it, it would gain about 40 seconds per day. I attempted to regulate it last night using the clock tuner app on my phone and a microphone. When I moved the regulator counter clockwise it gained time in what seemed to be a normal rate and form. When I moved it clockwise it reacted in a similar way up to a point, losing time until about +4 minutes a day. Beyond that point, still moving the regulator clockwise, it jumped to nearly +20 minutes per day and the graph suddenly went erratic. Picture attached. In all these adjustments I moved the regulator only in about a 30-45 degree range total. My initial thought is that something in the movement is broken and this $130 usd watch is scrap. Any thoughts?

Screenshot_20190724-095618.jpg

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On 7/9/2019 at 10:47 PM, anilv said:

Problem with two-part epoxy is that its quite thick, this may affect the operation of the day-wheel. Super glue will 'wick' into the joint. 

Anilv

 

Try thinning with alcohol.  The purer the better.  Old modelers trick!

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4 hours ago, ESB said:

I wore the watch for two weeks and it was consistently gaining 5 plus minutes per day. Before I dropped it, it would gain about 40 seconds per day,

That's not a good application which  you're using. You need  a proper timegrapher application that shows amplitude and pattern. Otherwise a physical timegrapher is not terribly expensive. Unfortunately when it come to mechanical watches you've to get yourself equipped. 

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When you move the regulator it is very possible to move the stud carrier and thereby upset the beat of the watch.

The stud carrier is the one that holds the end of the hairspring. If it has moved the 'tick' and 'tock' will not balance and the watch will run poorly (if at all). The regulator adjusts the effective length of the hairspring.

I'm not sure how you app works but if it identifies each beat they should be balance. If it is not trying moving it a bit to see if that helps.

Another thing that can happen is the hairspring can get trapped by the regulator pins and is pulled in one direction.. this will close the coils until they touch and will drastically affect the rate (fast/slow). You need to examine the balance carefully to see if this is the case.

Anilv

 

 

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Another thing I just remembered.. the regulator pins on the 7S26 are adjustable, in/out in relation to the balance pivot and the regulator pins can be moved to reduce the gap between the pins.

Not something that will move under normal handling so don't touch this.

Anilv

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