Jump to content

Cheap Chinese Seiko (7S26 C) balances

carlos123

By carlos123
in Watch Repairs Help & Advice

 Share

Recommended Posts

carlos123 Watch Enthusiast

carlos123

Posted
Posted

All,

 

Has anyone had experience of fitting cheaper Chinese (£5ish) balance assemblies in this case the 7S26 C variation and been successful?

 

I went for the cheaper option as the OEM variation seems to be quite difficult to obtain. My experience hasn’t been great, having fitted 4 of the same variation with no luck, for the following reasons:

 

* 2 x wheels were bent at the pivot, one was so extreme it wouldn’t spin at all, whilst the other wouldn’t regulate due to being out of balance.

 

* one regulated ok but later become detached from the stud and therefore stopped completely.

 

* and the last and most recent set up really well +6 s/d and 0.4 beat error and a good trace. After three or so hours jumping to 9.5 beat error and +25ish s/d ish. I left it over night to later find that the hairspring had changed shape jumping to +600ish average and jumping all over the place!

 

It seems like the best of a bad bunch have springs that are too soft?!? Luckily the sellers have been great and send replacements or given a refund so no financial loss, just annoying that my watch is still out of action.

 

I’m no expert, but had some experience with balances as well as regulating with some success with this being a different league.

 

This seems to be an area to avoid!

 

It would be great to know if anyone on here has had any similar stories.

 

Regards

 

Carl

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chopin Super WRT Addict

Chopin

Posted
Posted

Never ordered such parts but I did see them around on chinese websites and I actually wondered whether they're OK.

From your experience they sound like utter crap. Hoping others can chime in... I think I've seen some for ETA as well. I wouldn't be surprised if they were the same thing (more or less).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
carlos123 Watch Enthusiast

carlos123

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Never ordered such parts but I did see them around on chinese websites and I actually wondered whether they're OK.
From your experience they sound like utter crap. Hoping others can chime in... I think I've seen some for ETA as well. I wouldn't be surprised if they were the same thing (more or less).

I’ve even repaired a couple of fake (Turkish) Rolex’s with the cheaper movement and they went great, although I managed to source second hand parts and set up really well. These are not even close!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chopin Super WRT Addict

Chopin

Posted
Posted

I have heard that there are the cheap crappy Rolex fakes and then there are those that have genuine parts in them or have parts made by people that have actually worked for Rolex, possibly, with professional equipment. Coincidentally it was also Turks.

I don't know how yours was but I imagine that there are some out there that are really good and they sell for quite a few hundred $ so I'm not surprised that these Chinese parts are really bad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jdm Distinguished Member

jdm

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, carlos123 said:

Has anyone had experience of fitting cheaper Chinese (£5ish) balance assemblies in this case the 7S26 C variation and been successful?

I was wondering myself and will jave to experiment. Good results from topic below

 

1 hour ago, carlos123 said:

I went for the cheaper option as the OEM variation seems to be quite difficult to obtain

You mean genuine Seiko? Easy to get from Cousins, but much more expensive.

1 hour ago, carlos123 said:

* and the last and most recent set up really well +6 s/d and 0.4 beat error and a good trace. After three or so hours jumping to 9.5 beat error and +25ish s/d ish. I left it over night to later find that the hairspring had changed shape jumping to +600ish average and jumping all over the place!

Check because this is a typical symptom of the HS rubbing somewhere

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
CaptCalvin WRT Addict

CaptCalvin

Posted
Posted

Sounds to me the most likely issue is that the adhesive used to attach spring to stud isn't up to snuff. After removing the last balance, the one you mentioned the hairspring spontaneously deforming, do you still observe the hairspring itself to be out of sorts? Or is it more or less original shape? And if the hairspring is attached at the collet with adhesive as per seiko, chances are it would be with the same adhesive. The adhesive at the stud can be replaced with shellac easily enough, but the procedure isn't so manageable at the collet. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
carlos123 Watch Enthusiast

carlos123

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I finally got round to fitting a “proper” balance and it works great! I was a little worried at first as the timegrapher was showing snow, but managed to regulate it to at one point 2s/d and BE of 0.1 - so well happy [emoji2]

The moral of the story if don’t be tight and get cheaper OEM parts.... [emoji2357]

Thanks for all your input[emoji106]

Regards

Carl


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • AlanB
      Gilding after silver soldering

      By AlanB · Posted

      When faced with say a pocket watch bridge which is cracked, silver soldering to repair is often the only option (hopefully someone wasn't there before hand with soft solder). I can generally do this succesfully and tidily with a small torch and miniscule pieces of silver solder, but on parts which were mercury amalgam gilded the heat can have have a deleterious effect on the finish.   I keep wondering if there's a good way to refinish these - and despite having the needful items would rather avoid using the mercury process.   In the past for electronic work I've gold plated PCBs but this involved gold potassium cyanide solution, which also doesn't realy belong at home. I've read that there are now safer alternatives but couldn't find more detail (and importantly how similar are the results to amalgam gilding, since I wouldn't want to refinish the whole watch). Pointers would be very welcome (and yes, I know solutions containing gold won't be cheap!) Alan
    • Neverenoughwatches
      Can anyone identify what this is? Part Two

      By Neverenoughwatches · Posted

      The first one is an Unruh max stake for pushing out staffs
    • JonC
      Can anyone identify what this is? Part Two

      By JonC · Posted

      Ok so with the great answers for my previous question may I ask what these two attachments are used for. The one with the red knob is I assume used for hand setting the seconds hand? Jon      
    • Zedster
      Roamer Searock Crystal problem

      By Zedster · Posted

      According to Cousins site I need to look at document G22 as I think I need an ATGB at 304 but I cant find this size in G22 doc. The last thing I want to do is order the wrong one😳  Unless I cant see the wood for the trees 😆 I could be looking at the wrong style, I assume its classed as Round plastic Armed  https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/wide-ring-gold-atgb
    • JonC
      Dial feet removal

      By JonC · Posted

      When building a new Watch I have tended to use a file to remove the remnants of dial feet that are not needed as many dials come with four feet to accomodate different movements, but this can be a bit messy so now I use this with a great deal more precision as you can use an appropriate bit for the job and keep it very localised.      
×
×
  • Create New...