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Illinois Pocket Watch running fast

Nobby

By Nobby
in Watch Repairs Help & Advice

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Nobby New Member

Nobby

Posted
Posted

Hi      I am asking for help or advice regarding the following.

I recently purchased a 1872 Illinois currier pocket watch that required a new mainspring,

so I bought an Alloy one from America that is of the same strength

after dissassembly cleaning and assembly the watch gains about 2hrs over a period of 12hrs

I did not had any other problems with reassembly, moving regulator as far as can go to slow

has no effect.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

20200128_142928 (2).jpg

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Nucejoe Distinguished Member

Nucejoe

Posted
Posted (edited)

As noted HS is not concentric, It should also be cleaned and de-magnetized.

You also have several mm of HS and screws on balance for its regulation.

If you have a timegrapher, a reading at low power reserve, like 2  and 5 percent of full wind, gives an idea how responsible the MS is.

Edited by Nucejoe
Sorry, tg readings increasing in increments up to near full
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MIKED19551 Member

MIKED19551

Posted
Posted

Looking at your hairspring I think it has slipped in the stud as it is sticking out way to far from the stud. I have had this happen on one of my pocket watches and it makes timing almost impossible. Slide the hairspring so only a small amount is sticking out of the stud and see what happens. If you have never done this before, it is easy. Just tap the taper pin loose and slide the spring back and reinsert the pin.  

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JohnR725 Distinguished Member

JohnR725

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It would've been better to have a picture of the balance wheel when it's not moving as it makes it hard to see things. It looks like you might be missing timing screws perhaps? You should have pairs of screws one on one side one of the opposite side and they should match. Sometimes one will fall out and that makes the watch run really fast. Then as these are early production watches you will have lots of variations with the quantity of timing screws the length of the hairspring etc.

If you look at the link below you can see other examples of watches like yours. The reason you want to look at the pictures is this is a really early watch and it helps to see examples similar to yours. For instance unlike modern watches that are usually pinned really close to the end of the hairspring these were not. You'll notice quite a few of the watches in the pictures have quite a bit of hairspring stuck out. If you do decide to re-pin the hairspring you will have to put the watch back in beat.  Then look really carefully as you want to make sure the hairspring is flat not touching the balance arms or the balance bridge. 

Then we really need a better picture so I found another link the second link below much better picture. Notice they hairspring is stuck out quite a ways. Then I believe this is a flat hairspring obsession with centering might be an issue. Notice there is very little terminal curve found on modern watches. Usually it's not a problem but if you get carried away with trying to center then the next coil over conceivably will bump into the other side of the regulator pins.

Problems of American pocket watch mainsprings" Originally the Springs came in a variety of strengths for a given size of a manufacturer of a watch. This way a seven jewel watch could have a spring strong enough to run. A jeweled watch could get a weaker spring. But today they've reduce the quantity of Springs down. Then for the same thickness the modern white spring is usually always stronger than the original blued spring.

https://pocketwatchdatabase.com/search/result/illinois/1106

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vintage_Illinois_Springfield_Watch_Co._Pocket_Watch,_Currier_Model,_Hunter_Case,_Coin_Silver,_Key_Wind_%26_Set,_11_Jewels,_Size_18_(14714708570).jpg

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