Movement id?

[bsoderling]

It’s been a while since I last tempted you with a movement id question, but here we go again...

 

Found this rather unusual movement in an old tank style watch. At first I thought it would be a cheap pin lever but at closer look, it’s a decently jewelled regular swiss lever.

 

Still rather ”cost concious” design, in my eyes. But it actually runs (sometimes and a bit sluggish) so I will put it through the cleaning procedure and see where it ends as the case, dial and hands are in pretty good condition.

 

Curious about the movement though and appreciate any hints.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[AndyHull]

Interesting, it reminds me of some of the more basic Junhans movements.

What size is it?

Are there any numbers under the balance or on any of the plates?

Does the dial give any clues, for example is it Swiss?

[bsoderling]

Junghans may be an alternative to check up on Ranfft.

I measure the dimensions to 26,5 x 20 mm.

I haven’t seen any identifying symbols or numbers so far. If anything shows up during disassembly, I will report back.

The brand name on the dial states ”Nidor” but that’s one of those old names, I see from time to time and it doesn’t say much about the movement inside, or what do you think?




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[VWatchie]

Sorry, can't help you. I wanted these books for a long time and I wouldn't be surprised if you'd be able to identify the movement using them. The books list the movements by size and then have illustrations of the setting lever spring and setting lever to compare with. Unfortunately these books are pretty expensive so I've been hesitant to pull the trigger. @Mark demonstrates them at watchrepairlessons.com (Course 1: "Getting started")

[HSL]

I think Oldhippy put some of those as PDF's on here once maybe they are the same..

 

[oldhippy]

If the links are dead I can always upload them. Just ask. 

[AndyHull]

For what its worth. Nidor.

 

Nidor

Buser & Cie. / Buser Freres & Cie. SA

Uhren, Uhrenteile; Niederdorf, Schweiz; registriert am 7.3.1918

[clockboy]

Thats a new one for me. It did find some movements maked as  "Nidor"  under the trade name of "Buser"

This is one of those watches that you will just have to repair without any manual/tech guidance. However I can not see any obvious way of letting down the mainspring which would be fatal for the watch without this first step. 

[AndyHull]

There are a few Buser movements on 17jewels.info and ranfft.de but none are an exact match.

This is similar in construction but a different shape. -> https://17jewels.info/movements/b/buser/buser-75/

Which suggests it may be a Buser movement, but beyond that, there is little information.

[bsoderling]

Hi all and thanks for all info. Will start to go through it all over the week end.

I have also looked for a way of letting down the m/s. I can see that the ratchet wheel is on the ”wrong” side though. And there seems to be a few Junghans made that way. The Ranfft samples are not identical though, if I look at the bridge designs.

It’s just running as it sits right now so I will let it run out the ”natural” way before attempting anything.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[VWatchie]

2 hours ago, oldhippy said:

If the links are dead I can always upload them. Just ask. 

Yes, the links are dead! Please upload them! 

[AndyHull]

13 minutes ago, VWatchie said:

Yes, the links are dead! Please upload them! 

Try the links in the later post here

 

[AndyHull]

If there are no objections, I can OCR those PDF files to make searchable copies of them.
@oldhippy Let me know if this is OK and I will post them here.

This allows you to do things like search by manufacturers name etc.

Edited April 3, 2020 by AndyHull

[oldhippy]

Sure you can I don't mind. 

[AndyHull]

There is a file size limit on the WRT forum, so I'll need to upload to my google drive and post a public link.
They should be available in about an hour or so. Watch this space.

[Klassiker]

Watchguy UK has already done the work. You can download the PDFs from his site.

[AndyHull]

10 minutes ago, Klassiker said:

Watchguy UK has already done the work. You can download the PDFs from his site.

Their links are here -> https://watchguy.co.uk/cgi-bin/files?subdir=BestFit&dir=Technical Manuals&action=documents
 

I'll post mine if there are any major improvements in my OCR output, or if the copies I have are a different version of the catalogues.

[AndyHull]

There are a few differences.The version I produced does seem to have slightly better OCR indexing.

The Watchguy UK version only finds two instances of Busen for example, but the version I created finds three.

Here is a zip file of the oldhippy version, but with a full OCR search capability.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nJuWyxfnWSl5KoG7RU58knJChg_ZFfdI/view?usp=sharing

Grab both version, and make up your own mind.

[bsoderling]

Thanks for all contribution towards documentation. Will download and I’m sure this will be beneficial to many others as well.

Have started to take the “mystery movement” apart and wanted to share some interior photos. It sure doesn’t look like anything I have encountered before.

For the moment I’m puzzled by the fact that there’s no obvious way to release the winding stem. There’s no corresponding screw or push button on the dial side that would losen the setting lever. Maybe it’s hiding under the “block” holding the keyless parts. But that seems very unintuitive somehow.

Please feedback if the added photos rings a bell with anyone.





Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[VWatchie]

7 hours ago, AndyHull said:

There are a few differences.The version I produced does seem to have slightly better OCR indexing.

The Watchguy UK version only finds two instances of Busen for example, but the version I created finds three.

Here is a zip file of the oldhippy version, but with a full OCR search capability.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nJuWyxfnWSl5KoG7RU58knJChg_ZFfdI/view?usp=sharing

Grab both version, and make up your own mind.

So I would prefer your version! Thank you! However, I was hoping for part 1 and part 2. Both of your files are of part 1. One is named "nopass" and the other "ocr". I don't know if that was intentional or not. Anyway, I am happy with whatever I can get! 

Edited April 3, 2020 by VWatchie

[AndyHull]

9 minutes ago, VWatchie said:

One is named "nopass" and the other "ocr". I don't know if that was intentional or not. Anyway, I am happy with whatever I can get! 

I blame the idiot who created the zip file. In my defence I was sitting in the supermarket car park at the time waiting for my wife to emerge with the groceries. Apparently I'm not to be trusted with that task either.

Give me a few mins and I'll update the file with the correct two parts.

EDIT: Actually give me about an hour or so, my uplink speed has dropped into the glacially slow bracket. I suspect there are too may other self isolating people interwebbing at the moment.

I'll post a revised link once it has uploaded.

Edited April 3, 2020 by AndyHull

[AndyHull]

I suspect you poke a pokey thing in to the hole in the top plate above "A"  and use it to disengage the latch at "B", but you do that *BEFORE* you remove the barrel. Currently everything is being held in place by that spring, and if you touch it at the moment, things may become airborne.

I get the feeling that re-fitting the barrel is going to be interesting. You may need to lower the tension on the spring slightly in order to get that square hole and the round hole behind to align as you refit the barrel. Looks like fun.

Edited April 3, 2020 by AndyHull

[Johnnie]

Can't help Identify the movement, but the first watch I ever owned was a "Nidor vibraflex"  17 jewels. I was 13 and the year was 1966 ! 

[AndyHull]

I think this may be what you are meant to do to let down the mainspring. Not sure if you push down on it, or twist it, but I suspect you press down while holding the crown, and let the crown unwind slowly at the same time, when the click disengages. On the other hand, perhaps you wind the crown slightly, while gripping that peg with your tweezers, then turn the peg a little further in the direction it moves as you wind the crown and the click will disengage.

All of this is fairly academic now, as you have worked around the problem anyway.

Edited April 3, 2020 by AndyHull

[AndyHull]

2 hours ago, AndyHull said:

I'll post a revised link once it has uploaded.

Try this link -> https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XbRtG03Bx-nqcfHBpHDVcTQcoN94HefM

Let me know if you have any problems downloading, or if I have managed to screw up the zip file again.