Click ball trouble!

[Amateurwatchbreaker]

I took my bezel off of my seiko 7548-700f to clean under it and poof! The click ball shot across the room. I am going to get a new spring/ball, but what is the best way to replace the ball? Should I just push it in with a screwdriver or what?

[watchweasol]

Hi  a little grease and plenty of patience.  Work inside a large plastic bag that way if the ball goes AWOL you have the little bugger cornered.   Attached a couple of files you may find of interest.

03. Casing Guide seiko.pdf 3128_Seiko 7548A.pdf

[Amateurwatchbreaker]

10 minutes ago, watchweasol said:

Hi  a little grease and plenty of patience.  Work inside a large plastic bag that way if the ball goes AWOL you have the little bugger cornered.   Attached a couple of files you may find of interest.

03. Casing Guide seiko.pdf 25.09 MB · 0 downloads 3128_Seiko 7548A.pdf 1.36 MB · 0 

Whst grease is best for this?

[watchweasol]

any light grease to aid the bearing and spring  vaseline will do its just to hold the ball in place while you clip the bezel back on 

[Marc]

I have successfully managed to replace these in the past using the ball from the nib of a ballpoint pen and a section of spring scavenged from a spring bar.

[watchweasol]

Now that's improvisation at its best  Great stuff Marc

[bklake]

A ball supplied by Seiko is several $$. You could buy a  bag of 100 1mm stainless steel bearings from Amazon or eBay for the same amount.   Given how easily they launch, do you want just one?

Ball point pen balls are tungsten and rough to hold ink.  They work for awhile until they  cut  groove in the rotating ring.

[Amateurwatchbreaker]

1 minute ago, bklake said:

A ball supplied by Seiko is several $$. You could buy a  bag of 100 1mm stainless steel bearings from Amazon or eBay for the same amount.   Given how easily they launch, do you want just one?

Ball point pen balls are tungsten and rough to hold ink.  They work for awhile until they  cut  groove in the rotating ring.

I am looking at a bag of 7 for 5 dollars on ebay. Didnt know that ballpoint pen balls are tungsten!

[AlexeiJ1]

On ‎4‎/‎5‎/‎2020 at 6:51 AM, bklake said:

A ball supplied by Seiko is several $$. You could buy a  bag of 100 1mm stainless steel bearings from Amazon or eBay for the same amount.   Given how easily they launch, do you want just one?

Ball point pen balls are tungsten and rough to hold ink.  They work for awhile until they  cut  groove in the rotating ring.

This is true if you plan to go diving and use the bezel many times a day. If it is a modern day watch that you probably play with the bezel for fun every 3 weeks - tungsten is fine.

I've replaced a few like that and its fine.

If the postal service wasn't messed up I'd post you a steel ball. Cheers. Alex

[bklake]

I used this search on ebay.  "1mm 316 stainless steel bearing" 

I was wrong,  You can get 1000 for less than $10.  I got robbed on Amazon. 

[Amateurwatchbreaker]

1 hour ago, bklake said:

I used this search on ebay.  "1mm 316 stainless steel bearing" 

I was wrong,  You can get 1000 for less than $10.  I got robbed on Amazon. 

Do the 1mm balls fit exactly?

[bklake]

1mm is the spec often mentioned on Seiko forums.  That is the size I use.  I'm just a hobbyist

Before you get too far, make sure the ball isn't buried in the hole.  They get rusted into place.  You should be able to probe the hole at least a few mm.  The spring may be similarly caked in with crud and rust. 

Finally, the ball will no longer be captured by the crimp. Have fun getting it to stay.  Another reason you buy them by the 100s not singles.  A spring bar spring is not nearly strong enough but it will work.  The Seiko replacement spring is a lot thicker and stronger than you expect to see.