Newbie from Turkey - Omega 552 first question :)

[kaan]

Hi everyone,

I'm a newbie from Turkey, watch enthusiast

I hate automatic watches, I believe it's 99% a useless gimmick, an unneccessary complication, I think it only makes sense with screw down crowns, I'd rather have a slimmer/simpler watch and enjoy winding it directly - recently re-sparked my interest in watches by buying a Tisell Miyota Pilot, first think I did was to remove the winding weight - converted the watch from a noisy/flimsy thing to a rigid/joy to wear device

Recently started buying defunctional vintage watches to learn basic servicing to be able to maintain my watches

Originally I was going to practice on simpler hand winding movement, like the Omega 620, which is cheap and easy to find, but because of this coronovirus stuff, couldn't yet import them

Today I received and opened up an Omega 552, from a 166.022 - I love the case, so I decided to endure the auto movement

Anyway, the crystal was cracked, maybe pre-broken, as I used a metal latch tool. I cracked the crystal, not the front part, but just part of the edge, should've read this forum first and applied the syringe air pushing method, since I believe it was pre-broken, I'll attempt to glue it and use the crystal anyway - maybe the previous opener of the watch just re-inserted the crystal that way

Onto the good stuff, my approach to watch servicing will be disassembly, ultrasonic cleaning, re-assembly with minimal lubrication - so I started by removing the winding mechanism, and the tiniest of screws fell onto my hand - and with the auto winding mechanism removed, and this small screw outside the movement, the movement started working again!

(The damage to the dial was pre-done, I'm a newbie hobbyist, whoever tried to yank that dial out of the movement/case, was probably sub-human :)

My question(s): 

1) Is this small screw from this movement / could it be the reason the movement wasn't running, maybe it was yanked in somewhere?

2) Do you guys think I can / should just re-assemble the watch without the auto winding mechanism? I don't enjoy it, and since the watch started ticking without it, I thought I could just re-assemble it and give it a go, without risking things with my amateur involvement (this is the cleanest vintage watch movement I've ever seen, no dust/buildup inside etc.)

Worst case scenario, I was going to buy a replacement movement, but hopefully not needed

[jdm]

11 minutes ago, kaan said:

Originally I was going to practice on simpler hand winding movement, like the Omega 620, which is cheap and easy to find, but because of this coronovirus stuff, couldn't yet import them

Today I received and opened up an Omega 552, from a 166.022 - I love the case, so I decided to endure the auto movement

 

Good that these are cheap for you, because it is not so here. Since a mechanical men's Omega is always a minimum of a couple hundreds Euro no matter what model and conditions, and parts may be difficult and expensive to find and import,  I trongly recommend that you start learning on sothing really  cheap, like some Russian, Japanese or even Swiss that you can find locally for 15 Euro each and are almost working.

I know well that as a beginner you are eager to start working  on the same pieces that yuo also like to collect and wear, but the chances that you will get everything right at the first attempt are very low.

[Nucejoe]

Welcome to the forum.

Removal of the auto winder is alright, it would be a more reliable piece.

Normally a screw loose inside the movement lodges some where and stop the movement, you should find where it goes and put it back as the part it used to hold down may come loose too causing new issues. 

Good luck

[oldhippy]

That long screw could be one of the dial screws, check where the dial feet fit into the movement and look on the side of the movement

[kaan]

It is much much much tinier than the dial screws, it's so tiny that even if I found where it goes, I won't be able to screw it in, because I don't have a screwdriver such a tiny head

I checked with a loupe but I can't find any other such small screw

[kaan]

In the meantime I attached the broken glass part with an uv resin, hoping my old violet laser is able to cure that resin and the resin is actually something meaningful, it could only be for basic crafting purposes, haven't tried before

Really excited to get things back together and see whether it keeps time, but waiting for the movement to unwind, probably tomorrow

[JohnR725]

It would be helpful to have a picture of the backside of the movements? 

One of the places you'll find it really thin screw is for the Regulating the watch. I found a picture online and circled where the screw should be.

 

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&0&2uswk&Omega_552

[watchweasol]

Welcome to the forum Kaan,  I have attached the tech sheet for the omega 552, might give you a clue as to where the screw came from,   By the way i would leave the rotor on the watch  it was designed to work that way and if you should decide to sell it at some point its some what de valued with bits missing.     cheers

365_Omega 552 NewLR (1).pdf

[kaan]

It is indeed exactly that screw, thank you @JohnR725

Unsure where to go from here, is it a sign that the bore is worn out and the screw will fall back again?

I guess I'll try how it inserts when the winding power is gone

Edit: And thank you @watchweasol

[kaan]

Assembled the watch today, running good, it will lose ~20 seconds a day if I calculated correctly (~50 hour power reserve as advertised)

My head doesn't really computer watch dynamics yet, do I fasten/insert the regulator screw to make the watch run faster, or do I relax it, maybe remove the screw altogether again?

[JohnR725]

It would be really nice if you had one of the Chinese timing machines relatively cheap and it would come in handy right about now. Either the Chinese 1000 or the 1900 with the nicer bigger screen would be fine. It would also be nice to have a picture of the exact condition your watches in specifically over the balance assembly.

This watch has what I call a floating regulator and a floating stud. That means both of them are movable putting the watch back in beat without a timing machine will just skip over that one. Then ideally the way it would've done this is to put the regulator pointer as it's called in the parts list I'm attaching  Back in the middle. That way it have a plus or minus micro adjustment. Then the regulator itself that's the part that the hairspring goes through is movable without moving the pointer. But since are really close just moved the regulating pointer with the screw farther away from where the screw came in in other words when the screw is out it's at the maximum slowness. So you want to move in the other direction just a little bit.

365_Omega 552 NewLR cousins UK.pdf

[Nucejoe]

5 hours ago, kaan said:

Assembled the watch today, running good, it will lose ~20 seconds a day if I calculated correctly (~50 hour power reserve as advertised)

My head doesn't really computer watch dynamics yet, do I fasten/insert the regulator screw to make the watch run faster, or do I relax it, maybe remove the screw altogether again?

Longer hairspring slows down the watch, shorter speeds it up. Same with pendelum on clocks.  

Newtonian physics shows, that period of oscillation is a function of the pendelum length.

The screw is not your regulator, rather a micro-regulator. You can advance or retard the regulator arm independant of the micro  regulator.

[kaan]

I know the physics, yet, when it comes down to it, like I mentioned, I don't have the layout of the spring imagined, so it's unclear which direction increases or decreases the spring

Thanks, I didn't know about the coarse regulation

Would appreciate directional help about both regulators

I guess for the coarse one, if it's moved towards the center of the movement, it seems to shorten the spring and fasten the movement?

[Nucejoe]

As you move the regulator arm towards the stud, you would increase the active length of the hairspring which slows down the rate ( runs slower).

[kaan]

I understand, thank you - No need to get passive aggressive

Any insight on the fine adjustment?

(I maybe googled this subject 3-4 times in the past too, hard to stumble on infographics, usually always theory - if someone just drew directions on a couple of example movements and marked "slower"/"faster" - that would've saved us all some time I guess )

[Nucejoe]

Coarse regulation is done just like normal, as if there were no fine regulator, once you get to within twenty seconds, fine regulator gives you more control underatndably its action is one of micrometer.

[Nucejoe]

20 minutes ago, kaan said:

I understand, thank you - No need to get passive aggressive

Any insight on the fine adjustment?

(I maybe googled this subject 3-4 times in the past too, hard to stumble on infographics, usually always theory - if someone just drew directions on a couple of example movements and marked "slower"/"faster" - that would've saved us all some time I guess )

True, a picture is really worth a thousand words.

[kaan]

At first coarse adjustment, I had +10 seconds at 3 hours

At the secondary adjustment, I got -27 seconds at 4 hours

I feel like buying a Timegrapher

[watchweasol]

hi kaan   If you have a pc  and a handy with a soldering iron then have a look at the Watch-O-Scope soft ware it is designed to run on the PC  but you need to build a microphone stand and amplifier.  All instructions etc are supplied in the download and it works 

[kaan]

Thank you @watchweasol - I appreciate that suggestion more than you can imagine

I really hate buying tools that take too much space and I don't need 100%, I'll attempt the DIY route first

[watchweasol]

Hi Kaan    I Have build the kit required no problem,  The trial version  (lite) works ok but there is no print facility.  The full license for the full version is $40 US which is a life time license and has all the items available..  tried and tested