Omega Geneva chronograph f300hz

[RossUK]

Hi, 

I'm new here. I recently bought this omega f300hz I'm in love with it, apart from a big thing; it doesn't run

I open up the back and there was some corrosion probably from a leaky battery. I removed the green corrosion, but still no luck. Apart from the green corrosion around the battery terminal everything looks good. That extends to my expertise unfortunately. 

I'll post some pictures if your interested. 

 

 

 

[Tudor]

These are awesome movements and they can be repaired (unlike most quartz watches). This is the Bulova tuning fork movement. I have some Bulova info but I don’t think I have any Omega specific info. 
 

Either way, this will need to be torn down completely, because unlike the quartz movements (that aren’t totally dead) more than a mere battery swap is required for resurrection. 

[RossUK]

Thanks for the response. They are fascinating watches for sure.

Is the repair something a beginner can do? 

[Tudor]

I would think not, no. 

[RossUK]

Thanks, I may attempt it anyway 

[nickelsilver]

That is an ESA movement made under license from Bulova. Definitely not for beginners. You can destroy the movement just taking the hands off. Set it aside until you have some experience.

[watchweasol]

Hi  I have attached the tech sheet which I think is your model, If you decide to do it it will give you an idea whats involved.  Personally I would heed Nicklesilvers advise and gain some experience before attempling this one.

ESA 9162.pdf

[RossUK]

Thank you very much for the responses, especially the tech sheet. 

Good idea, I will get some practice and study first.

Any advice on some cheap tool kits to start off, I'm in the UK. 

[jdm]

7 hours ago, RossUK said:

Thank you very much for the responses, especially the tech sheet. 

You have had the right advice above, that is not the right watch to practice on, whatever is it's value it can only lose more in the hands of a total beginner.

7 hours ago, RossUK said:

Any advice on some cheap tool kits to start off, I'm in the UK. 

Cheap kits are to open watch cases, and sometime not even that. 

[Nucejoe]

I repaired a 720 megasonic, found and replaced the faulty part, it ran, couldn't figure out whereto though.

[watchweasol]

Hi  Attached below is a recomendation from one of our members  DrG who took the time to put on paper a list of tools etc.  Most of these can be sourced from the likes of Cousinsuk watch parts or from Ebay AliExpress in the east. If it your intention to enter Horology as a hobby do not waste money on cheap tools as they do not stand the test of time and use. Mid range brands such as A*F  swiss   or french   , Horotec and Bergeon being the top of the range and the dearest. 

1612608791_ToolsfortheHobbyist.pdf

[JohnR725]

10 hours ago, RossUK said:

Thank you very much for the responses, especially the tech sheet. 

Good idea, I will get some practice and study first.

Any advice on some cheap tool kits to start off, I'm in the UK. 

minor problem with the previous tech sheet it appears to be at the parts list only? So I'm attaching the tech sheet at 52 pages you should  breeze through it in no time. then as others have mentioned cheap tools are usually a waste of time.

then in addition to all your regular watch repair tools a few other things are going to be. Nonmagnetic tweezers are very nice. Microscope is a definite must. Some test equipment variable voltage power supply and a meter that can measure microamps. Then they make a special movement holder for working on the watch that's rather nice to have also.

20 hours ago, nickelsilver said:

You can destroy the movement just taking the hands off.

I think that statement is a little bit harsh the movement will survive just fine the index wheel or as they call it click wheel will not survive. then it's not just taking the hands off that will break your index wheel there is a variety of other ways to do it. With the added problem of their really really hard to get if not impossible. There were some on eBay within the last year or so I think there were at least $100 each but conveniently and not seeing any right now.

then some additional information at the link below

http://members.iinet.net.au/~fotoplot/acctechesa.htm

 

 

ESA 9162 Repair Manual.pdf

[RossUK]

Thank you very much. The links are very comprehensive. Will definitely take some studying, and investment in good tools!

Is there a type of movement that I should practice on first?

Also, as the damage appears to be caused by a leaking battery as shown in the picture; in terms of problem finding, would the electronics be a good place to start?

I have gently cleaned the corrosion, but still not life. I tried the trick to give it a strong tap on the side, to see if the movement is in good working order; it jumped maybe a couple of seconds but I couldn't hear a hum or see it move. 

Edited October 6, 2020 by RossUK

[JohnR725]

3 hours ago, RossUK said:

Is there a type of movement that I should practice on first?

Also, as the damage appears to be caused by a leaking battery as shown in the picture; in terms of problem finding, would the electronics be a good place to start?

practice movement is an interesting question in this discussion because ideally you should have hand eye coordination for working on a mechanical watch before you even think about this watch unless you have lots of money in which case just get another one of these to practice on. If you look on the discussion group there are quite a few discussions on getting people started with watch repair. For instance I have a link that will get you started.

https://www.watchrepairlessons.com/

as far as practice watches go I usually recommend a brand-new Chinese clone of the 6497/98. the reason why this is my choice is it's relatively inexpensive and it's running. It's very important to start with a running watch typically people want to start with broken watches and fix them. If they aren't running after they attempt to fix them they blame the watch. If you disassemble and reassemble preferably several times a running watch and it's no longer running it is a lot easier to narrow down whose fault that is. Everyone breaks stuff when their learning and the easiest way for new person to see that is to start with something running and break it.   but once it's broken you still can practice taking it apart and putting it back together multiple times to get your hand eye coordination so that the next watch you work on you probably won't break hopefully.

one of the problems with electronics is typically you cannot look at it and ascertain whether it's good or bad. So this is where you'd hook up your electronic test equipment usually specifically made for watches and see what it's doing? this is actually outlined in the manual. You hook the watch up to a power supply you measure the current consumption and see if it's oscillating. If it's not oscillating you can attempt to measure coil resistance in figure out which coil is probably bad. Fortunately this is a slightly easier watch to work on as you can remove the electronic module without even taking the watch out of the case.

[RossUK]

Thank you for your thorough answer. Hand eye coordination will be a big one for me, I'm more use to working on engines than watches. 

I'll look into getting a Chinese clone and practice. Do you find it to be quite a relaxing hobby? 

[Tudor]

I find it relaxing until I lose something. Then it’s infuriating. 

[RossUK]

It's giving me anxiety just thinking about it 

[RossUK]

Thank you for everyone's help, fortunately the clean up done the trick. 

[RossUK]

Sorry to be spamming guys, I am looking for advice on setting the time on the watch. A quick Google gave some advice, which was to proceed with caution and only rotate forward or risk damage. 

I pulled the crown out to the first position and set the date. Although, it appears difficult to pull to the second position, therefore, I left it for now. 

 

Thank you.