I broke my 4R36 hairspring. :(

[Alexandros]

Ok hi, I am sooo mad at myself because I broke my hairspring while putting it back in the watch, is there ANYTHING I can do to make my hairspring normal again, it’s bended like crazy. Thanks in advance!!

[jdm]

1 hour ago, Alexandros said:

Ok hi, I am sooo mad at myself because I broke my hairspring while putting it back in the watch, is there ANYTHING I can do to make my hairspring normal again, it’s bended like crazy.

Why mad, that is normal for watch owners messing with a piece they own and like, without having take any kind of training, or practiced on something else first.

No one can't repair that hairspring but you can buy a brand new mov.t for about €25. That is the best solution as a new balance complete would cost maybe €5 less and would expose you to the real possibility of breaking things again. 

FYI our introduction section is meant for that, not to post duplicates of other postings, as such it has been removed.

[JohnR725]

1 hour ago, Alexandros said:

broke my hairspring

I think broke is too kind for the description of what I'm seeing.

Normally a balance complete would be recommended but even if we could find you a balance complete the source I'm currently looking at says that it would cost $27 and it's out of stock. The other problem is you have to get it in and based on what I'm seeing there is no way you could get it in. I'd recommend a movement complete think about that is lots of spare parts for anything else that's going to accidentally get broken.

[Alexandros]

Yes I did it 4 times but the fourth time went wrong.(I’m interested in movements)

I did it purely bc I was tired of the inaccuracy of this movement (40 secs a day) I have another vintage watch with an eta 2824, it’s going to be my new daily I guess. No more japanese for me.

Edited December 25, 2020 by Alexandros

[JohnR725]

9 minutes ago, Alexandros said:

No more japanese for me

I've heard rumors that if you had a timing machine that Japanese watches can be regulated closer then they come from the factory?

[jdm]

8 minutes ago, Alexandros said:

I did it purely bc I was tired of the inaccuracy of this movement (40 secs a day)

In the future when a watch does not keep good time, demagnetize it first, then regulate it without removing the balance. That is better done with a timegrapher.

[Alexandros]

Yes, off course! The stupidity came in my head like nothing...

[jdm]

7 minutes ago, Alexandros said:

Yes, off course! The stupidity came in my head like nothing...

Don't condemn yourself. Everyone had made mistakes, most often because of hurried moves. If you like to learn watch repair consider enrolling in the HD training by our host Mark Lovick, or at least watch his videos on YouTube.

https://www.watchrepairlessons.com/

[Alexandros]

Thanks mate, I will.

[Poljot]

3 hours ago, Alexandros said:

Ok hi, I am sooo mad at myself because I broke my hairspring while putting it back in the watch, is there ANYTHING I can do to make my hairspring normal again, it’s bended like crazy. Thanks in advance!!

Yes, you can. Blame it on Covid19 and get the cheque from the Government.

What you can do is to practice on this "curly thing" how-to remove the hairspring from the balance and put it back on. It's very therapeutic.

[Alexandros]

Yes mate I will I had to set that thing everyday bc of the inaccuracy so Swiss will be the next one.

[MechanicMike]

been there and done that. lesson learned. don't beat yourself up too bad about it. shake your head, take a breath, laugh at yourself and do like I did-be glad no one else was in the shop when you did it. that is, until you posted it in here.  I have a small container I keep on my bench front and center that I wrote on the cover, "OFFERINGS TO THE GODS OF HOROLOGY." That's where I put things like your hairspring. Trust me, you'll need an intact sense of humor doing this stuff. 

btw I'm a newbie too. cheers to one hairspring.

[watchweasol]

Well said Mike  we have all been there and got the T shirt, be posative and things will only improve.

[Poljot]

Jesus! It's like watching a movie showing AA group during their meeting: any new member starts with "Hi, my name is "such-and-such" and I am a hairspring butcher! 

I suppose this hairspring was destroyed by pulling the balance cock straight up ignoring that the balance wheel got caught by the center wheel? 

Next time, after removing Balance Cock Screw, use tweezers to carefully lift the Balance Cock a tiny bit up, then rotate 45-90 degrees out of the movement as the whole assembly while tilting it and lifting up very slowly to make sure the roller / impulse jewel do not pull the Pallet Fork, and that the Balance Wheel is not interfering with the Center Wheel.

Edited December 26, 2020 by Poljot

[Alexandros]

Thanks guys, it won’t happen anymore

[MechanicMike]

3 hours ago, watchweasol said:

Well said Mike  we have all been there and got the T shirt, be posative and things will only improve.

here here!

[watchweasol]

Alexandros, we are ALL capable of cockups, being tired, lack of concentration or trying to be more careful and in doing so slip up.  The thing to do is to read up or watch videos if possible of the procedure you are about to undertake and be familiar with the correct tools and what you are doing and foremost take your time and think it through, but above all enjoy what you are doing. The members here are here to help. If you are not sure ask no matter how simple.  I wish you a Happy New Year

[Nucejoe]

It happens, this club members even highly skilled folks.

Everyone would agree with weasol, usually risks are higher when you are tired ...etc. 

Practice on a cheap scrap, twice a day for couple of months, at some point you,ll be feeling confident with the task. 

 

 

[Nucejoe]

HI John, wishing you a very happy Christmas and hope these hard times be over for greetings of next year's Christmas.

I don't discard defective parts and buy parts, defective or good.

Regs 

Joe

 

 

[jdm]

Some postings have been split to a new topic. 

[Alexandros]

Can anyone find a website who sells this whole part of my 4R36? Thanks

[JohnR725]

Always helpful when looking for parts to have a parts list so I'm attaching one. Then I'm attaching the image so you can see the part number. 

Then to get you started I searched cousin's website. You'll notice that even though the parts listing shows the part as four digits a space and the rest of the number you have to combine it together as a number withother wise the search engines on the websites will not search. Then ill notice it's obsolete not a good sign.

https://www.watchrepairlessons.com/2019/11/08/watch-parts-tools-suppliers/

Seiko 4R35B_4R36A.pdf

[jdm]

17 hours ago, Alexandros said:

Can anyone find a website who sells this whole part of my 4R36? 

As mentioned above already it is not a good idea for an owner to try to replace a Seiko balance complete.

It does not make sense economically; a complete SII NH36 mov.t is practically the same cost.

and

It is risky for a beginner to replace the end stud into the arm; damage to the (new) hairspring can easily occour. The OP can try that himself on the broken part.

11 hours ago, JohnR725 said:

Then ill notice it's obsolete not a good sign.

There are equivalent parts with a different P/N.
One can find these by clicking on the "alternatives" button in your screenshot above, or look at my compilation of 7S26 parts, that has a section also covering 4R/6R/NH/NE balances specifically.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRN2UULQKTfKmhRStZhDdIOIQrqd6sPB-g6x2SKyQQjOvTBjG_7TQXQhAT4f1WqAX5QAPkIimi-3jqd/pubhtml

[Alexandros]

Hi, so I replaced the balance wheel on my 4R36 movement with a NH36 balance wheel, idk what I have to do but it just won’t start running altough it fits perfectly and everythin, the hairspring is fine and is not bent at all. Kan maybe anyone help me with this? Thanks in advance!

[aac58]

Does it swings in both sides when gently shaking the movement? Is the inpulse jewel in the correct side of the pallet fork?

Edited January 18, 2021 by aac58