Parts Hunt

[kendallronin]

Hello guys, I am in search of some Diafix Shock Jewel Springs. I have one that is missing in my Seiko 66. I've been surfing looking for a while, but unable to locate these particular item. Do you guys know where it would be possible to find? Thank you in advance. I appreciate your time....

[JohnC]

I think your best option is buying a scrap movement. Even if you find a replacement that fits, the value proposition of $15-$30 for a miniscule part is just painful.

[JohnR725]

On 1/25/2021 at 4:08 AM, kendallronin said:

Hello guys, I am in search of some Diafix Shock Jewel Springs. I have one that is missing in my Seiko 66. I've been surfing looking for a while, but unable to locate these particular item. Do you guys know where it would be possible to find? Thank you in advance. I appreciate your time

It would be helpful if you would tell us exactly what you are looking for? Or maybe it wouldn't be helpful because you're not finding it. Typically to find something we would need a little more information not that we can't do it and as you said in your message you appreciate our time.

When looking for parts you need a number usually. To get a number you need a parts list there are two parts list for this watch because you didn't specify the letter. Fortunately the spring is the same in both.

Then you can sometimes get something interesting with the parts in that numbers like zeros at the beginning of a number normally don't mean much but on part numbers sometimes they do. For instance the part number found in the spec sheet is 015113. If you go to  www.julesborel.com For instance and do a search for that number it doesn't exist.

In case you're curious the order in which I'm describing this isn't exactly the order in which I did it. Best fit be size have a nice PDF book available which probably already list the spring also was online. So I just took my part number and went there to get the best fit number. If you go to the website above enter in the best fit number the spring pops up. Notice how it has another zero in the beginning? If you search for your now longer number on the website above with the extra zero making it 0015113 The part does come up so remember those zeros of beginning a really important when you're doing searches. Or if you search for the best fit number which is what I did 400/1525 That comes up.

What's interesting with best fit is that this is a company that packages up parts. So conceivably the Seiko part made no longer exists but the bestfit package of the identical part does exist.

Then wall is on the bestfit site I looked up the cross reference which is problematic. This is because if you search for the part number online you will find it appears in other PDFs of other Seiko calibers so it actually cross references to way more watches.

Then probably a waste of time as you now know where to get your part I'm just death row in some additional information. There's a variation of the website above like this link

http://cgi.julesborel.com/

You can go there and search for parts but there's a problem especially with this watch I'm snipping out an image. When you get there the parts list is insanely short and the spring you want is not list. Another problem is he gives you a name sportsman? This becomes important because if you try to buy that movement cheap on eBay and if you look at the completed listings it looks like the cheapest one he could've bought was Very close to $30 and up in price.

Then just because as I'm going to give you a list. So we know at least according to best fit it doesn't cross reference to very much but parts like this were relatively common to a lot of Seiko watches. So if you take from bestfit cross reference one of those calibers he goes to the site above look up the parts list their. Then click on the part number and it gives you a cross reference to all the watches that have that part. One of those movements is probably considerably cheaper than trying to buy this movement for spare parts.

So the moral the story here is to look for spare parts you need the tech sheet and you need a part number. Fortunately for Seiko all the part numbers are unique for that part. Unlike the Swiss at least with the older tech sheets the part number refers to like a balance wheel and you still need the caliber number it makes things a low more confusing if somebody says I need a part number this when that's the same physical part as in every single Swiss watch like a balance wheel for instance they all have the same part number. At least until recently were they now give them unique numbers like Seiko did.

Then I think very Conceivably the list of cross reference is down below is probably not complete and there are probably additional ones you would have to look in the tech sheet of the specific watch that you're trying to swipe apart from.

 0015113
 DIAFIX SPRING, ESCAPE WHEEL
 400/1525
 Price Each     $  3.30
 
 SEK 4500A      25JL - 36000 BPH DSS SEC SET DEVICE ADJ STUD SHOCK
 SEK 4502A      25JL - 36000 BPH DSS CAL SEC SETTING ADJ STUD SHOCK
 SEK 4520A      36,000 BPH 25JL DSS SEC SETTING ADJ STUD HOLD SHOCK
 SEK 4522A      25JL - 36,000 BPH DSS CAL SEC SETTING ADJ STUD SHOCK
 SEK 560      DIRECT CENTER SECOND-21 JL-SHOCK
 SEK 5601A      25JL - 21,600 BPH DSS AUTO SEC SETTING ADJ STUD SHOCK
 SEK 5605A      25JL - 21,600 BPH DSS AUTO CAL SEC SETTING ADJ STUD SHOCK
 SEK 5606A      23-25 JL CAL-DAY DATE-AUTO-DSS
 SEK 5621A      28,800 BPH DSS AUTO SEC SET DEVICE ADJ STUD HOLD 25JL
 SEK 5621B      28,800 BPH 25JL SHOCK DSS AUTO SEC SET MICRO ADJ
 SEK 5625A      25JL 28,800 BPH DSS AUTO CAL SEC SETTING
 SEK 5641A      28,800 BPH 25JL DSS AUTO SEC SETTING DEV MICRO ADJ
 SEK 5645A      25JL
 SEK 5646A      25JL
 SEK 57B      21JL DSS ADJ STUD HOLDER
 SEK 603 20-21J      17-20 & 30JLS DSS AUTO SHOCK SEIKO MATIC
 SEK 603 30J     
 SEK 6106B-25JL      21,600-25 JL-DSS-AUTO-CAL
 SEK 6119B      21 JL 21,600 BPH DSS AUTO CAL DAY DATE
 SEK 6119C      21,600 BPH 21 JL DSS CAL DAY-DATE
 SEK 6159A      AUTO CALENDAR 25JL DSS
 SEK 6215A      35JL DSS AUTO CALENDAR SEC SETTING MICRO ADJUTOR SHOCK
 SEK 6216A      39JL DSS SEC SET DEVICE AUTO CALENDAR (DAY/DATE) ADJ STD HLD
 SEK 6218A      35JL AUTO CALD SEC SET REG ADJ SHOCK
 SEK 6218B      35 JL DSS SEC SET DEVICE AUTO CALENDAR (DAY/DATE) ADJ STUD H
 SEK 6218C      35JL DSS SEC SET DEVICE AUTO CALENDAR (DAY/DATE) ADJ STD HOL
 SEK 6306A      21600 BPH SHOCK DSS AUTO CALD DAY DATE
 SEK 6319A      21,600 BPH-21 JLS-SHOCK-DSS-AUTO-CALD(DAY/DATE)W/CORR-
 SEK 63A      21600 BPH SHOCK DSS ADJ STUD HOLDER 17JLS
 SEK 6601A      17 JL-AUTO-DSS-SHOCK
 SEK 6618A      18000 BPH-17 JL-W/O SEC.-SHOCK-ADJ-STUD HOLDER
 SEK 760      21 JEWEL-DSS
 SEK 8305B     
 SEK 8325A      39JL SS AUTO CAL ADJ STUD HOLD
 SEK 840      AUTO CAL-30 JL
 SEK CROWN      DSS-SHOCK-21 JL
 SEK GOLDFEATHER      DSS
 SEK KING      25 JL DSS
 UTC 229      DIRECT CENTER SECOND 17J SHOCK

 

 

 

 

 

 

66B.pdf 66A.pdf

[kendallronin]

59 minutes ago, JohnR725 said:

It would be helpful if you would tell us exactly what you are looking for? Or maybe it wouldn't be helpful because you're not finding it. Typically to find something we would need a little more information not that we can't do it and as you said in your message you appreciate our time.

When looking for parts you need a number usually. To get a number you need a parts list there are two parts list for this watch because you didn't specify the letter. Fortunately the spring is the same in both.

Then you can sometimes get something interesting with the parts in that numbers like zeros at the beginning of a number normally don't mean much but on part numbers sometimes they do. For instance the part number found in the spec sheet is 015113. If you go to  www.julesborel.com For instance and do a search for that number it doesn't exist.

In case you're curious the order in which I'm describing this isn't exactly the order in which I did it. Best fit be size have a nice PDF book available which probably already list the spring also was online. So I just took my part number and went there to get the best fit number. If you go to the website above enter in the best fit number the spring pops up. Notice how it has another zero in the beginning? If you search for your now longer number on the website above with the extra zero making it 0015113 The part does come up so remember those zeros of beginning a really important when you're doing searches. Or if you search for the best fit number which is what I did 400/1525 That comes up.

What's interesting with best fit is that this is a company that packages up parts. So conceivably the Seiko part made no longer exists but the bestfit package of the identical part does exist.

Then wall is on the bestfit site I looked up the cross reference which is problematic. This is because if you search for the part number online you will find it appears in other PDFs of other Seiko calibers so it actually cross references to way more watches.

Then probably a waste of time as you now know where to get your part I'm just death row in some additional information. There's a variation of the website above like this link

http://cgi.julesborel.com/

You can go there and search for parts but there's a problem especially with this watch I'm snipping out an image. When you get there the parts list is insanely short and the spring you want is not list. Another problem is he gives you a name sportsman? This becomes important because if you try to buy that movement cheap on eBay and if you look at the completed listings it looks like the cheapest one he could've bought was Very close to $30 and up in price.

Then just because as I'm going to give you a list. So we know at least according to best fit it doesn't cross reference to very much but parts like this were relatively common to a lot of Seiko watches. So if you take from bestfit cross reference one of those calibers he goes to the site above look up the parts list their. Then click on the part number and it gives you a cross reference to all the watches that have that part. One of those movements is probably considerably cheaper than trying to buy this movement for spare parts.

So the moral the story here is to look for spare parts you need the tech sheet and you need a part number. Fortunately for Seiko all the part numbers are unique for that part. Unlike the Swiss at least with the older tech sheets the part number refers to like a balance wheel and you still need the caliber number it makes things a low more confusing if somebody says I need a part number this when that's the same physical part as in every single Swiss watch like a balance wheel for instance they all have the same part number. At least until recently were they now give them unique numbers like Seiko did.

Then I think very Conceivably the list of cross reference is down below is probably not complete and there are probably additional ones you would have to look in the tech sheet of the specific watch that you're trying to swipe apart from.

 0015113
 DIAFIX SPRING, ESCAPE WHEEL
 400/1525
 Price Each     $  3.30
 
 SEK 4500A      25JL - 36000 BPH DSS SEC SET DEVICE ADJ STUD SHOCK
 SEK 4502A      25JL - 36000 BPH DSS CAL SEC SETTING ADJ STUD SHOCK
 SEK 4520A      36,000 BPH 25JL DSS SEC SETTING ADJ STUD HOLD SHOCK
 SEK 4522A      25JL - 36,000 BPH DSS CAL SEC SETTING ADJ STUD SHOCK
 SEK 560      DIRECT CENTER SECOND-21 JL-SHOCK
 SEK 5601A      25JL - 21,600 BPH DSS AUTO SEC SETTING ADJ STUD SHOCK
 SEK 5605A      25JL - 21,600 BPH DSS AUTO CAL SEC SETTING ADJ STUD SHOCK
 SEK 5606A      23-25 JL CAL-DAY DATE-AUTO-DSS
 SEK 5621A      28,800 BPH DSS AUTO SEC SET DEVICE ADJ STUD HOLD 25JL
 SEK 5621B      28,800 BPH 25JL SHOCK DSS AUTO SEC SET MICRO ADJ
 SEK 5625A      25JL 28,800 BPH DSS AUTO CAL SEC SETTING
 SEK 5641A      28,800 BPH 25JL DSS AUTO SEC SETTING DEV MICRO ADJ
 SEK 5645A      25JL
 SEK 5646A      25JL
 SEK 57B      21JL DSS ADJ STUD HOLDER
 SEK 603 20-21J      17-20 & 30JLS DSS AUTO SHOCK SEIKO MATIC
 SEK 603 30J     
 SEK 6106B-25JL      21,600-25 JL-DSS-AUTO-CAL
 SEK 6119B      21 JL 21,600 BPH DSS AUTO CAL DAY DATE
 SEK 6119C      21,600 BPH 21 JL DSS CAL DAY-DATE
 SEK 6159A      AUTO CALENDAR 25JL DSS
 SEK 6215A      35JL DSS AUTO CALENDAR SEC SETTING MICRO ADJUTOR SHOCK
 SEK 6216A      39JL DSS SEC SET DEVICE AUTO CALENDAR (DAY/DATE) ADJ STD HLD
 SEK 6218A      35JL AUTO CALD SEC SET REG ADJ SHOCK
 SEK 6218B      35 JL DSS SEC SET DEVICE AUTO CALENDAR (DAY/DATE) ADJ STUD H
 SEK 6218C      35JL DSS SEC SET DEVICE AUTO CALENDAR (DAY/DATE) ADJ STD HOL
 SEK 6306A      21600 BPH SHOCK DSS AUTO CALD DAY DATE
 SEK 6319A      21,600 BPH-21 JLS-SHOCK-DSS-AUTO-CALD(DAY/DATE)W/CORR-
 SEK 63A      21600 BPH SHOCK DSS ADJ STUD HOLDER 17JLS
 SEK 6601A      17 JL-AUTO-DSS-SHOCK
 SEK 6618A      18000 BPH-17 JL-W/O SEC.-SHOCK-ADJ-STUD HOLDER
 SEK 760      21 JEWEL-DSS
 SEK 8305B     
 SEK 8325A      39JL SS AUTO CAL ADJ STUD HOLD
 SEK 840      AUTO CAL-30 JL
 SEK CROWN      DSS-SHOCK-21 JL
 SEK GOLDFEATHER      DSS
 SEK KING      25 JL DSS
 UTC 229      DIRECT CENTER SECOND 17J SHOCK

 

 

 

 

 

 

66B.pdf 60.41 kB · 0 downloads 66A.pdf 51.14 kB · 0 downloads

Please excuse my severe lack of knowledge and terminology,  I am total amateur,  but learning. I know I am overwhelmingly out of my realm to be asking you guys and gals for help, but my thoughts are that someone may know information,  and may be willing lend a helping hand. 

Yes, it was the Diafix Spring for my Seiko 66-7109 watch. I know its not a very collectable unit, but I love it. I got it at an antique store for 20 dollars, and keeps superb time. 

I sincerely thank you for taking time to send me this information. You have no idea how much this will help! I thank you again, I hope one day I can repay the favor.....Pals

[spectre6000]

I'm going to second the donor approach. Get on eBay, and you can find Seikos with that and similar movements all day long for very cheap. Top tip: Sellers from India and Pakistan will often take very lowball best offers. Pay attention to shipping (some have free shipping, some under $15, some over $30), throw out a dozen or so "best offers", and you're likely to get what you're looking for under $20 to your door. $4 from ofrei or Esslinger, plus shipping, and you pretty much break even. With the donor approach, you have a backup or two for when one goes flying. You also have a whole bunch of other parts. If you want to get really industrious, part the movement out when you're done for other people in your situation, and make a profit.

Edited January 27, 2021 by spectre6000

[MechanicMike]

I'll 3rd that donor notion. While I do enjoy the hunt and detective work you have to put in to find some parts, simply for us noobs it's part of the learning process and it's fun when you finally find it. However it can get old. Donors provide a fast simple solution and like Spectre said you get inventory for yourself(screws too)and you might be able to help someone out in the future. I bought an Ingersoll dollar lot looking for one single part, for 20 bucks. I think there were 15-20 rat rods in the box, with a few ticking. Got my part but I gained a whole bunch of salvaged parts and screws for future use, and dismantling them all gave me some great experience with screwdrivers and tweezers without worrying about pinging stuff, nomenclature and part location. I have come to do the same with others too.

IMHO of course. 

[JohnR725]

1 hour ago, MechanicMike said:

I'll 3rd that donor notion

The problem with the donor idea is that why does he not have the part yet? If the donor ideas so simple and everybody loves it so much why is he still looking for a part?

So it's a 66 Seiko how hard could it be to find I wasted my time giving you a part number let's see somebody find me some $20 66 movements movements?

[bjohnson]

I don't want to poop on the good info from JohnR, but I've got a couple Westclox brand watches with what I think are non-running Seiko 66 movements that I could part with for about that.

Anyone can PM me if interested.  I would have to hunt around for them to send photos.

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by bjohnson

[spectre6000]

8 hours ago, JohnR725 said:

The problem with the donor idea is that why does he not have the part yet? If the donor ideas so simple and everybody loves it so much why is he still looking for a part?

So it's a 66 Seiko how hard could it be to find I wasted my time giving you a part number let's see somebody find me some $20 66 movements movements?

Breaking a donor isn't the most immediate and obvious solution; especially not to your typical novice. Psychologically speaking (not that I'm qualified to speak psychologically), the watch needing parts is special, and so others like it must also be special. Would it not be sacrilege to destroy one special object to service another? The value is perceived as higher than it truly is, and despite the objective dollar amount seems higher than the cost required.

Your detailing the part and sources is not a waste of time at all. It's another option, and one that is difficult to find for the novice. Horological supply houses tend to have pretty crappy websites (looking at you ofrei), and rarely are there detailed photos of the parts in question. From a novice's perspective, lacking the confidence and experience sourcing parts, it's awfully difficult to pull the trigger on a $4 spring (plus $10 shipping, of course), if you're not really 100% sure it's what you're trying to find. A lack of confidence can make a simple task nearly impossible. The information you provided is undoubtedly reassuring on one end, or possibly the first step in the right direction on the other.

[JohnR725]

1 hour ago, bjohnson said:

Seiko 66 movements

You don't actually need the 66 movement once you take the time to do all this research you come up with a huge list of everything that has the same part. The rest of those at least some of those should be really inexpensive especially if they're broken.

the unfortunate problem With watch repair is detective skills are required. Detective skills to figure out what the problem is with the watch. You cannot assume that cleaning fixes all problems. Then the detective skills to track down the parts.

 

[VWatchie]

11 hours ago, spectre6000 said:

throw out a dozen or so "best offers", and you're likely to get what you're looking for

If I'm not mistaken, by the rules of eBay you are bound to pay if the offer is accepted. So, don't go too crazy with making offers or you might end up having to shove out a lot more than you really meant to.

[JohnR725]

9 minutes ago, spectre6000 said:

Would it not be sacrilege to destroy one special object to service another?

Ideally it would be nice to find broken watches. This way your not sacrificing one for another.

10 minutes ago, spectre6000 said:

it's awfully difficult to pull the trigger on a $4 spring (plus $10 shipping, of course), if you're not really 100% sure it's what you're trying to find.

Now we get to an amusing part of this entire discussion. It doesn't matter whether it's a donor watch or the original part we still have the exact same problem.  Okay almost the same problem if you make a mistake on a donor watch you still get a whole bunch of usable parts as opposed to one part that isn't right. Here's the problem you need in this case one spring at least for now. The look on eBay you find a Seiko movement costing how much? Conveniently and not seeing any inexpensive five dollar movements or even $10 movements for that matter. They probably exist but are not seeing them right now. But even if you find a five dollar movement what is the shipping going to cost or if you're like where I am there is sales tax. I occasionally forget and get annoyed as inexpensive items between shipping and sales tax will greatly exceed the cost.

 

[JohnR725]

9 minutes ago, VWatchie said:

If I'm not mistaken, by the rules of eBay you are bound to pay if the offer is accepted. So, don't go too crazy with making offers or you might end up having to shove out a lot more than you really meant to.

Making an offer on eBay as interesting process. Yes you will get something for less but not necessarily a lot less. Then sometimes you wonder if anyone's home as they don't have to reply at all. Then they offer just expires. Fortunately you can specify whether your offer is good for one or two days.

Then there's a whole bunch of scenarios that can happen. The seller can ignore you your offer will expire. Other times they've entered in a minimum amount and instantly rejected. But you're given the offer to make another offer. Sometimes you can just continue to increment it up and the one time I did that I think I saved one dollar. Other times a limit and if you go past the quantity which was three you're locked out for many more offers. Sometimes they'll respond back and give you a counter offer.

Because I suspect the seller is not home and not responding and apparently not limiting how many offers I can make I've been decreasing the price with each offer. I've attached screenshots initially it looks like. Entering into a binding contract with no way out. By the second screen indicates that may be there is a way out? But once you go past here you've agreed to purchase the item. But I'm guessing if they make a counter offer you can reject that and get out.

So yes it's really important not to make a whole bunch of these at the same time otherwise you have an unpleasant surprise possibly. Then annoying for me the price forgets to include the sales tax. So sometimes I have sticker shock on what things cost on eBay.

 

 

[spectre6000]

So... I guess some context may be in order. I still consider myself a pretty severe novice. My current mode is 404 Club victims (though, lately that may not be the best descriptor as I've not lost a patient for a while now). Once a week or so, I have a pair of eBay searches bookmarked; one is auctions under $5, the other is best offers under $20 or $25 (I forget). From there, I pay attention to shipping since you can't search on it for some reason (I have a personal cap for my 404 Club membership rule adherence), then look for watches that meet criteria for what I'm looking for. I probably put out... maybe a dozen bids/offers a week. I probably end up winning a watch or two a month. I have ZERO invested in the hunt other than some idle time in the evenings while watching TV, and I never expect to win, so when I lose I don't care. When I win, it's a pleasant surprise. These are whole, often semi-functional watches (excluding bands, I toss those if they're present unless they're stainless and in good shape), not movements. I've only managed a few non-runners so far, most of those were in lots with watches I was actually after, and I've actually managed to bring one back to life. My average cost per complete watch is... $2-3? I cap shipping at $15, and only go that high if it checks all of my boxes, otherwise more like $10. So all in, I probably average a gross cost of $9-10 per watch. Never higher than $20. Theoretically, I could go higher if I found something especially cool, but I have my daily driver and my shop watch. I'm not really into collecting them, I just like fixing them, and since I'm not yet confident enough to tackle something with some dollars behind it, It doesn't really make a ton of sense.

So, yeah. Common sense; don't put out a ton of offers all at once or you could end up with a ton of watches. The offers are only good for 24 hours by default, and there is a mechanism to rescind offers. Give yourself some time. In my searches on US eBay, I'd guess probably half the results in my bottom scraping price range are Seikos from India/Pakistan. Find some with the movement you need, and low ball them. You'll get turned down a few times, but in my experience I typically win those with my $5 unless they have free shipping. Actual shipping for watches seems to be in the $5-10 range these days.