L&R Cleaning Machines

[OmarHaltam]

[OmarHaltam]

https://vimeo.com/160913831

[OmarHaltam]

cleaned my first watch ever yesterday, I have done a few by hand but this is so much easier [emoji1303]

do you guys think I need more fluid in the Jars?

[oldhippy]

Well done and you get a good finish its much easier then doing it by hand. I think if you look at the jars you will see a level make which you need to fill the jars up to, don't go beyond that  as you might have trouble spinning the residue off and you will lift the basket to high and it will spin out of the jar and go everywhere.

Just to make you jealous I had a L & R auto so all I had to do was attach the basket and press a button and the machine did everything for me I just went back to the machine take the basket back to my bench and put the watch back together, some times I would clean four or five watches at a time, but I stopped all that and went into antique clocks, there was more money in that.  

[OmarHaltam]

Thanks for the reply oldhippy

the jars are not the original, and they have no markings on them, but he did say to add a pint of liquid which is what I did. So far so good, hope to put the machine to good use.

[OmarHaltam]

I have a kiosk inside a mall, and I happen to be close to the kids play area... so you can imagine the noise level all day... Hehehe

[Hertzogpholian]

you want to have enough fluid so it comes up to the basket's lid - completely submerging the contents - when the basket is in there spinning.  but not so much that when you're spinning off the basket, you're still in the fluid.  you look like you have just about enough in the video; maybe another 1/4-1/2" or so?  if the vortex spins the fluid out so that the central area sinks too much, if that makes sense?

when you have the level figured out, make a little mark on the jars.  use a grease pencil or paint marker.  cleaning fluid will take the sharpie right off...

[clockboy]

On the original jars the words L&R are at about half way up the jar. I was told to fill to half way up the jars which settles in the middle of the letters L&R. See pic.

Also attached a PDF for the L&R Vari-Matic. The instructions for filling etc will be the same.

 

 

L&R VariMatic & VariMatic III Operator Manual.pdf

[SteveFitzwater]

Ah yes the good ol Varimatic, I have two of these units, and two ultra sonics, if anyone needs any service of their units, check out this company-http://www.electronicinstrumentservice.com/index.html

I will be sending both ultra sonic units out to be upgraded to solid state in the future, last I checked it was about $600, they also sell the vacuum bulbs for the ultra sonic.

Edited March 31, 2016 by SteveFitzwater

[oldhippy]

clockboy that's the same machine I had. I wish I still had mine coming on here I'm missing what I used to do.

[bobm12]

Hi Omar and congratulation on an excellent tool!

Cheers,

Bob

[OmarHaltam]

Thank you all for all the great remarks and tips... wish you all the best[emoji1303]

[Gary]

Omar,

did  you get this from the guy in Corpus Christie? I think he does a great job. I wanted to inquire if he would refurbish one for me or give me a trade in allowance.

 

G

[ramrod]

On 3/31/2016 at 0:59 AM, OmarHaltam said:

I have a kiosk inside a mall, and I happen to be close to the kids play area... so you can imagine the noise level all day... Hehehe

omar - are you at southpoint?

[OmarHaltam]

No, i am at the Triangle Town Center in Raleigh NC, right off capital Blvd.

where are you located?

[lluvitar]

Hello, new member here.  Wondering if anyone here has experience working on L&R watch cleaning machines.

 

Recently bought a used L&R Varimatic cleaning machine with ultrasonic.  It really had some timing issues when I first tried it out and if I had left the glass jars in it during the test run pretty sure one would have been shattered.  Have sorted the timing out, fairly straight forward once I watched it cycle a few times.  Some cam adjustments.  Bled the hydraulics of air best I could not having the special bleeder cup they use.  So it lifts and lowers properly now.  Trying to determine if the ultrasonic's are working now.  The base unit lights up on the front and hums appropriately and also lights up on the inside.  But no adjustment of the potentiometer on the back seems to make a difference in getting the transducer in the head unit to work.  Basically tried running the unit with the cord for the spinning motor disconnected so I could observe the action of the cleaning head in a still jar of water.  No bubbles or action of any kind.  So I'm guessing it is not working then right?  Suppose the next move is to take the top off of the ultrasonic base and see what's inside.  

 

Does anybody have any opinions on how necessary the ultrasonic part is to the cleaning of movements?  Worst case if I can't get the ultrasonic part active will just the basket spinning back and forth in the cleaning solutions and rinse be adequate for cleaning movements?  Or is the ultrasonic what really does the cleaning?  

 

Does anybody want to see pics of the inside of one of these beasts?

[dadistic]

Sure, pics are great!

[clockboy]

I have been using a L&R varimatic for the last couple of years after having it re-furbished.  My one that I purchased of the bay caught alight I therefore went to this guy to get it sorted. http://www.delphelectronics.co.uk

The guy who manages this company (Graham Baxter) ) told me the original L&R machines have dangerous wiring & with no earth, so my advise is to be very careful with it.
Also the early L&R machines ultrasonic all three jars unlike the new models that now only ultrasonic the first jar. 

What ever route you take to get it running correctly I am sure you  will be pleased with it. Cleaning watch parts is just effortless.

[lluvitar]

Had a look for proper ground clockboy to be sure and it is.  Thanks for the heads up.  In fact this machine looks to be somewhat rewired with fairly new micro switches and marretts that certainly are not from the 1950's.  

Not sure about the ultrasonic yet.  It's original L&R branded vacuum tube in the base that has loose ends on it, so I'm thinking it's no good.  Was able to find a new old stock (tested) matching GE tube on the bay for a nice price.  So now it's a waiting game.  Pretty sure it's going to be ultrasonic on all three jars though from looking at the switches that trigger it's operation. 

As far as cleaning parts being effortless that's what I'm hoping for.

 

[Marc]

If you want to see if the ultrasonic bath is working drop a few strips of aluminium foil into the water and run it for 5 or 10 minutes. If the u/s is working then the microcavitation will erode the aluminium and the foil will come out raggedy round the edges and maybe even with some holes. You may need to inspect it under a loupe. 

[lluvitar]

Thanks Marc, will give that a try when the new vacuum tube gets here.

 

And here are some pictures.

This is a rear view with the back cover off.  

The nut in the top centre of this pic is how the lever/cam is rotated to adjust the timing of the jar turret.  The short studs or screw ends extending below the turret is how the timing is adjusted for each of the four stations.  The farther down they are turned the farther they trip a clockwork switch at the front of the machine and the longer it stays at that station.  The double micro switch in the centre of this pic controls the basic on/off of the machine through a cam action on the centre post driving the whole turret.

This is the ultrasonic base upside down with the bottom off.  The top is solid heavy sheet metal most likely to prevent oil and spilt watch cleaning fluid from affecting the electronics.  The vacuum tube is a 812A which is still available both old stock and new from China.

Now at the back of the ultrasonic unit is a rotating switch I thought was a potentiometer.  And maybe it is but not one that I am used to.  The knob turns the dark brown rod or dowel that pierces the large hollow tube wrap with different gauges of wires.  The turning of this dowel pulls what looks like a piece of iron but could be a magnet back and forth through the tube.  Ingenious to be sure.  The interior of this looks 100% original unlike the cleaning machine which you can see has the much newer micro switches and marretts installed.  The vacuum tube ends are quite loose from the glass tube so I am guessing the tube has leaked and is not functioning correctly even though it still lights up.  I remember as a young lad testing our television tubes at the local hardware store on a machine and riding my bike back and forth between home and the hardware store to test tubes as my father would hand me a new one to test if the prior one had checked out A-OK.  One at a time until the offending culprit was found.  Place them in the appropriate socket and push the test button and hope for a bad readout so I could pick out a new one and end the bicycle trips and watch TV again.  Some that looked horrible were just fine and others that looked brand new were duds.  

 

[clockboy]

Looking at your pics it seems it yours has been re-wired. See pic below after the re-furb.Also operation manual which has the wiring diagram. Hope this helps

L&R VariMatic & VariMatic III Operator Manual.pdf

 

[thessler]

Hi

I'm looking to buy a cleaner, the L&R manual seems to be a popular one.

I found a variomatic who owner says he doesn't know if it functions, to me that means it's broken on some level who knows how bad.

My question is , is the automatic feature worth the effort of repair or just find a simple manual model ?

Thanks, Tom

[clockboy]

Depends on how many watches you are going to repair or if like me the cleaning part you do not enjoy. I had my L&R refurbished & it is the one tool I could not do without. It cleans better than a ultra sonic (in my opinion) & it is almost a effortless task. However if my memory serves me well £1500 for the purchase & re-furbishement. I used this company run by a guy Graham Baxter.

http://www.delphelectronics.co.uk

 

[oldhippy]

The is one watch cleaning machine that I would recommend. I had many different ones over the years and this one is the best. As clockboy says about his experience with his. I would say the same. It has everything you would want to clean and dry your watch movements. I found it quiet, it has a good basket and it includes in the basket tiny compartments to put the tiniest parts the mesh basket is as solid as a rock. When cleaning the basket rotates both ways in its cycle of cleaning and rinsing. Worth every penny.