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Hi does anyone know what is the best movement for me to use learn how to service quartz watches for beginner ? 

Posted

When you say service, what level of service are you talking about? 

Do you mean changing batteries, bracelet/strap, watch hands, replacing crystals, modifying dials, swapping out a new movement?

Or more complicated stuff like disassembling, cleaning and oiling and repair/replace components?

Posted
2 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

When you say service, what level of service are you talking about? 

Do you mean changing batteries, bracelet/strap, watch hands, replacing crystals, modifying dials, swapping out a new movement?

Or more complicated stuff like disassembling, cleaning and oiling and repair/replace components?

The more complicated stuff like disassembling,cleaning and oiling and repair/replace components?

 

Posted
1 minute ago, Murks said:

The more complicated stuff like disassembling,cleaning and oiling and repair/replace 

 

After you disassembling it can you put all part in the cleaning machine is there a parts particular can't put Through the cleaning machine?

Posted
2 hours ago, Murks said:

 

After you disassembling it can you put all part in the cleaning machine is there a parts particular can't put Through the cleaning machine?

Yes. Never put the coils, pcb and the magnetic rotor into the cleaning solutions. And needles to say, the dial and the hands too.

I have never seen any courses on quartz watch repair and there are very few books covering the subject. I guess most of us who repair quartz watches have some background in electronics and it is just natural for us to progress from mechanical watches to quartz and electrical watches.

Not all quartz movements can be disassembled and cleaned. Cheap movements are normally riveted or utrasonically welded together and not designed to be repaired. These are normally cheap enough to be replaced.

Some mid-priced movements are in-cooperating plastic parts into the gear train. These can be cleaned and re-assembled with great care and dexterity. I wouldn't recommend these to beginners. All-metal gear train movements tend to be expensive and best avoided by beginners.

My advice will be to stick to mechanical watches first then progress to doing some ladies watch movements. The small sized parts of ladies watches will familiarize you with working with quartz parts. And until you can re-assemble a mechanical gear train in under 2 minutes, I wouldn't recommend disassembling any high-end quartz movements.

Good luck and practice lots.

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Posted
16 hours ago, Murks said:

Hi does anyone know what is the best movement for me to use learn how to service quartz watches for beginner ? 

Any of no value that you have at hand, and for which you don't care if won't work anymore or if you will have to replace the module complete for like €5.

The dexterity and safe techniques and that you will gain in doing that exercise is very important to learn how to not drop and lose parts.

Posted

For real world practice, you could get a vintage watch lot from Ebay. You may get some gems among the junk. Last year I got one lot. From that heap, I restored 1 Bulova Accuquartz, 3 Fossils, 1 Waltham. That more than paid for the watch lot. The only problem now is I have 50 hideous monstrosities to get rid off.

Posted
6 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

The only problem now is I have 50 hideous monstrosities to get rid off.

 I've got a collection of cheap watches from a family member that passed. The acceptable ones I've all refreshed and gifted to postmen and courier drivers, which have appreciated them very much. Only few monsters and unrepairables ones are left, not sure what to do with them.

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    • Thanks for the replies! Here's a photo of the front of the clock and a GIF animation of the movement (exposed by removing the black cap in the centre of the clock). You can see the behaviour of the gears. It's a fairly valuable clock from the 80s (Braun ABW 35). I'm not sure if replacing the movement would diminish the value, so I'd prefer to keep the original parts if it's easy to fix. But since the movement itself is pretty generic, I guess, maybe replacing it wouldn't make any difference with regard to the value of the clock? Or would it? I suppose the value is mostly in the design.
    • Well, my fundamental stance is that I want to go in and out without leaving any trace other than a shining, perfectly running movement. So, no scratchings on the inside of the case back lid, no marred screws, no debris, no fingerprints, and so on. That is, my goal is to make it impossible for the FBI to track me down. As a professional, I suppose you might want to keep track of returning watches, but as @JohnR725 mentioned, we can keep detailed computer records without marking the watch at all. That may not be true for every watch, but luxury and COSC-certified movements do have unique numbers. John also says it’s best to leave no sign you were ever there, and I couldn't agree more. Now, suppose the Sea-Dweller I'm working on is one day scrapped, and you want to sell the case-back separately (perhaps the case was destroyed in a plane crash). Then the scribbles on the inside no longer reflect the current movement inside the case. Also, the engraving will likely halve the market value of the case back. It had been "sleeping" for about a week and a half. Yes, the "debris/old lubricant" theory is my hypothesis as well! It will be interesting to see what I find once I have time to start disassembling the movement.
    • I've repaired a few of these, having some success with stripping and cleaning the mechanism.  They are so cheap though, its hardly worth the effort in many cases.
    • Get well soon Old Hippy, torn muscles.,  not good
    • Id love to see how he has the output shaft mounted to this setup, as I have the same rotary stage and stepper in my build.
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