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Elma Watch Cleaning Machine

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Rafal WRT Addict

Rafal

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I finally managed to fix my elma automatic, I couldnt believe what cause out of sinc and other issues like motor not spining in both directions.... It turned out to be end switches - as all automation is done using end switches, contact surfaces get burnout marks and for a low voltage once it was too much so it stoped conducting. I got luck and all of end switches are servisable, it was enough to clean contact surface in each end switch and it started to work properly....

just btw, my status has been chacehd to inactive member so I cant even send an email to suff and ask to unlock it, is theree any way to fix it please?

 

Rafal

 

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LittleWatchShop
LittleWatchShop

I didn't get it. I am on a Levin lathe binge. Turning my small fortune into a smaller one

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Its ok now, I have source one, should anyone else need a copy drop me a pm.

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Had a few messages about the wiring diagram, so uploaded it for all to see..   super elite wiring diagram by Micky.!, on Flickr

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rolius New Member

rolius

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Posted
On 8/27/2022 at 6:15 PM, Rafal said:

I finally managed to fix my elma automatic, I couldnt believe what cause out of sinc and other issues like motor not spining in both directions.... It turned out to be end switches - as all automation is done using end switches, contact surfaces get burnout marks and for a low voltage once it was too much so it stoped conducting. I got luck and all of end switches are servisable, it was enough to clean contact surface in each end switch and it started to work properly....

just btw, my status has been chacehd to inactive member so I cant even send an email to suff and ask to unlock it, is theree any way to fix it please?

 

Rafal

 

Last weekend I was happy because the mechanism started to work well after replacing the relay. 

Next step is to prepare the belts. Can you help me what belts should I use? I can make the long one but the short. I can make it from the green material (see photo) but not sure in the settings.

I don't understand how the basket spinning is switched off in specific positions. 

Can you explain it? If possible with pictures 🙂 I have an idea to loosen a band somehow, but maybe this is not the solution.

20220829_215933.jpg

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ign03 Member

ign03

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Posted (edited)

Hi everyone! My name is Ignasi and I am a watch making enthusiast. I've been cleaning my watches with an ultrasonic machine until  a few months ago I pulled the trigger and bought a second hand Elma cleaning machine (the version without the timer). Everything was working well until on day the baskets stopped spinning. After poking around for a while it seemed that straightening by hand the connection that goes to the motor fixed the problem (or at least that's what I though). Specifically, straigthening the cable portion at the joint coming out of the central pole on the upper part of the machine (where I am pointing in the picture attached). 

Today, I was cleaning a movement when I saw smoke and sparks coming out of the same connection that I was straightening manually (see picture). I have limited knowledge about electronics and I am wondering what would be the course of action here. I've seen some posts on this thread of people restoring these machines and redoing the whole wiring, so I thought you guys might be able to give me some advice. Do I have to dissassemble the whole wiring system? Is there a quicker way to fix the problem?

I attached some pictures of the machine and the issue. Thank you in advance!

Cheers!

IMG_4986.jpeg

IMG_4987.jpeg

IMG_4982.jpeg

IMG_4984.jpeg

 

 

Edited by ign03
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watchweasol Distinguished Member

watchweasol

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Hi judging from your description I would hazard a guess that you have a cable break in the neck and it’s shorted out hence the sparks and a dead machine. Next course of action is to change the cable and check any fuses being blown by the short or find an electrician to do the job.     Cheers

 

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rolius New Member

rolius

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Hello,

I was renovating a Super Elite or Elite and unfortunately my heating element was broken. One time I ran into the same problem, in that case I resolved the problem with a PTC element but now I decided that I try to repair it. 

If you want to refurbish an elma machine and get to the heating element, you have to handle it very gently.

The idea of the element that there is a spiral in the element that gives off heat that warms the plate.

The spiral is made of a very thin wire that can be broken after some small move or a delicate touch.

Between the two iron plates there are two thermal papers, and between these there is a thermal paper with the wire rolled up.

 

First I saw that there are 5 rivets that I drilled out. 

Because of the rust the papers were sticked to the iron plates. I gently removed the papers.

In the middle layer I was expecting some soldering but finally I found on the "thick" wire that the heating wire is simply rolled on it.

From the heating spiral I rolled off 2-3 turns so I had enough long wire that I could attach to the "thick" wire.

During the assembly I used antistat tape to fix the wires and the thermal plates.

Finally I fixed the plates with screws and nuts.

 

So, if you got a broken heating element, then you can disassemble it and if the wire it not broken inside, you can repair it.

If it is broken, you can use the original iron plates and attach a PTC heating element.

 

I hope this can help.

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Pip WRT Addict

Pip

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On 12/15/2018 at 10:03 AM, oldhippy said:

Here is a link to the manual.

https://www.hswalsh.com/sites/default/files/related_files/Instructions For HC513 - Elma RM90 Watch Cleaning Machine.pdf

Hi all, did anyone download the manual for the Elma RM90 back in the day, as this link is no longer up and running and I'm after a copy of the user manual and my Google-Fu seems to have deserted me, can't find a copy of it online anywhere!

Thanks in advance,

Pip

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JohnR725 Distinguished Member

JohnR725

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On 11/18/2022 at 6:20 PM, GuyMontag said:

This ebay listing just ended, did anyone here snag this for $1,880 (free shipping)? I can't remember ever seeing a used Elma Solvex SE on ebay. Expensive, but it doesn't seem unusual to see beat up 60 year old Elma's go for half of this price.

one of the amusing problems with the discussion group is if someone posts on the end of a very long discussion and I'm looking for new messages. Instead of finding the new message I will end up in the middle of the discussion wherever I last looked at it. So for instance I ended up at the discussion that I quoted which was posted quite a while back. But I had recently seen interesting videos on YouTube.

Maybe the reason somebody was selling on eBay with a bargain price was that maybe it's not really a bargain? for instance somebody on YouTube was unhappy with his machine and how long it took to get it straightened out. although after quite a few months it does look like they straightened out the problem by replacing the machine. Also looks like whoever was purchased from was doing a better job of evaluating the machines rather than just passing them through.

it also looks like the distributor of the machines is improving their procedure as it would save them money. Think about it if you distribute a machine you purchased it from Germany have it sitting in your warehouse for unknown quantity of months the customer gets it it's broken. The shipping company will probably not honor any kind of warranty because nobody would be able to prove whether was their mishandling or the previous shipping to the distributor. Which is probably why you now see a checkoff list and somebody checked out to make sure the machine was fine before passing it on. Does show the benefits of doing YouTube videos though to get action on a problem.

https://youtu.be/7RA4NU7UPLc?si=ivUGR90VvYaJHWga

https://youtu.be/eSYMuslyGsw?si=1VNc4NVbScTIqPDj

On 10/30/2023 at 6:31 AM, Pip said:

did anyone download the manual for the Elma RM90

by the way if you do a search for the title you find that cousins has the manual. Which I downloaded and I will attach. Also did a search for my computer found the original file and yes there identical. They just have slightly different titles for the PDF

 

 

252_C0381 RM90 Cleaning Machine.pdf

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Pip WRT Addict

Pip

Posted
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On 10/31/2023 at 5:32 PM, JohnR725 said:

one of the amusing problems with the discussion group is if someone posts on the end of a very long discussion and I'm looking for new messages. Instead of finding the new message I will end up in the middle of the discussion wherever I last looked at it. So for instance I ended up at the discussion that I quoted which was posted quite a while back. But I had recently seen interesting videos on YouTube.

Maybe the reason somebody was selling on eBay with a bargain price was that maybe it's not really a bargain? for instance somebody on YouTube was unhappy with his machine and how long it took to get it straightened out. although after quite a few months it does look like they straightened out the problem by replacing the machine. Also looks like whoever was purchased from was doing a better job of evaluating the machines rather than just passing them through.

it also looks like the distributor of the machines is improving their procedure as it would save them money. Think about it if you distribute a machine you purchased it from Germany have it sitting in your warehouse for unknown quantity of months the customer gets it it's broken. The shipping company will probably not honor any kind of warranty because nobody would be able to prove whether was their mishandling or the previous shipping to the distributor. Which is probably why you now see a checkoff list and somebody checked out to make sure the machine was fine before passing it on. Does show the benefits of doing YouTube videos though to get action on a problem.

https://youtu.be/7RA4NU7UPLc?si=ivUGR90VvYaJHWga

https://youtu.be/eSYMuslyGsw?si=1VNc4NVbScTIqPDj

by the way if you do a search for the title you find that cousins has the manual. Which I downloaded and I will attach. Also did a search for my computer found the original file and yes there identical. They just have slightly different titles for the PDF

 

 

252_C0381 RM90 Cleaning Machine.pdf 138.81 kB · 2 downloads

Thanks john! Yes, the forums can have their own little quirks can't they 🙂

Funny, I searched on Cousins, first place I looked. It seems my Google-Fu was even worse than I thought it was! 

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