Jump to content

Filthy Watches

chadders1966
 Share

Recommended Posts

chadders1966 WRT Addict

chadders1966

Posted
Posted

OK - hopefully text will appear this time.

 

Title says it all really! I received a few Russian watches yesterday, bought at a good price so I can learn more about them. However nearly all of them are disgustingly dirty, they look like they should be thown in an industrial washing machine and left for a few hours.

I picked one to have a look at, and spent a good while cleaning the crud off the outside so as not to get dirt in - I needn't have bothered, the inside was nearly as bad. I feel like I should take off the dial and hands and leave the whole lot, case and movement, soaking in something. Whatever I clean it with is going to be heavily contaminated and no use for anything else. I have a jar of used watch cleaner, but I don't know if it has any strength left in it. I think bleach and a scrubbing brush may work best ;).

So what is your favourite/preferred method of dealing with horrible dirt? Any special soaks you use? How do you get the ingrained dirt out? What I'd like is something I could just leave it in overninght and it be clean by morning :). Any views/advice welcome. Thanks

 

Stephen

 

PS I am not talking about rust or contamination here, just various kinds of muck.

Gotwatch WRT Addict

Gotwatch

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hi Stephen, I can highly recommend this stuff http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CLOCK-CLEANING-CONCENTRATE-NO-1-250MLS-/250475705782?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3a5183f5b6dilute as recommended and use it in an ultrasonic bath at 50 centigrade.

That looks like a real good option that Geo offered.

 

I use L&R cleaners and rinses and they will be about 100$ US for both as they are only per the gallon. You might want to do a Google search for home brew cleaning mixes. They are out there.

 

DO NOT MIX BLEACH WITH AMMONIA. The gas is poison.

 

Off to the cot. It's midnight here. Good night.

Edited by Gotwatch
  • Like 1
chadders1966 WRT Addict

chadders1966

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Gotwatch I also use L&R cleaner and rinse, but I don't want to spoil them by putting such dirty objects in them ;). I tend to be pretty careful with chemicals and was just kidding about the bleach, but thanks for the warning anyway, you never know what people might try!

Geo that's an interesting product, probably the sort of thing I was thinking of, but I thought it best to avoid water if possible on watch parts. I suppose it would be OK if you made sure you dried everything quickly?

Geo Distinguished Member

Geo

Posted
Posted

Geo that's an interesting product, probably the sort of thing I was thinking of, but I thought it best to avoid water if possible on watch parts. I suppose it would be OK if you made sure you dried everything quickly?

For really oily stuff I use lighter fuel before using Priory Polish cleaner. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CLOCK-CLEANING-CONCENTRATE-NO-1-250MLS-/250475705782?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3a5183f5b6 I started using this stuff a few months ago and the results are excellent. Brass and plated movements come up like new. I rinse with hot water, then blow off the excess before dropping them in isopropyl alcohol for the final rinse to make sure all the water is gone. I then dry off th alcohol with a blower.

Have a look at the pictures in this thread, as this is how this one was cleaned.

http://www.watchrepairtalk.com/topic/1538-1913-silver-trench-watch/?hl=%2B1913+%2Btrench+%2Bwatch

  • Like 2
ro63rto Distinguished Member

ro63rto

Posted
Posted

I usually remove movement, let the case/bracelet soak in hot water to soften the gunk then go at it with an old electric sonic toothbrush laced with dove soap. Two passes with this is clean enough to go into ultrasonic bath for deep clean.

  • Like 1
Marc Distinguished Member

Marc

Posted
Posted

When I change out the old solutions (L&R) in my Elma the old solutions go into a second set of jars. If ever I get a really dirty movement to work on it goes through a complete wash/rinse/second rinse/dry cycle using the old stuff before repeating in the new. The cleaner still seems to remove the dirt fairly well even when you can barely see through it.

For cases and bracelets I use Morrison's own brand general house hold cleaner 1:1 in the ultrasonic. It's pretty powerful stuff at that concentration so a 15 minute cycle is normally all that is needed for even the heaviest wrist cheese deposits. It's cheap too. Then just a rinse in very hot water.

  • Like 1
  • 5 weeks later...
Bill3 Watch Enthusiast

Bill3

Posted
Posted

I have learned a lot from reading this post about watch cleaning. I wanted to obtain some of the Priory Polish cleaner mentioned in Geo's post, but it cannot be shipped to the U.S. Is there an equivalent found here on this side of the pond?

Len New Member

Len

Posted
Posted

I can remember reading about a time in the past (during WW2?) when there was a shortage of watchmakers and a backlog of jobs to clean watches. This situation led to the solution of offering customers what they called a "Short Cleaning".

A Short Cleaning, was to soak a watch movement in white gas (also known as naphtha) allowing it to air dry, then lubricating it.

I don't know how they took care of the mainspring.

Of course, safety precautions, such as good ventilation, would be a must.

I would imagine the customer would be charged less for such a service, since the story said it was "offered" in lieu of a normal cleaning.

So, I would imagine this method would work well for a preliminary cleaning of filthy watches, before a proper cleaning is done.

anilv Distinguished Member

anilv

Posted
Posted

This is how a watch was typically serviced in the 70s/80s in Malaysia.

 

After removing the hands and dial. the mainspring would be wound and off it went into a jar of lighter fluid...with the wheels spinning crazily. I cannot particularly remember this but knowing what I know now, the balance and pallet fork would need to be removed for this to happen.

 

A second wash similarly with cleaner fluid and a piece of cotton was used to 'wick' any fluid in the jewel holes. I cant remember any pegwood being used but this would have been quite uninteresting for a boy of 8-10 and it may be possible it simply did not register at the time!! The jewels were oiled and everything put back together.

 

Total time actually handling the watches was only about 15 minutes (not counting time in the cleaning solution) and you could have your watch back within half an hour.. good for another year. No regulation ... nothing..and staying at this shop for weeks at a time (school holidays) I did not see anyone coming back with complaints.

 

In the early days it was common to see watch-repair desks in the walkways outside the shops in the town (not watch shops mind). There used to be one in front of a shop belonging to a relative of mine and I used to spend time watching him do his stuff.

 

Anil

Geo Distinguished Member

Geo

Posted
Posted

That's interesting Anil, and it certainly explains what a friend said to me about getting a "great cheap watch service" years ago when on holiday. I used to argue with them that you couldn't possibly service a watch properly within an hour..........now I know.

SakibekovRuslanAktauKZ Member

SakibekovRuslanAktauKZ

Posted
Posted

Good day.

Lighter fluid is a budget option, + microscope. Especially if all this is a hobby and wash one mechanism per week.

Yes agree need to be careful with the lighter fluid.

Regards Ruslan.

Отправлено с моего Lenovo P780 через Tapatalk

 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • BobG
      Gruen 330 balance complete

      By BobG · Posted

      Hi All, I’m having a hard time finding a balance assembly or even a working donor movement for a Gruen 330.  Any leads appreciated.   Gruen doesn’t stamp the caliber number of the movement but lust in the case back.   
    • Neverenoughwatches
      Parts sourcing for FHF 180 movement

      By Neverenoughwatches · Posted

      Why do you think this is Fontainemelon ?  The balance staff you will need to source separately.  But first it's important to accurately identify what you have there. Research Ebauches Sa, see who was in group, to find the brand that made this movement. 
    • donutdan
      Parts sourcing for FHF 180 movement

      By donutdan · Posted

      Hi Watchrepairtalk, I have some questions about part sourcing I was hoping someone here might be able to help with. I'm working on an FHF 180 movement with a broken balance staff, broken regulator pins, and damaged cap jewels (both top and bottom). Some Googling says that this is similar to other FHF calibers like 150s, 160s, 180s and so on but I can't figure out what the functional difference is between these movements.  Is there any reason I wouldn't be able to acquire a donor FHF 150 or similar (with no shock protection) and use parts from that or would it be smarter to source replacements individually? Also are there any sources someone could recommend to get bulk cap jewels like this? Thank you for the help!
    • Nucejoe
      Greetings from Whidbey Island.

      By Nucejoe · Posted

      Hello and welcome to the WRT forum.
    • JohnR725
      A lathe with indexing that won't break the bank?

      By JohnR725 · Posted

      interesting video nice to see the machine what it can do now I wonder what it costs and I'm sure it's not in my budget. Plus the video brought up questions but the website below answers the questions? What was bothering me was the size of his machine 4 mm because I thought it was bigger than that? But then it occurred to me that maybe they had variations it looks like four, seven and 10. With the seven and 10 being the best because way more tool positions in way more rotating tools. Although I bet you all the rotating tools are probably separate cost https://www.tornos.com/en/content/swissnano   Then as we been talking about Sherline. Just so that everyone's aware of this they have another division their industrial division where you can buy bits and pieces. I have a link below that shows that just in case you don't want to have the entire machine you just need bits and pieces. https://www.sherline.com/product-category/industrial-products-division/   Let's see what we can do with the concept I explained up above and bits and pieces. For one thing you can make a really tiny gear very tiny like perhaps you're going to make a watch. Then another version the center part is not separate it is all machined from one piece. Then fills gear cutting machines have gone through multiple of evolutions. A lot of it based on what he wanted to make like he was going to make a watch unfortunately eyesight issues have prevented that. Another reason why you should start projects like this much sooner when your eyesight is really good or perhaps start on watches first and then move the clocks then local we have from the industrial division? Looks like two separate motors and heads. Then it's hard to see but this entire thing is built on top of a much larger milling machine as a larger milling machine gave a very solid platform to build everything.   Then like everything else that had multiple generations are versions the indexing went through of course variations like above is one version and the one below was the last version. Now the version below I mentioned that previously and somewhere in the beginning to discussion and somebody else had one in their picture. As it is a really nice precision indexing. Then I wasn't sure if I had a the watch photos here is his unfinished watch. No he wasn't going to make a simple watch like none of his clocks were simply either what would be the challenge and that.    
×
×
  • Create New...