How to deal with rusty movements

[Khan]

Hi 

I got a Omega movement that has been exposed to severe moisture but surprisingly, the balance is moving freely and alive. I brushed the surfaces with WD-40 and have disassembled 70 percent of the movement. There are still few screws stuck. Any chemical or mechanical alternatives to use get it all apart? And what to use and how would you clean each part? Appreciate your thoughts on this. 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2022 by Khan

[noirrac1j]

How's the setting lever screw? You'll have to remove the movement, then try to get the dial and hands off to get working with disassembly. I would suggest putting a little bit of WD-40 (with a toothpick or peg wood) onto ALL the screws Especially the crown and ratchet wheel screws, and let sit overnight--You might be able to get them off that way. The ratchet screw looks cooked (i.e. may break before coming out), but you can try.

To clean the balance, and the remainder of the movement, try overnight soak in hot black tea. It works better than lemon juice or vinegar. You can rinse the next day and use an old toothbrush to get the oxidation off. I think the crown and ratchet wheels are beyond salvaging, but if you get he screws off, you can deal with replacing them. These suggestions are just to remove the rust and assess if the particular part can be salvaged or not.

 

J

[Khan]

Thanks for the tips and tricks. 

Setting lever button is super stuck but figured to pull the stem out anyway. The screw for balance bridge and the movement holders are still stuck wherefore I can't remove the dial yet. I may have to soak them the screw heads for a bit longer. 

[watchweasol]

There is always the method favoured by Nucejoe and it works and that is coke a cola and soak cleaning off with warm soapy water.

[noirrac1j]

1 hour ago, Khan said:

Thanks for the tips and tricks. 

Setting lever button is super stuck but figured to pull the stem out anyway. The screw for balance bridge and the movement holders are still stuck wherefore I can't remove the dial yet. I may have to soak them the screw heads for a bit longer. 

 

 

Ok, good job! The mainspring barrel looks like it can be salvaged--check the teeth. Rust on every major component.... Be super careful with the balance.

Edited March 18, 2022 by noirrac1j

[Nucejoe]

 I soaked a hairspring in vinegar but then it broke in unltrasonic ( solution in ultrasonic was ligther fluid) .

I think in your case penetrating oil on cock screw and patience perhaps two days , is your only choice.

Coca Cola soak will work but not before you remove the dial, its advantage is that you soak the whole movement, loosens everything.

Do not hurry, long soaks in Coke can't hurt.

Good luck.

 

[Khan]

Hello guys 

Thanks for all the ideas 

I miraculously disassembled everything now and temporarily having parts in a wd-40 bath and will try on the coke and black tea method. Patience is everything . 

 

 

 

 

[Paul80]

Interesting comment about the use of Coke to remove rust, not long ago I was searching the University of YouTube for a similar issue with a rusty movement.

I watched quite a few comparisons between all the common and some not so common methods and in every single one they found the one method that removed zero rust was Coke.

Perhapse they should have used the other type of Coke instead of Coca-Cola, the white powder version not Pepsi

So will be interesting to hear your experiences with it.

 

Edited March 18, 2022 by Paul80

[Khan]

the white version 

That reminded me of try to use baking soda with fibre glass brush. That might have an affect. But if the rust is deeper, it could maybe be removed on a sand block. 

 

 

[TimpanogosSlim]

wd40 is ok on rusty screws, pb blaster is better. It's at the auto parts store. 

coke has a little bit of phosphoric acid in it but it probably can't penetrate anything oily. 

evaporust can remove the rust from steel and iron pretty efficiently but it seems that it can harm carbon steel parts, so i wouldn't put anything in it that wasn't already rusty. I've seen it remove rust stains from plates and bridges and i've seen it remove some of the plating off of plates and bridges after too much exposure. Use with care i guess. 

[Paul80]

The biggest problem with removing rust is that because watch parts are quite small and often very thin, once the rust has been removed, either chemically or mechanically there is often very little of the original part left or what is left is so physically weakened that it soon fails in use.

In the end it's probably "best practice" to replace all rusty parts.

Easier said than done I know