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Hamilton Electric help please

JGCO

By JGCO
in Watch Repairs Help & Advice

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JGCO New Member

JGCO

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Hello, and thank you for accepting me into the fold.

I have recently acquired a Hamilton Savitar II with a 505 movement. It was a non-runner though it would "power up" with the stem pulled and pushed in. The problem was it would run for about 10 seconds (+/-) and then stop. A new battery was installed and it still has this behavior of powering on, running for about 10 seconds and stopping. The mechanical side was checked for dirt in the gears, etc, but it doesn't appear to be mechanical in nature.

I'm making an assumption that the battery is delivering power and the electrical input is ok but somewhere between receiving the electrical power and running the watch there's a 'failure to communicate' 

If anyone has an idea or can point me somewhere where I can dig into other ideas I would be hugely grateful

Thanks in advance

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JohnR725 Distinguished Member

JohnR725

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On 4/7/2022 at 2:26 PM, JGCO said:

The mechanical side was checked for dirt in the gears, etc, but it doesn't appear to be mechanical in nature

Maybe like any mechanical watch it's not that simple to just look at the gears. In other words what is the actual condition of a watch like the pivots and the oil used has it gone bad with time? Then for watch like this you really should have a service manual?

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GomBoo Watch Enthusiast

GomBoo

Posted
Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, JohnR725 said:

Maybe like any mechanical watch it's not that simple to just look at the gears. In other words what is the actual condition of a watch like the pivots and the oil used has it gone bad with time? Then for watch like this you really should have a service manual?

YES for sure.  It's likely the gold pallet contacts. 

Edited by GomBoo
JGCO New Member

JGCO

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On 4/10/2022 at 1:57 AM, JohnR725 said:

Maybe like any mechanical watch it's not that simple to just look at the gears. In other words what is the actual condition of a watch like the pivots and the oil used has it gone bad with time? Then for watch like this you really should have a service manual?

I didn't check for dirt, etc. My watchmaker examined the mechanicals, he's just not that familiar with these electrics to really get deep in the weeds with it. I do have a service manual that I found online but reading it I think it assumes some knowledge of the "flow chart" of these movements

JohnR725 Distinguished Member

JohnR725

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, JGCO said:

I didn't check for dirt, etc. My watchmaker examined the mechanicals, he's just not that familiar with these electrics to really get deep in the weeds with it. I do have a service manual that I found online but reading it I think it assumes some knowledge of the "flow chart" of these movements

Electric watches have unique problems.

First there is the electrical or electronic components. With a mechanical watch you look at things and see if they look good that doesn't necessarily mean they are good. But the electrical stuff you can't tell the condition that things are in.  This basically ideally means you have to have test equipment. There's specific tests on quartz watches and I know that the Hamilton watches have tests that should be made to make sure things are right.

Then all of the electric watches with gear trains have another problem. All of the gear trains have to be super free to rotate. Mechanical watch can plow right through a lot of dirt poor lubrication sticky lubrication at least up to a point. But a quartz watch for instance the wrong  oil can action cause the watch to stop and definitely give you problems. The balance wheel electric watch that balance wheel doesn't have a lot of power if this watch is never been serviced the old sticky lubricant would be enough to cause you issues.

More than likely your watch needs to be serviced. At least it runs for 10 seconds it's better than not running at all slats a good sign that's what's pointing at it probably just needs to serviced.

 

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GomBoo Watch Enthusiast

GomBoo

Posted
Posted

^^^^^

YES!!!  The fact that it runs & stops is a good sign...BUT, you do NOT want to keep trying to run it. The gold contacts will quickly burn thru. Best that a qualified Hamilton specialist do the service. 

 

Where are you located?

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JGCO New Member

JGCO

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6 minutes ago, GomBoo said:

^^^^^

YES!!!  The fact that it runs & stops is a good sign...BUT, you do NOT want to keep trying to run it. The gold contacts will quickly burn thru. Best that a qualified Hamilton specialist do the service. 

 

Where are you located?

Thanks, I'm in Denver, CO

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