Repair Of A 7009-Based Seiko 5 From 1990S

[joelcarvajal]

Good day, guys!  This is my little way of giving back to this wonderful community.

 

We usually receive for repair a watch handed down by a father to his son.  In this case, its a watch given by the son to his father - a Seiko 5 from the early 1990s.

 

The watch has seen better days, with its hardilex crystal beaten and the watch not moving at all regardless of the amount of shaking you give it.

 

 

The hands are corroded and the dial mounted on the movement using contact cement.

 

 

I'll skip the disassembly and show you how the Seiko 7009 movement works.  The Seiko 7009 technical guide is easy to find on the net though.

 

First to be mounted is the center wheel that drives the cannon pinion.  After which I install the escape wheel and the center wheel bridge.

 

 

The third wheel and fourth wheel is installed next.  Note that the fourth wheel drives the second hand directly.  Then the click comes next.

 

Prior to installing the unified barrel and train-wheel bridge, you have to install the pawl lever and first reduction wheel assembly.  The assembly is held in place by the first reduction wheel holder.  Take note of the orientation of the pawl lever.

 

 

I find it difficult to install the barrel and train wheel bridge while ensuring that the click spring doesn't get in the way.

 

 

<end of part 1>

 

 

[joelcarvajal]

Great!  You're still here. 

 

The pallet fork and bridge and the ratchet wheel are then installed.

 

 

After cleaning the anti-shock jewels, the balance assembly is then installed.

 

 

The movement is turned over to install the keyless and calendar works.  Note the big day corrector spring.  Day quick set is accomplished by pressing on the crown in the first position. When setting the day, the crown pushes the setting lever which in turn pushes the day corrector.

 

 

<end of part 2>

[joelcarvajal]

Don't worry, this is the last part.

 

As I was wrapping up the movement service, I noticed that the automatic winding will not work.  I found out that the pawl lever and the second reduction wheel are worn out.  Compare the worn out parts in the left and the replacement parts in the right.

 

 

After replacing the said parts, I went on to work on replacing the crystal, cleaning the case and bracelets and re-luming the hands.

 

 

Yeah, I could have done better on the hands.  The lume was too thick.

 

I then installed the hands, placed the movement inside and demagnetized the watch.

 

 

And here's the before and after shot.  All done for a friend for free.   :D

 

I hope you enjoyed it.  Please let me know any suggestion on how I can improve on my hobby.

 

 

[Blacklab]

Nice work, great to see another old banger restored to its former glory. It does again highlight the main weak spot in Seiko autos - the winding system. Simple & effective design, unfortunately cut short by poor or non existent servicing. If its not the ratchet and/or the pawl it will be the oscillating weight bearing.

[Mark]

Excellent work and pictures - thanks for posting :)

[bobm12]

Very nice and good documentation. I liked specially the illustration of the winding system comparison: worn out vs. good. Thank you for sharing!

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

[Geo]

Well done and thanks for sharing. It's good to have another active member on board, I'm looking toward to your next contribution. :)

[Lawson]

Really good write-up mate.

Isn't it funny how when the word gets out you can fix watches, all the ones hidden in drawers for years suddenly surface :p

I don't think my parents have a friend who's watch is not fully serviced now ha ha!!  Its great practice and confidence buildings to do them though.

 

Also I love the way a new crystal makes a dial face pop.

[joelcarvajal]

Thanks everyone for the encouraging feedback.

[6466guitars]

Was inspired by this amazing write-up, which ultimately got me embarking on the same with one of my spare 7009s.

 

Am now getting the oils lined up before starting on the cleaning/reassembly.

 

This is my first, so the main objective was to get familiar with the inner workings of the watch, as opposed to the actual service work which should naturally follow.

 

Cheers!

 

[6466guitars]

Still highly motivated by Joel's stripdown, I proceed to put the 7009 back together again.

 

When it's done, I see that it doesn't work.

 

Not surprised, or the least bit demotivated, I go ahead and strip it down again.

 

During the process, I see where I have made a mistake in the balance wheel installation.

 

It does not rotate freely as it should.

 

i go ahead to strip the watch all the way down anyway and it seems much easier now.

 

I learn a couple of tweezing and screw-driving techniques that work for me and also note a couple of better tools that might help me better (finer point tweezers, a step smaller screw-driver, etc).

 

Have seen a balance wheel installation video that helps :

 

 

Will call it a day (with the 7009 stripped down as it stands, again) and continue tomorrow.

 

I'm not sure, but I probably should have started a new thread.

 

My apologies, being new to this forum, if I have violated any rules.

 

Cheers!

[Rheeza]

Nice to see this forums.

Unfortunately I'm on desperate to seek someone who's able to fix Seiko 7009-3070, it was belongs to my late father. Currently the watch cannot operate at all, the automatic seems not working properly, intermittent for various from 1 minute to 5 minutes and off. Seek everywhere on my place in Jakarta - Indonesia to find the good watchservices who's able to fix this lovely watch but still no fortune, even the authorize Seiko in Jakarta no longer service this type (cause too old i guess).

Any advice so I can save or restore this watch again? 

[jdm]

25 minutes ago, Rheeza said:

Unfortunately I'm on desperate to seek someone who's able to fix Seiko 7009-3070, it was belongs to my late father. Currently the watch cannot operate at all, the automatic seems not working properly, intermittent for various from 1 minute to 5 minutes and off. Seek everywhere on my place in Jakarta - Indonesia to find the good watchservices who's able to fix this lovely watch but still no fortune, even the authorize Seiko in Jakarta no longer service this type (cause too old i guess).

Any advice so I can save or restore this watch again? 

It would have been better if you had posted a new topic instead of hooking into this technical one.

Anyways, we have at least a skilled member from your same region that works on Seiko. If he reads this, and will want to, you may be contacted directly. Otherwise search on the internet within and outside of your country. 

Please be aware that the cost of servicing a Seiko 5 can exceed many times the material value of the watch.

Edited July 19, 2020 by jdm

[Nucejoe]

The problem with shipping abroad is customs charges, export/ improt fees from both sides.

In my neck of the woods, a similar seiko 5 in excellent condition sells for  the price of a lunch in a London resturant, with return option, I don't think your problem is spare parts but a decsent person who appreciates the sentimental value of your watch.

 

 

Edited July 19, 2020 by Nucejoe
To Rheeza with regards

[jdm]

2 minutes ago, Nucejoe said:

The problem with shipping abroad is customs charges, export/ improt fees from both sides.

That largely depends by the country. Mine has a decent allowance for items sent between individuals. When shipping out for repair fill the relevant forms mentitoning that and save them. On return it can be rigthly declared return from repair to not in our charges. The alternative is shipping uninsured with a low declared value. 

[Nucejoe]

1 hour ago, jdm said:

That largely depends by the country. Mine has a decent allowance for items sent between individuals. When shipping out for repair fill the relevant forms mentitoning that and save them. On return it can be rigthly declared return from repair to not in our charges. The alternative is shipping uninsured with a low declared value. 

Thanks Jdm, this makes sense,  I,ll ask the postman about availablity of such options here. 

Regards