Gen 1 King Seiko Mainspring bridge

[peter64]

Hi all,

This is my first posting so please forgive me if I seem a little green around the gills, I tried to introduce myself but had problems with the introduction box. Anyway my query is this, I recently purchased a Gen 1 King Seiko (j141 02e) the problem being that after a few hours on full wind the watch would stop. As there seemed to be some wear on the mainspring barrel bridge I put the reason it was stopping was that too much pressure was being exerted on the train wheels when fully wound. What really surprises me is that on such a quality movement the hole on the mainspring bridge for the barrel arbour is not bushed , yet on a lowly Seiko 7009 movement bushes are used. What I have now done is removed a bush from a 7009 movement and using a broach enlarged the hole to accommodate the barrel arbour ,I have yet to obtain a suitable drill bit to enlarge the hole in the barrel bridge in order to press in the bush. Any thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

 Peter 

[RichardHarris123]

I don't know but I'm replying so hopefully someone with more experience will pick up this post. 

Just now, RichardHarris123 said:

I don't know but I'm replying so hopefully someone with more experience will pick up this post. 

PS, photos always help. 

[Nucejoe]

Sounds like you plan to attempt enlarging the hole free hand. 

How do you plan to keep the hole from drifting?  specially if this is your first attempt. 

 

 

[JohnR725]

You might find the video below helpful. He talks about VTA jewels which apparently is a company making replacement jewels for the bushings found in Seiko's. It also shows how to put them in. Rather than getting a used bushing from another watch may be getting a jewel might be a better idea.

 

 

 

[tomh207]

VTA is an Australian company specialising mainly in Seiko and have some jewels made, mostly for barrel bearings.

 

Tom

[peter64]

Many thanks for all your prompt replies, I found them very informative especially the video from JohnR725.I am still debating as to wheter I should go ahead and attempt to install the salvaged bush. I drilled a hole in a scrap mainspring bridge and trial fittted the bushing, it seemed to go in with an interference fit. As to keeping the hole from drifting I would assume the existing hole would act as a pilot hole when drilling. I know a lot of you are probably cringing at my gung ho method but I would find the cost of the necessary tooling and jewel would be prohibative . I may just strip and clean and reoil the watch to see if this solves the watch occasionally stopping before I make a decision. In the normal course of events if I was working on a more readily available movement I would just buy another mainspring bridge but it seems the Gen 1 King Seiko parts are like hens teeth and even if one was available there's no guarantee it would be perfect. I'm still in decision mode.

[JohnR725]

2 hours ago, peter64 said:

I may just strip and clean and reoil the watch to see if this solves the watch occasionally stopping before I make a decision

Classically on a group like this cleaning and re-oiling is the plan. Then the other plan of course is to figure out why the watch is having a problem. Then the other problem if you're new to watch repair is typically failure to grasp what the problem is anyway. Which is why a lot of times the problem will go away if you clean it. Because depending upon how old the watch is it may just be sticky old oil that's the problem.

 

[Nucejoe]

Does the barrel noticably tilt when you push on it?  and does it start running when you do push on barrel. 

It would take considerable side shake for the barrel to rub on its bridge or mainplate, you would see scratch marks if it did rub.

In case you can't upload images here, some folks do so on youtube and give us the link to see images.

The bushing idea isn't illegal ( not in Asia anyway) .

Good luck pal.

 

 

 

[peter64]

Many thanks for your reply and advice, at present I am wearing the watch and it has kept perfect time and no stops in the last 24hours. Perhaps it was just oiling the mainspring arbour where it protrudes through the bridge but maybe that would be wishful thinking. Anyway I've being playing with watches now for the last 5 or 6 years totally self taught , I find making mistakes are the best tutors , I have worked on nearly all of the different watch movements out there and am now reasonably confident although when it comes to the finer points like trying to straighten a balance spring I'm not always successful but I still will have a go ,I find that I can identify most problems I come across either with a bit of mechanical intuition or referring to Dr Google ,but now I am on this forum I can look forward to getting advice from people with far greater knowledge than mine. Many thanks once again and I will keep you informed of what I will decide to do and the outcome.

Peter

[JohnR725]

6 hours ago, peter64 said:

identify most problems

Out of curiosity for identifying problems Do you have a timing machine?

[peter64]

Yes, I have a Timegrapher , +5 seconds per day ,amplitude 210 ,beat error 0.1 on about 3/4 wind.