Another main spring question

[Mike78]

Hey everyone,

I’m prepping to put a Felsa 690 movement back together and I want to make sure I install the new mainspring correctly.  So I have confirmed that the new spring I bought has the bridle attached so I don’t need to use the old breaking spring.  I can see the hook on the arbour so that will tell me which way to install the spring.  As I inspect the barrel wall I don’t see any notches that the bridle would catch.  The barrel wall is smooth.  Is this the way it is supposed to be?  
 

Appreciate the help.  

[Neverenoughwatches]

6 hours ago, Mike78 said:

Hey everyone,

I’m prepping to put a Felsa 690 movement back together and I want to make sure I install the new mainspring correctly.  So I have confirmed that the new spring I bought has the bridle attached so I don’t need to use the old breaking spring.  I can see the hook on the arbour so that will tell me which way to install the spring.  As I inspect the barrel wall I don’t see any notches that the bridle would catch.  The barrel wall is smooth.  Is this the way it is supposed to be?  
 

Appreciate the help.  

as this is an automatic the spring's bridle is designed to slide around the barrel wall with the help of a special grease before the springs tension becomes too tight. Without this the autoworks would be constantly trying to wind the spring most likely resulting in a breakage. 

[Mike78]

4 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

as this is an automatic the spring's bridle is designed to slide around the barrel wall with the help of a special grease before the springs tension becomes too tight. Without this the autoworks would be constantly trying to wind the spring most likely resulting in a breakage. 

Ahh I see.  This makes sense.  Looks like I am good to go then and start putting this thing back together.  Appreciate the help.  

[Waggy]

Just need to remember to use breaking grease on the wall of the barrel to ensure that it can slip freely when it needs to. The correct grease which is different from the regular grease you grease the mainspring with. Breaking grease holds the spring so you can wind the watch (if it slipped early you could never get a full wind) but then lets it slip so that the automatic works can still spin even when the watch is fully wound - amazing stuff that orange goop!

[Nucejoe]

11 hours ago, Mike78 said:

 As I inspect the barrel wall I don’t see any notches that the bridle would catch.  The barrel wall is smooth.  Is this the way it is supposed to be?  

Yes , No barrel notch to catch the bridle in slefwinders, but apply breaking grease regardless of the type of bridle.

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, Mike78 said:

Looks like I am good to go then and start putting this thing back together. 

As long as you have the special grease, breaking grease, orange goop, black goop, any colour goop that is designed for that specific purpose.  Did we mention the grease  ?

Edited April 25, 2023 by Neverenoughwatches
Just checking that the grease was mentioned 👍

[Mike78]

Do I need a special grease for the barrel wall??? 

All jokes aside thanks for bringing this up.  I currently have moebius 8200 which I thought I could use on the barrel wall but from my research it looks like this is 

not sufficient and should only be used for the mainspring.  Looks like I will need to get another grease before starting.  I was going to get Moebius 8217 since the 

Moebius site says this is good for all types of barrels.  

[Waggy]

Here is what you need:

• For the mainspring itself: Mobius 8200 (you already have this, so that's good  )
• For the barrel wall (breaking grease): Mobius 8213

These are the standard greases for those purposes, but of course everyone will have an opinion and there are other manufacturers - but without starting yet another debate on lubrication  I think the above are what the majority use.

Just to complete the picture on lubricants:

• Moebus D5 high viscosity oil (or HP1300) for slow moving stuff, this is a must - I would suggest D5 as you get a lot more D5 for a lot less $$
• Moebus 9010 low viscosity oil for fast moving stuff and most jewels, this is also a must
• Molykote DX grease for metal-on-metal grinding parts/surfaces - this is a must, there is also a Moebus blue grease, but I would suggest Molykote DX as this is cheap (relatively) and the blue stuff is like gold!
• Moebus 9104 for oiling pallet jewels - this is a nice to have and you use a tiny amount

This is quite a financial outlay, but the good news is that you only use a tiny amount at a time, so they will last for ages; 100's if not 1000's of watches. Of course everyone will (again) have their own opinion, but as a beginner if you stick with the above you can't go far wrong.

[haratua]

On 4/25/2023 at 10:22 PM, Mike78 said:

Do I need a special grease for the barrel wall??? 

All jokes aside thanks for bringing this up.  I currently have moebius 8200 which I thought I could use on the barrel wall but from my research it looks like this is 

not sufficient and should only be used for the mainspring.  Looks like I will need to get another grease before starting.  I was going to get Moebius 8217 since the 

Moebius site says this is good for all types of barrels.  

There are a few from Moebius that people used for barrel wall (8207, 8212, 8213, 8217), but Moebius 8217 for all types of barrel walls is great. You can't go wrong with that. Moebius 8213 is designed for brass barrel wall.

Note that you only to grease the barrel wall for automatic movements. As for manual wound's, you just need to apply the mainspring with what you already have, Moebius 8200.