Sporadic quartz stops

[Dmitry]

I have fixed friend's Tissot with an  F03.111 movement, the board was dead, so I just snagged a new one on Aliexpress and put it in with a new battery. Never even touched the mechanical part or the hands.

The watch was abandoned for quite some time and it is unknown how it ran before my friend decided to fix it.

Trying to troubleshoot the stopping, where can the fault lie?

- Stopped twice reportedly after some activity, tapping on the watch case made it go again.

- No clear time when it stopped, all hands were in different positions and not rubbing against each other.

- Have not observed stopping yet myself, have been running stationary for days.

- when put on mechanical tester without battery and applied impulses, the hands move no problem.

 

Any help or troubleshooting tips are highly appreciated.

Thank you.

[HectorLooi]

When the movement stops, does it still have a pulse?

Most of the time, these intermittent faults are caused by dirt in the gear train. The usual culprit is dried battery juice.

You might have to do a full disassembly, clean and relubrication. Have you ever done a full service of a mechanical quartz movement before?

 

[HectorLooi]

I just found this video on YouTube. The audio is terrible but it's a very nice video on the disassembly/assembly  of the F03.

The F03 has quite a few plastic wheels, which are very delicate. Be very careful when handling them. I wouldn't hold them by the pinions as seen in the video. I would use a blob of rodico instead. And when putting on the top plate, make sure all the pinions are in the holes before screwing down. The pinions are so delicate that they will bend if you breathed hard on them. 

Good luck. 

[JohnR725]

9 hours ago, Dmitry said:

when put on mechanical tester without battery and applied impulses, the hands move no problem.

this isn't really a mechanical tester it's just a way of artificially spinning the gear train. Sometimes it will help to free sticky lubrication but usually is just a quick fix to get things running again. It's not a substitution for proper cleaning if the watch hasn't been serviced in a while.

10 hours ago, Dmitry said:

Tissot with an  F03.111 movement,

if you get desperate you could also just replace the movement at the link below

https://www.esslinger.com/eta-2-hand-quartz-watch-movement-f03-111-2-6-date-at-6-00-overall-height-3-7mm/

then just in case you don't haven't I've attached the technical sheet which also has some troubleshooting information.

CT_F03111_FDE_296473_20.pdf