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Posted

Hello! 

I'm working on a nice Omega Seamaster, cal 552 (almost same as 550, 551).  But it's driving me mad. 

I was confidently working on it and all seemed fine. 

But then I had problems with the centre seconds pinion spring. In the end I replaced it with a NOS one and that helped. 

Despite that success, I now find myself in a pickle again and I'm not sure if I can figure out the problem. 

 

PROBLEM:

When fully assembled, the amplitude is quite low. And timegrapher traces get erratic in vertical positions. 

So... after lots of troubleshooting, I've narrowed down the issue to the automatic works. 

WITHOUT the auto works, I get a decent amplitude and traces are nice across positions. 

I can exclude the following:

- magnetism 

- rotor touching the balance. 

The automatic works functions (testing on the wrist) and the rotor doesn't spin when manually winding. 

However, I feel quite some resistance in the crown when winding manually. I haven't worked on this calibre before, so I thought this is maybe normal. 

My inspection of the automatic works showed one issue: the bearing of the driving gear is very worn and there's clearly too much side shake. It certainly affects the engagement with the ratchet wheel and is probably the cause of the resistance in crown-winding. 

But would that affect amplitude when the watch is static on the timegrapher??? Does it make sense (meaning, I only have to replace the bearing) or do I need to look elsewhere? 

Thanks in advance for your help!! 

 

PICTURES:

Without auto works (note: this is after 18h of running). Amplitude of 250 and stable traces across positions:

20230803_234052.thumb.jpg.a1b6134fba15f773e790c422ee6afba3.jpg

With auto works. More than 30 degrees less amplitude. But this picture doesn't show the mess in vertical positions. There really is a problem. 

20230803_233254.thumb.jpg.607c6fd13c980648938691dbeada0c56.jpg

 

Could this bearing be the culprit?? 

20230803_235903.thumb.jpg.8af95c071cbe5312f019fc562d245bf9.jpg

 

Nothing particular to highlight, but just for completeness, here are also pics of the full movement with and without automatic works. 20230722_164107.thumb.jpg.15190362394723d2642a832971ac150f.jpg20230722_161559.thumb.jpg.600a0bb76e0d436a60fabdfdb653a63d.jpg

Posted

Oh knebo , thanks for asking for advice, but  I don't think you need any advice, not in this case anyway.

" Bearing of the driving gear is worn and there is clearly too much side shake "

I don't see how anyone can  locate the whereabouts of a fault better than you already have, so every arbour and hole/ jewel must be inspected and the bad guys fixed.

Oh, folks then keep fingers crossed in the hope of see ing improved amplitude.

Good luck Pal

  • Like 2
Posted
  On 8/4/2023 at 12:00 AM, Knebo said:

But would that affect amplitude when the watch is static on the timegrapher???

Expand  

I haven't come across this issue myself, and maybe I am over simplifying, but the automatic works interacts with the winding mechanism which interacts with the mainspring (reminds me of the song: the ankle bone's connected to the leg bone, the leg bone's connected to...) which is a key component of the amplitude. I don't believe the automatic works can decouple itself from the watch movement as a whole once it is installed.

As @Nucejoe points out you have probably already identified the issue and best placed to troubleshoot. In an ideal world you could substitute the suspect automatic works with another just to confirm beyond any doubt.

  • Like 1
Posted

Thank you, @Nucejoe and @Waggy !

I ordered the bearing in question and will see what happens when I replace it. I'll be on holidays for the next three weeks, so I'll only update here at the end of August.

 

I hope it's like that. On the other hand, it makes no sense that the mainspring/barrel/ratchet DRIVES the automatic works/rotor. It makes sense only the other way around (as in: winding the mainspring). Still, they are connected.. and maybe a wobble wheel can turn a close-to-zero friction mechanism into a loss of 40-60° of amplitude.

  On 8/4/2023 at 5:12 AM, Waggy said:

I haven't come across this issue myself, and maybe I am over simplifying, but the automatic works interacts with the winding mechanism which interacts with the mainspring (reminds me of the song: the ankle bone's connected to the leg bone, the leg bone's connected to...) which is a key component of the amplitude. I don't believe the automatic works can decouple itself from the watch movement as a whole once it is installed.

Expand  

 

  • 4 weeks later...
Posted

Hello everyone, and thanks again to @Nucejoe and @Waggy for their previous responses.

So I replaced the little bearing (with NOS piece) for the driving wheel. The driving wheel is now certainly nice and stable. 

However, the problem of dropping amplitude after installing the automatic bridge remains... 😭

So I need more help...

A few observations that may help you help me:

- manual winding is smooth when the automatic bridge is NOT installed, but with heavy resistance (and even a bit of grinding "feel") when the automatic bridge is installed. (the latter was already the case before servicing). 

- the rotor spins feeling and doesn't touch anything. 

- the rotor doesn't "helicopter" when I wind manually 

- the auto bridge is not magnetised. 

- with auto mechanism, the power reserve is 40h (within spec, I believe) but it will run an additional 1.5h when I remove the auto bridge. 

My main suspect is now the reversing wheel (oh no!). I had cleaned it as a whole in the ultrasonic (5min L&R cleaning, 2x 5min L&R rinsing), then submerged as a whole in Lubeta V105 for a minute. 

But, as I said, the strong resistance when manually winding the watch (with auto mechanism installed) was already there before I serviced it. Maybe it was already heavily worn. 

Before I open the reversing wheel (without the proper tool), is there anything else I should check? 

 

Posted
  On 8/27/2023 at 3:31 PM, Knebo said:

My main suspect is now the reversing wheel (oh no!). I had cleaned it as a whole in the ultrasonic (5min L&R cleaning, 2x 5min L&R rinsing), then submerged as a whole in Lubeta V105 for a minute.

Expand  
  On 8/27/2023 at 3:31 PM, Knebo said:

Before I open the reversing wheel (without the proper tool), is there anything else I should check?

Expand  

so on the group we've discussed this before but obviously you didn't see it Omega does have a procedure for the reversers if you don't have the tools which no one does and even if he did have the tools and probably still prefer the procedure of lubrication assembled as it's a better procedure.

image.png.b03b3ba827a8b2ea58e99fb148f043d9.png

  On 8/27/2023 at 3:31 PM, Knebo said:

he power reserve is 40h (within spec, I believe) but it will run an additional 1.5h when I remove the auto

Expand  

oh thinking of the specs here's the specs for timing for your watch

image.png.dfa9c14d0a2ba7d02189aad588bfccb6.png

 

  On 8/4/2023 at 12:00 AM, Knebo said:

But then I had problems with the centre seconds pinion spring. In the end I replaced it with a NOS one and that helped.

Expand  

what sort of problem were you having? The reason I ask is if you look at the automatic assembly and the spring itself I don't suppose it pushes on that at all does it?

what's interesting is when you look at the timing trace amplitude is fine as soon as the automatic goes on the amplitude drops and I seriously doubt it has to do with any of the wheels at all because you're not turning. If it was pushing on the setter second assembly that would cause additional friction or if it was somehow bent and maybe twisting the plates I don't even think of a screw was too long it would be an issue?

 

  • Thanks 1
Posted
  On 8/27/2023 at 5:23 PM, JohnR725 said:

so on the group we've discussed this before but obviously you didn't see it Omega does have a procedure for the reversers if you don't have the tools which no one does and even if he did have the tools and probably still prefer the procedure of lubrication assembled as it's a better procedure.

image.png.b03b3ba827a8b2ea58e99fb148f043d9.png

Expand  

Yes, I saw that discussion and followed the approach you posted (here and in the other thread) -- with the small modification that submersion in V105 was extended to 1min due to the fact that this calibre's reversing gear is basically fully closed (unlike the one pictured, which has several holes). I read this modification somewhere (sorry, can't recall the source right now).

 

  On 8/27/2023 at 5:23 PM, JohnR725 said:
  On 8/27/2023 at 3:31 PM, Knebo said:

e power reserve is 40h (within spec, I believe) but it will run an additional 1.5h when I remove the auto

Expand  

oh thinking of the specs here's the specs for timing for your watch

image.png.dfa9c14d0a2ba7d02189aad588bfccb6.png

Expand  

Yes, I got this from you and was comparing with that post of yours (in some other thread).

 

  On 8/27/2023 at 5:23 PM, JohnR725 said:

what sort of problem were you having? The reason I ask is if you look at the automatic assembly and the spring itself I don't suppose it pushes on that at all does it?

what's interesting is when you look at the timing trace amplitude is fine as soon as the automatic goes on the amplitude drops and I seriously doubt it has to do with any of the wheels at all because you're not turning. If it was pushing on the setter second assembly that would cause additional friction or if it was somehow bent and maybe twisting the plates I don't even think of a screw was too long it would be an issue?

Expand  

Indeed that problem seems/seemed very similar. Amplitude was quite low (around 200 fully wound, dial up). Similar to now (with auto bridge on). I assumed that the friction from the spring was too much. So I loosened it a bit by bending carefully. Then the seconds hand became jumpy -- so I clearly overdid the bending. I bent it back again and managed to get a nice sweep second again, but again at the cost of amplitude-- and after these bending back and forth efforts, I observed more irregular traces on the timegrapher. I assumed that the spring was now not fully flat against the pinion, but a bit slanted. So I ordered a NOS replacement. Without the auto bridge, this seemed to have corrected things as hoped (see timegrapher reading above).

I DID wonder if the auto bridge might be pushing on the seconds spring/pinion, but my assessment concluded that this wasn't the case. But maybe I'll check this one more time.

 

  On 8/27/2023 at 5:23 PM, JohnR725 said:

I seriously doubt it has to do with any of the wheels at all because you're not turning.

Expand  

But what do you make of the observation that manual winding has lots of resistance when the auto bridge is installed (vs normal resistance when the auto bridge is off)? This was already the case before I touched the watch BTW.

 

  On 8/27/2023 at 5:23 PM, JohnR725 said:

because you're not turning.

Expand  

You mean the rotor? I should add, the rotor does wind the driving wheel and ratchet wheel correctly in both directions.

Posted
  On 8/27/2023 at 6:27 PM, Knebo said:

Indeed that problem seems/seemed very similar. Amplitude was quite low (around 200 fully wound, dial up). Similar to now (with auto bridge on). I assumed that the friction from the spring was too much. So I loosened it a bit by bending carefully. Then the seconds hand became jumpy -- so I clearly overdid the bending. I bent it back again and managed to get a nice sweep second again, but again at the cost of amplitude-- and after these bending back and forth efforts, I observed more irregular traces on the timegrapher. I assumed that the spring was now not fully flat against the pinion, but a bit slanted. So I ordered a NOS replacement. Without the auto bridge, this seemed to have corrected things as hoped (see timegrapher reading above).

Expand  

okay I see a pattern here and

  On 8/4/2023 at 12:00 AM, Knebo said:

When fully assembled, the amplitude is quite low. And timegrapher traces get erratic in vertical positions. 

Expand  

I think we have other problems and let's cover a background. The watch came in and it was running or not? The definition of servicing was?

Then can I get a picture the timing machine results in crown down without the automatic on.

 

 

Posted
  On 8/27/2023 at 6:54 PM, JohnR725 said:

The watch came in and it was running or not? The definition of servicing was?

Expand  

It was running ok. Amplitude of around 240 (full wind, dial up), but it hadn't been serviced in 10 years and my friend is moving to Fiji and wanted a service before loosing access to watchmakers. 

Service meant full disassembly, cleaning, new mainspring, lubrication and assembly. No repairs apart from the seconds spring and the bearing for the driving wheel, which was clearly oval and wobbly. 

  On 8/27/2023 at 6:54 PM, JohnR725 said:

Then can I get a picture the timing machine results in crown down without the automatic on.

Expand  

Interesting question! I wonder why this position? 

Here you are (followed by dial up and dial down):

Crown down

20230827_211354.thumb.jpg.6588659001463755d4400abe31186c0c.jpg

 

Dial up

20230827_211506.thumb.jpg.c7202c06ec7bc202be51d288674a613f.jpg

 

Dial down

20230827_211547.thumb.jpg.08fb5e19f5afb8d048adbf1994226b24.jpg

Posted
  On 8/27/2023 at 7:22 PM, Knebo said:

Interesting question! I wonder why this position? 

Expand  

typically when people place watches on the timing machine they show us dial down and its wound up nice and tight. In other words they did not let it run the required settling time that's basically from 15 minutes to an hour depends on which manufacturer you look at. It doesn't really matter you just need to let it settle down for a while because it's wound up tight the amplitude will artificially be too high. Then they never show us a crown positions ideally I would like to see all or crown positions for diagnostic purposes

 

so for instance your crown down image below we have a problem your graphical display looks a bit rough that is an issue. Typically when I think people are having amplitude and escapement or some other issues related to the balance wheel I ask for a crown position typically ground down easy just to see what things look like and what I see this that's an issue now be interesting to see what the other three crown positions look like.

so we have crown down and

image.png.29d9227e937374c6a5191ea46a7d3847.png

we do not have a good graphical trace at all and that makes me suspicious of the amplitude. Typically the numbers to be right or anything to be right three things have to be met visually the amplitude needs to look good, the graphical display has to look good then the numbers have to agree with everything else if everything agrees it's right probably but this looks suspicious your graphical display is indicating a problem? This is back to what does it look like in the rest of the other positions of crown.

and see dial up is identical amplitude to the crown down position that's very suspicious not saying it's impossible but very suspicious.

image.png.943424787773575a8602a4dff3d57c8e.png

this actually looks the best of everything for the most part and its amplitude is exactly the same as the other position which of course is impossible typically

amplitude is increased a little bit for dial down and the waveform looks a little bit rough?

image.png.50dd7925423ee766bbbeb7935682970e.png

out of curiosity how are you lubricating your escapement?

the right now I'm just casually going through your images seeing if there's anything I like or don't like not really looking at diagnostic at this instant of time I would be curious about the other crown positions on the timing machine.

Oh and what is the items that I circled in this picture

image.png.13909187e802b2d01ca7035984d6c951.png

 

then this is an interesting picture isn't it

image.png.8b3ca03ddfa4e0695347a12608d2b6df.png

looks like your almost out of range for the beat I wonder if somebody had previously change the balance staff? Plus your regulators at its extreme and not that that necessarily changes anything but we can fix that.

image.thumb.png.05c61ee2b143dfa5061ae4b8f9bb94db.png

you look at the parts list above and I don't have a real good image of assembled sponges giving the parts list of basically the micrometer regulator is floating from the actual regulator. They can put the micrometer regulator back in zero where it's supposed to be then adjusts the actual regulator pins to get it real close and then fine adjustment screw. Also in your dial down you should be able to adjust the beat and get down a little closer not that I think that's going to change anything here but it is floating and can be moved.

 

image.png

Posted (edited)
  On 8/27/2023 at 8:33 PM, JohnR725 said:

out of curiosity how are you lubricating your escapement?

Expand  

Well, 9010 on the cap stones (1/2 diameter). 9415 on the exit pallet stone (tiny drop, then move the fork a few times, repeat until all escape teeth are lightly lubricated. Nothing on the fork pivots. 

  On 8/27/2023 at 8:33 PM, JohnR725 said:

Oh and what is the items that I circled in this picture

image.png.13909187e802b2d01ca7035984d6c951.png

Expand  

Haha, don't worry. This is just a bit of masking tape on the steel holder of the Weishi 1000. I put it there to avoid scratches on watches. It's not on the watch. 

 

  On 8/27/2023 at 8:33 PM, JohnR725 said:

then this is an interesting picture isn't it

image.png.8b3ca03ddfa4e0695347a12608d2b6df.png

looks like your almost out of range for the beat I wonder if somebody had previously change the balance staff? Plus your regulators at its extreme and not that that necessarily changes anything but we can fix that.

image.thumb.png.05c61ee2b143dfa5061ae4b8f9bb94db.png

you look at the parts list above and I don't have a real good image of assembled sponges giving the parts list of basically the micrometer regulator is floating from the actual regulator. They can put the micrometer regulator back in zero where it's supposed to be then adjusts the actual regulator pins to get it real close and then fine adjustment screw. Also in your dial down you should be able to adjust the beat and get down a little closer not that I think that's going to change anything here but it is floating and can be moved.

Expand  

I can also assure you that this isn't the issue. I know that you can use both the pin for rough regulation and the micro regulator for fine tuning. I did use both, in fact. I could have done a nicer job, indeed, by leaving the micro regulator closer to the middle. But this is certainly not the problem. 

 

  On 8/27/2023 at 8:33 PM, JohnR725 said:

typically when people place watches on the timing machine they show us dial down and its wound up nice and tight. In other words they did not let it run the required settling time that's basically from 15 minutes to an hour depends on which manufacturer you look at. It doesn't really matter you just need to let it settle down for a while because it's wound up tight the amplitude will artificially be too high. Then they never show us a crown positions ideally I would like to see all or crown positions for diagnostic purposes

Expand  

Ok I see. I did let it settle a bit. I also observed it over 24h. I didn't take pictures unfortunately, but without the auto mechanism it keeps good amplitude. I think it was still around 210-220 dial up. I also confirmed some amplitude readings visually (by filming it with super slow motion). 

 

  On 8/27/2023 at 8:33 PM, JohnR725 said:

amplitude is exactly the same as the other position which of course is impossible typically

Expand  

It really seems to be a coincidence. I let it run a while in that position and the amplitude was changing slightly over the 2-3min I left it. I also tend to restart the timegrapher when I change positions (to avoid "legacy" readings and to start with a clean screen). 

 

  On 8/27/2023 at 8:33 PM, JohnR725 said:

so we have crown down and

image.png.29d9227e937374c6a5191ea46a7d3847.png

we do not have a good graphical trace

Expand  

I agree. I'm not sure what may cause it, though. 

 

I will post some more readings for the other crown positions soon. 

 

In the meantime, let me already add the readings WITH the auto bridge installed. They look rather sad... 

Crown down 

20230827_234144.thumb.jpg.fef4adb1930bfe1433d1f9debf0761a4.jpg

Dial up

20230827_224246.thumb.jpg.110c8292e2445d5a6b2eeb1538d48cbb.jpg

Dial down

20230827_224355.thumb.jpg.0098b8834df770fd7a579cc4626ef89e.jpg

Edited by Knebo
Changed image for crown down with auto bridge
Posted
  On 8/27/2023 at 9:23 PM, Knebo said:

Haha, don't worry. This is just a bit of masking tape on the steel holder of the Weishi 1000. I put it there to avoid scratches on watches. It's not on the watch. 

Expand  

here is why was asking is that the sensor for the timing machine is located on that side. The sensor is not picking up audio is picking up vibrations that happened the be in the audio frequency. This means you have to have a really good coupling between the watch and the microphone at anything that interferes with that possibly masking tape could cause a distortion of the waveform. So that's why it's pointing that out it could be a minor issue maybe it's not but it could be.

then what's interesting is all of the images with the automatic attached look like escapement issues of some kind or issues of something on the balance wheel rubbing hitting hairspring rubbing and/or touching is a timing machine is picking up the waveforms and not quite where there supposed to be definitely does not look right at all not like a loss of amplitude by something weird happening with the automatic assembly which is the weird part

 

 

 

Posted

Ok, please don't disregard the previous post. 

I've just done some more double checking. 

1. I can confirm that amplitude readings are correct. I did slow-motion videos (in a few positions) and they match the timegrapher readings. 

2. Just to be 100% sure, I let it settle another hour. 

Here are all vertical positions WITHOUT the automatic bridge:

Crown down (again):

20230828_000613.thumb.jpg.eddfdde9c0eeba06afd911e6896a264d.jpg

Crown left:

20230828_000210.thumb.jpg.9b7eeb059fe591f690375b47c6eca9db.jpg

Crown up:

20230828_000305.thumb.jpg.18c7b71bba18387e3045b60516a070ca.jpg

Crown right:

20230828_000356.thumb.jpg.3f95b07196957178478981763bd2cb91.jpg

 

I'm not saying this looks perfect, but to me this looks ok (WITHOUT the automatic mechanism). 

I don't see anything explaining why it would have such severe issues WITH the automatic mechanism. 

  On 8/27/2023 at 10:10 PM, JohnR725 said:

here is why was asking is that the sensor for the timing machine is located on that side. The sensor is not picking up audio is picking up vibrations that happened the be in the audio frequency. This means you have to have a really good coupling between the watch and the microphone at anything that interferes with that possibly masking tape could cause a distortion of the waveform. So that's why it's pointing that out it could be a minor issue maybe it's not but it could be.

Expand  

Oh wow, I didn't realise. Rookie mistake, I guess. I took it off and it was clearly interfering with the signal. Traces are much cleaner across the board. 

Here again the ones WITH automatic bridge. 

Crown down:

20230828_004036.thumb.jpg.958bced91492a25f29b837b345bb4a80.jpg

Dial up:

20230828_003618.thumb.jpg.1a7de8e9afa92e789dc9f40c4c4e094f.jpg

Dial down:

20230828_003734.thumb.jpg.f3165ca7cd53e0576a52272400c568d9.jpg

While the traces are rather ok, the amplitudes WITH automatic mechanism are down around 50 degrees vis-à-vis WITHOUT the automatic mechanism. And variation of rates across positions are much larger. 

I've looked and looked, but can't find any point where the auto bridge would touch/rub anything of the basic movement. 

Really not thinking of issues with the reversing/winding wheel? 

 

Posted
  On 8/4/2023 at 3:27 PM, Knebo said:

 On the other hand, it makes no sense that the mainspring/barrel/ratchet DRIVES the automatic works/rotor. It makes sense only the other way around (as in: winding the mainspring). Still, they are connected.. and maybe a wobble wheel can turn a close-to-zero friction mechanism into a loss of 40-60° of amplitude.

 

Expand  

Lets presume that the auto bridge is putting presure on the base movement, as the bridge may be warped or to the same effect if a screw head sticks out ( from the bridge under side ) . I loosen bridge screws a turn or two, one at a time and observe the amplitude, next two screws at a time , different combinatioms and finally all loosen all screws, at some point amplitude should gain back about the  50degrees. 

This will guide you close to the spot the fault is, either some part is warped or tension builds up on the inside of the auto bridge and affects gears there, any fault in gear train of the auto bridge would affect its free ness. You might have put a wrong screw instead of ratchet wheel screw so auto bridge pushes on it. 

Insufficient end shake on any arbour in auto device can be pressed to near zero as you tighten bridge screws, worn hole jewels, bent pivot results in excessive side shake thus depthing ( gear teeth pushing on neighboring pinion) 

Funny thing is, the fault is staring at you, but parts are so small and a fault can go undetected as its outside the  range of our natural senses.

Good luck pal.

 

Posted

@Knebo     I presumed، first thing you check was if the auto bridge pushes on tension spring part No 1255 ?   It also needs lubrication, thats;  oil the tip of the center arbour part 1253  and the cup of the tension spring 1255 , furthremore underside of the pinion 1253 which sits on center jewel need lubrication, specially if pinion's underside has worn the smallest bit.

Posted

I think one of the things that would help in the future is changing the procedure of doing things. In other words I like to assemble the basic parts of the watch keyless gears barrel etc. and get the watch running without dial complications or automatic. Then you can verify the timing machine and is you now know in more than one position that everything looks clean and nice and if it passes that they can proceed to assembling the rest of the watch. As opposed to discovering you have a problem in the watches in the case and it makes a lot harder to see and do things.

 

I not sure if it's going to make any difference at all but how but if you put the watch in beat in a dial down position. When you go to the crown position still always change a little bit which is why typically just want to do dial down.

Then interpreting timing machine results to certain degree is subject to interpretation. For instance I'm attaching a guide of interpreting graphical displays even though is for a paper tape machine it still applies to what we see here. Notice figure 10 kinda looks like what you're seeing. Now the problem is at least for troubleshooting purposes the watches cased up with the hands and dial on. Now there are as I said complications to interpretations because when you put the watch in the dial up or down the image at least way up above was looking better and you didn't include either up or down when we were looking at the pendant positions. At least in the recent images I didn't see one so that's where you see it looks better but I believe the amplitude is better?

 

 

Timing-Machine-Charts.PDFFetching info...

Posted

Ok, thanks for yoru feedback again. 

I think I found the problem. 

The automatic bridge itself is ever so slightly touching the balance.... to be precise the lower bridge. The upper bridge is fine and doesn't touch the seconds spring (which is brand new and ever so slightly lubricated on the contact point). 

If I install the bridge without all the wheels (upper and lower bridge combined; even without the rotor axle) , the amplitude still drops. See picture (where you see the exposed seconds spring).

But if I install the upper bridge without the lower bridge, everything is fine. 

20230902_170659.thumb.jpg.1fe99004f4d58f85c89bbaa21607ef01.jpg

I'm not sure why, though. Maybe the piece itself is a bit bent (even though it looks fine). I ordered a replacement and hope that this will solve it. The tolerances must be ridiculously tiny (between the bridge and balance). 

I'll report back... 

  • Like 2
Posted

Folks, I can now confirm that the issue was the lower automatic bridge (part 1033). It must have been ever so slightly bent. 

I got a replacement and installed it this evening. No change in amplitude between with or without automatic bridge. What a relief! 

Thanks to you all, especially @Nucejoe@Nucejoe and @JohnR725, for pushing me towards further assessments of potential contact points between base movement and automatic bridge (and less into the reversing wheel). 

  • Like 2
  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Final update on this piece!

I'm done. Finally.

While the replacement of the lower auto bridge solved the issue of the reduced amplitude, there were some other things that I fixed.

1. I replaced the reversing wheel with a NOS part (cleaned as per usual process with L&R cleaner and rinse in U/S; then lubricated with Lubeta V105 without disassembly)

2. The rotor was a bit loose. Didn't yet touch the rest of the movement, but certainly would have go there soon. So I ordered a new axle with already fitting rotor pinion. Note: if you buy a new pinion, it needs to be reamed to fit the axle (to 0.701 or 0.702mm). 

Here's the process:

a. I pushed out the old pinion from the rotor with my Seitz press. I used a pump pusher to keep it centered; if I recall correctly it was the .105 size (but not sure). 

20230927_163952.thumb.jpg.a14fe08f469eda2754c4042825221272.jpg

b. I pushed in the new pinion with a small flat anvil. I though I was done...

20230927_164727.thumb.jpg.8df05a48947723669456d7eaa8f14bf9.jpg20230927_164959.thumb.jpg.0f040ff08ee777cf9a7520cebd394118.jpg20230927_164950.thumb.jpg.b2b833c6cd9b92e0b471565b89a6329c.jpg

c. ...but after installing the new axle, I was shocked that A. the rotor was way too tight (it wouldn't move by gravity alone) and B. , even worse, it was not straight - the rotor was touching the movement on one side and quite high on the other side. Oh dear!!! I decided to tackle issue B. first and put it in my staking set between two flat stakes and hammered it very gently. Back and forth between movement and staking set (with slightly increasing force). No change. It stayed uneven. SHIT!

20230927_171027.thumb.jpg.cf869ddede70143f53164440f794f2e8.jpg

d. Before taking any more drastic measures, I decided to try out the old axle (after all, it is steel and should not wear much). And what relief!!! It was straight! But still very tight.

20230927_165834.thumb.jpg.42cd896d3d4e7458383c06d2b81ffe88.jpg

e. So I took a smoothing broach (not cutting!) and moved it around VERY gently. Remember, the tolerance is in the 0.001mm = microns. And yes, fortunately, that did the trick already! I was relieved that I didn't start with a cutting broach... that would certainly have done too much.

[sorry, no picture here, but you can imagine]

 

I'm wearing the watch today to see if it winds well over the course of a normal day. The rotor is still on the tighter side, so will see if it winds efficiently enough.

Hopefully, by this weekend (after testing power reserve) I can declare this job done-and-done!

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Posted

If you had opened the rotor hole a bit too large do you feel like you could have made it tight again? Seitz tool has bits where they claim you can do close up a jewel hole...

  On 8/29/2023 at 7:44 PM, JohnR725 said:

For instance I'm attaching a guide of interpreting graphical displays even though is for a paper tape machine it still applies to what we see here.

Expand  

Thank you for posting this guide John- there is similar in one of the classic books but this guide has more comprehensive examples and solutions...

Posted
  On 9/28/2023 at 10:48 AM, rehajm said:

If you had opened the rotor hole a bit too large do you feel like you could have made it tight again? Seitz tool has bits where they claim you can do close up a jewel hole

Expand  

I don' think so. You could probably tighten it a little bit on one side (with the Seitz tool) -- maybe even both sides (the other side with a staking set). BUT the pinion is a long shaft/tube that should be equally tight everywhere. I should make contact with the rotor axle along its whole length. So if top and bottom are tight to hold the axle, it may seem fine at first. But it will wear quickly on those two ends. And then you have a loose rotor rather soon.

  On 9/28/2023 at 10:48 AM, rehajm said:

If you had opened the rotor hole a bit too large do you feel like you could have made it tight again?

Expand  

PS: also have a look at the post by "AI J" in this thread:

https://mb.nawcc.org/threads/omega-seamaster-deville-rotor.187235/

  • Thanks 1
Posted
  On 9/28/2023 at 12:15 PM, Knebo said:

PS: also have a look at the post by "AI J" in this thread:

https://mb.nawcc.org/threads/omega-seamaster-deville-rotor.187235/

Expand  

Okay that explains a lot I wondered how come you had numbers that you shouldn't have. Then your link is interesting notice somebody mentions that there's a PDF it answers all your questions one of those forbidden Omega PDFs. Oh and what's really weird The person who mentions that makes the exact same mistakes that I do with dictation software like the word whole Versus the correct spelling of hole. It's my amusement with people it don't keep the same secret identity across multiple message boards.

Then his procedure is right except he is missing an image that you would have in the later version of the document and that might have been the reason why yours was wobbling is this image

image.png.c7a5040363061224e0a84232635f6f8d.png

  On 9/28/2023 at 10:48 AM, rehajm said:

If you had opened the rotor hole a bit too large do you feel like you could have made it tight again? Seitz tool has bits where they claim you can do close up a jewel hole...

Expand  

The problem is this isn't a hole this is a tube. So if you try to close it by squeezing it it ends up a distorted shape. I suppose if you're lucky and you can close the entire tube and then open it back up to the correct size may be.

As I'm looking at the PDF now I just snip out a few other images like even with the smoothing broach it might be an idea to use lubrication for the same reason that they're bringing up

image.png.b09613059203a0c88da762b39a1141a2.png

image.thumb.png.f980cf6e176f75cf9665c995f80525f1.png

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